Idaho quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger arrives in court
Bryan Kohberger, 28, is accused of fatally stabbing 20-year-old Ethan Chapin of Conway, Washington; 21-year-old Madison Mogen of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; 20-year-old Xana Kernodle of Avondale, Arizona; and 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves of Rathdrum, Idaho on November 13.
A motive for the murders is still not known.
Murder victims from left: Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Maddie Mogen
Idaho officials on Thursday released the probable cause affidavit in the case against accused killer Bryan Kohberger.
The details connecting Bryan Kohberger to the quadruple murder in the 19-page affidavit are shocking.
Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra was a key piece of evidence connecting him to the murders and the crime scene.
Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra was caught on surveillance video near the victims’ home beginning at 3:29 am and 4:20 am on the night of the murders.
Kohberger transferred the title on his Elantra from Pennsylvania to Washington 5 days after the murders.
According to a police source who spoke to CNN, Kohberger thoroughly cleaned his white Hyundai Elantra inside and out – not missing an inch after he allegedly committed the murders.
Kohberger was also spotted wearing surgical gloves multiple times outside of his family home in Pennsylvania.
CNN reported:
The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in November had thoroughly cleaned the interior and exterior of his car and was also seen wearing surgical gloves multiple times before being apprehended, a law enforcement source tells CNN.
Kohberger, who was pursuing a PhD in criminal justice at Washington State University at the time of the killings, “cleaned his car, inside and outside, not missing an inch,” according to the law enforcement source.
The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, was briefed on observations made by investigators during four days of surveillance leading up to Kohberger’s arrest at his family’s Pennsylvania home on December 30.
Kohberger was seen multiple times outside the Pennsylvania home wearing surgical gloves, according to the law enforcement source.
In one instance prior to Kohberger’s arrest, authorities observed him leaving his family home around 4 a.m. and putting trash bags in the neighbors’ garbage bins, according to the source. At that point, agents recovered garbage from the Kohberger family’s trash bins and what was observed being placed into the neighbors’ bins, the source said.
The recovered items were sent to the Idaho State Lab, per the source.
Other key details in the probable cause affidavit:
Dylan Mortensen (a female), one of the surviving roommates, came face-to-face with the killer and described him to law enforcement.
Mortensen said she saw a masked man dressed in black clothing walking toward her near her bedroom door.
“D.M. [Dylan Mortensen] described the figure as 5’10 or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows,” the affidavit said. “The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a ‘frozen shock phase.”
According to the court documents, Kohberger’s DNA was also found on a tan leather knife sheath left behind on Maddie Mogen’s bed on the 3rd floor at the King Road Residence.
“The sheath was later processed and had ‘Ka-Bar’ ‘USMC’ and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe and anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it,” Idaho police officer Brett Payne wrote in the 19-page affidavit. “The Idaho state lab later located a single source of male DNA (suspect Profile) left on the button snap of the knife sheath.”
The judge on Thursday ordered Kohberger to remain behind bars as he awaits his status hearing scheduled for January 12 at 10 AM.