From the Moscow-Pullman Daily News:
Court document details how investigators tracked WSU student — statements, video, cellphone data, DNA and more
According to court documents, a witness described seeing a “figure clad in black clothing and a mask” during the early morning of Nov. 13 inside the King Road residence in Moscow where four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death.
A probable cause affidavit detailing the events leading to the Dec. 30 arrest of 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger was released Thursday morning, the same day Kohberger attended his initial appearance in Latah County Magistrate Court.
Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder charges for the stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in their King Road home.
Judge Megan Marshall said each of those charges has a maximum penalty of death or life in prison. He also faces a burglary charge for allegedly entering the King Road residence. That comes with a maximum penalty of 1-10 years in prison.
Kohberger is currently being held without bail in Latah County Jail. Marshall set an initial no-contact order prohibiting Kohberger from contacting any of the victims’ family members or the victims’ roommates for at least two years.
Members of the Goncalves family were in attendance in a courtroom packed by reporters Thursday.
Kohberger did not say much other than answer “yes” when Marshall asked him if he understood his rights and the charges. Kohberger also indicated he is being represented by a court-appointed attorney, who is Kootenai County chief public defender Anne Taylor.
A status hearing for Kohberger is scheduled for Thursday.
Details that law enforcement withheld from the public were released Thursday in the probable cause affidavit that explains the evidence police gathered before arranging Kohberger’s arrest. Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30 at his parents’ home in Chestnuthill Township, Pa.
The full document was written by Cpl. Brett Payne of the Moscow Police Department. It can be found attached to this story at Dnews.com.
Based on numerous interviews, police discovered that Chapin and Kernodle were seen at the Sigma Chi house on the UI campus from 9 p.m. Nov. 12 to 1:45 a.m. Nov. 13 before returning to the King Road residence.
Goncalves and Mogen were seen on video footage at the Corner Club from 10 p.m. Nov. 12 to 1:30 a.m. Nov. 13.
They were seen on video at the Grub Truck on Main Street at 1:30 a.m., before a private party gave them a ride to the King Road residence.
The surviving roommates said Goncalves, Chapin and Mogen were all home by 2 a.m. and asleep by 4 a.m. Kernodle was likely awake as she received a DoorDash order at approximately 4 a.m.
One of the surviving roommates stated she was awoken at 4 a.m. by what sounded like Goncalves playing with her dog upstairs. She thought she heard Goncalves say “there’s someone here,” although police believe it could have been Kernodle because she was likely awake and using her TikTok app at 4:12 a.m.
The roommate stated she did not see anything initially when she looked out her second-floor bedroom. Then she heard what sounded like crying coming from Kernodle’s room and a male voice saying, “It’s OK, I’m going to help you.”
The roommate stated that when she opened her door again, she heard crying and saw a “figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her.” She described him as at least 5-foot-10, not muscular but athletically built and with bushy eyebrows.
The male walked past her as she stood in a “frozen shock phase.” The male made his way toward the sliding glass door and the roommate locked herself in her room. She stated she did not recognize him.
Police believed the homicides occurred between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. A security camera located at a neighboring residence less than 50 feet from Kernodle’s bedroom picked up distorted audio of what may have been a whimper followed by a loud thud at 4:17 a.m.
Investigators later found a latent shoe print just outside the surviving roommate’s room on the second floor, according to the document.
The affidavit goes on to describe how police allegedly used video footage to discover a white sedan was in the King Road neighborhood between 3:29 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. Then it left the area and made its way to the WSU campus in Pullman. They later determined the vehicle was a white Hyundai Elantra made between 2014-16.
Police determined a white 2015 Elantra was registered to Kohberger at his Valley Road apartment in Pullman and that he matched the physical description provided by the surviving roommate.
Kohberger traveled from Pullman to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania in the middle of December. Police later seized a white Elantra when they arrested Kohberger at his parents’ home.
The affidavit also describes police using cellular tower data to track Kohberger’s whereabouts before and after the murders.
This data did not show his cellphone being used near the King Road residence between 3-5 a.m. Nov. 13, but the affidavit stated criminals may leave their phone at another location or turn their phone off prior to committing a crime.
The data did allegedly show him taking a route to and from Moscow consistent with the white Elantra police saw on video footage.
Cell data also shows him in Moscow near the King Road residence on at least 12 occasions between June and Nov. 13. Almost all of those occasions occurred in the late evening and early morning hours.
The affidavit provides some background on Kohberger. He is a Ph.D. student in criminology at WSU with undergraduate degrees in psychology and cloud-based forensics. He applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in fall 2022. He wrote an essay expressing interest in helping rural law enforcement agencies collect and analyze technological data. He also posted a survey on Reddit asking participants to help him “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime.”
The affidavit makes no mention of what Kohberger’s motivation could have been for allegedly committing the murders.
Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.