Idaho’s BoiseAt a court hearing on Wednesday for Bryan Kohberger, who pled guilty earlier this week to avoid the death penalty, the chief prosecutor assigned to bring justice to the four University of Idaho students died in a horrific triple stabbing more than two years ago presented his main pieces of evidence.
A DNA-laden Q-tip that was taken from the trash in the middle of the night, a getaway car that was so thoroughly cleaned of evidence that it was practically disassembled inside, and a fateful early-morning Door Dash order that might have put one of the victims in Kohberger’s path were all part of the dramatic story told in the evidentiary summary that lead prosecutor Bill Thompson gave before Kohberger entered his pleas.
These specifics provided fresh perspectives on how the incident transpired on November 13, 2022, and how security footage, cell phone tracking, and DNA matching were used by authorities to solve the case. Key questions that may have been addressed during the trial, such as why Kohberger chose that location and those victims—all of whom appeared to be strangers to him—as well as the motivation for the stabbings are left unanswered in the synopsis.
When Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen were discovered dead at a rental house close to campus, Moscow, a small rural community in the northern Idaho panhandle, had not experienced a homicide in almost five years.
Months prior to the crimes, Kohberger, now 30, had started a criminal justice doctoral program at Washington State University, which is located over the state border from Moscow, Idaho.
As the relatives of the victims wiped away their tears, Thompson remarked that the defendant had studied crime. He actually had that knowledge and skill set; while pursuing his Ph.D., he wrote a thorough paper on crime scene processing.
What the hearing taught us
According to Thompson, Kohberger’s cell phone started establishing connections with nearby cell towers over four months prior to the stabbings, and during that time, it made 23 pings to the towers between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
Investigators were also aware of Kohberger’s car thanks to a collection of surveillance footage from nearby businesses and neighbors, which was obtained during a regular police traffic stop in August.
According to Thompson, Kohberger parked behind the house the night of the murders and went via a sliding door to the kitchen in the back of the house just after four in the morning. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were sleeping on the third floor when he moved there.
Kohberger killed them both with a knife and put a knife sheath next Mogen’s body. Later, the sheath was discovered to contain the blood of both victims as well as one male’s DNA, which allowed investigators identify Kohberger as the sole suspect.
Another kid was still awake on the floor below. Shortly before, Xana Kernodle had placed an order for Door Dash, and Kohberger happened to run into her on his way out, killing her with a big knife, Thompson claimed. Then he murdered Ethan Chapin, her lover, who was asleep in Kernodle’s bedroom.
Two other people were left alive by Kohberger, including a roommate who was scheduled to testify during the trial that she had seen an intruder wearing a ski mask, dark clothes, and bushy eyebrows before 4:19 a.m.
After about five minutes, the automobile appeared on the neighbor’s security video next door. Thompson claimed that the car was traveling so quickly that it nearly lost control as it turned the corner.
What was Kohberger’s next move?
According to Thompson, Kohberger’s cover-up was intricate after he left the scene.
He didn’t turn on his cell phone again until 4:48 a.m., according to prosecutors, and he drove back roads to his Pullman, Washington, apartment to dodge security cameras on the main thoroughfares. According to Thompson, he returned to Pullman at 5:26 a.m.
Because Pennsylvania law does not need a front license plate, Kohberger then moved his car registration from Pennsylvania to Washington State, which was critical for detectives looking through surveillance camera footage because it made it more difficult to identify the vehicle.
Additionally, his workplace and apartment in nearby Pullman were spotless by the time detectives finally caught up with him a few weeks later.
Spartan would be a nice way to describe it. Regarding Kohberger’s residence, Thompson stated that nothing of evidential significance was discovered.
Inside, the car had also been practically dismantled,” he continued. It was immaculate. The interior of the defendant’s vehicle had been thoroughly cleaned.
The Q-tip that caused the case to collapse
Kohberger was the target of investigators, but they still had to establish that he was their suspect.
In order to find a DNA match to their suspect, they collaborated with the FBI and the local sanitation agency to surreptitiously collect trash from Kohberger’s parents’ Pennsylvania home using the DNA of a single mystery male on the knife sheath.
According to Thompson, they carried out what is known as a “trash pull” at night, collecting trash that had been left on the street and sending it to the forensics lab in Idaho.
Investigative gold was found in the trash pile: He said a Q-tip that had DNA on it that was recognized as belonging to the father of the individual whose DNA was discovered on the knife sheath that Madison Mogen’s body had been discovered on the bed.
In the end, Kohberger was extradited to Idaho for prosecution after being caught at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania, where he had spent the holidays.
The unsolved mysteries
One crucial point is still unanswered despite the prosecutors’ descriptions of that evening: Why did Kohberger pick that house and those victims? Was he acquainted with them? And why did he do it?
“We can put his phone in the area on those times,” Thompson said, referring to the home number where the killings occurred, “but we do not have evidence that the defendant had direct contact with 1122 or with residents in 1122.”
Some of that information might have been revealed during the trial, but it might still be in case-related records that the court has sealed until after a sentence hearing on July 23. All of the lawyers involved in the case are still subject to a gag order.
Those documents include witness lists, a list of exhibits, an analysis of the evidence, requests for additional discovery, filings about mitigating factors and various unsuccessful defense motions that sought to introduce alternative suspects, among other things.
The plea agreement has caused division among the victims’ families.
Families are still at odds about the case’s resolution even after it has been resolved.
According to the agreement, Kohberger will get four consecutive life sentences in exchange for being spared from execution. Additionally, he gave up his right to contest the punishment and file an appeal.
The families of Mogen and Chapin are in favor of the agreement.
We now set off on a new course. We embark on a path of hope and healing, Mogen’s family said in a statement.
The family of Kaylee Goncalves publicly denounced the plea deal ahead of Wednesday’s hearing and her father refused to attend the proceedings.
Goncalves 18-year-old sister, Aubrie Goncalves, said in a Facebook post that Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world.”
Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever,” she wrote.
