The man suspected of killing four college students appeared before an Idaho judge for the first time since his extradition from Pennsylvania.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested on December 30 for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus apartment near the University of Idaho.
Kohberger appeared before Judge Megan Marshall on Thursday, who denied a request from his court-appointed attorney for bail.
Some of the victims’ families appeared at the hearing, including the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, who audibly sobbed as the charge for her murder was read.
Kohberger has not entered a plea yet and is expected to do so at a hearing scheduled for January 12.
Kohberger is a graduate student of criminology at Washington State University, which is located in Pullman, Washington only 13 miles away from the University of Idaho.
Additionally, the court unsealed several documents that shed new light into how investigators tracked the suspect thousands of miles across the country.
Kohberger left little evidence at the scene, but investigators were able to link him to a white Hyndai Elantra and a match his DNA with a small sample found on a knife sheath at the crime scene.
The knife sheath had ‘Ka-Bar’ and a US Marine Corps insignia stamped on it. Detectives were able to gather a tiny sample of DNA on the sheath’s button snap, which was matched to DNA found in his family’s home in Pennsylvania.
The affidavit also reveals investigators interviewed the students’ downstairs neighbors, identified only by their initials ‘BF’ and ‘DM.’
Both neighbors believed the four students were all home and asleep by 2am, with the exception of Kernodle – who received a DoorDash order at 4am.
The DoorDash driver was also questioned by detectives, who confirmed she was alive at the time.
Police were also able to determine Kernodle was using the app TikTok until about 4.12am.
Sometime after 4.12am, DM told police she heard one of her upstairs neighbors say ‘there’s someone here.’ She believed it was Goncalves, but investigators also suspect it could have been Kernodle.
DM looked outside but didn’t see anything. She thought she heard crying coming from Kernodle’s room, then heard a male voice say ‘it’s ok, I’m going to help you.’
Another neighbor’s security camera located less than 50 feet from Kernodle’s room picked up audio recordings from the scene. Around 4.17am, it picked up voices, a whimper, and a loud thud. It then picked up the sound of Goncalves’ dog barking.
DM then said she opened her door again see a man wearing black clothes and a black ski mask. She described him as 5’10” or taller, with an athletic build and bushy eyebrows.
DM said that she stood ‘frozen’ in shock, until she was able to back away and lock her door.
Using this information, detectives were able to pinpoint the exact time when the killer was in the apartment – between 4am and 4.25am.
They then performed a ‘video canvass,’ obtaining as much security footage and images as they could from the area. Eventually they identified the suspect’s car – a white Hyundai.
They were able to track the Hyundai back to Washington State campus, narrowing down their search.
They were able to link the car to Kohberger when they realized it was missing a front license plate. Pennsylvania is one of only a handful of states that do not require a front plate, while Idaho, Washington, and the rest of the Pacific Northwest all require two plates.
Investigators then attempted to link Kohberger to the crime scene by using cell tower records. His phone was not used in the neighborhood that at the time of the murders. However, detectives believed he could have easily turned his phone off or turned it on airplane mode while commiting the crime.
After getting access to a longer period of time, investigators did find out Kohberger’s phone was used at least 12 times near the apartment since June.
‘All of these occasions, except for one, occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days,’ the affidavit reads.
The affidavit also states that Kohberger once applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department sometime last fall.
‘Kohberger wrote in his essay he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations,’ according to the affidavit. It is unclear if Kohberger ever interviewed for the position.
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