Police used DNA to identify the suspect

Police previously said that they had tied Kohberger to the killings using DNA they found at the scene. Now we know what they discovered: DNA on a button snap of an empty knife sheath discovered in a bed next to Mogen. The sheath was described as tan and leather with a Ka-Bar Knives logo and the U.S. Marine Corps insignia. An Idaho state lab tested the DNA found on the sheath against a sample of Kohberger’s father’s DNA obtained by investigators from the family’s Pennsylvania home Dec. 27, three days before Kohberger was arrested. The analysis indicated a father-child match between the DNA samples. Authorities also said they tracked Kohberger’s car movements and cellphone to allege his connection to the crime.

One of the victims was awake during the attack

Authorities say the four victims and their two surviving roommates were all home and in their rooms by 4 a.m. They previously said the victims were asleep at the time of the attack, but the affidavit revealed that Kernodle was awake at 4 a.m., when she received a DoorDash delivery. Minutes later, her phone records show she was on the TikTok app, indicating that she was awake at about the time the killer likely entered the house. At about the same time, the downstairs housemate heard noises from Goncalves’s room and thought Goncalves was playing with her dog. She then thought she heard Goncalves say someone was in the house. A few minutes later, she heard crying coming from Kernodle’s room. The housemate, whom investigators did not name but called D.M., then heard a man say something to the effect of, “It’s okay, I’m going to help you.” At 4:17 a.m., a security camera from a neighboring home picked up distorted audio of what sounded like a whimper and a loud thud. A dog can also be heard barking.

A surviving roommate may have seen the killer

D.M. told investigators that she looked outside her room after she heard crying and saw a man clad in black clothing and a mask walking toward her. She said he was 5-foot-10 or taller, athletically built with “bushy eyebrows,” which investigators alleged matched Kohberger’s physical attributes. She told police she didn’t recognize the masked man. She froze as he walked past her toward a back door, and then she locked herself in her room. Investigators believe D.M. saw the killer leaving the house, and their investigation uncovered a shoe print that indicated he left on the path D.M. had described. The housemates did not call 911 until just before noon, after they woke up and found one of the victims, police have said. The affidavit did not provide more details of investigators’ interviews with the housemates.

The attack appeared to have been planned

Kohberger was near the victims’ home at least 12 times between June and the day the four students were killed, authorities said his cellphone records showed. On the day of the killings, Kohberger’s phone left his residence in Pullman — just six miles from Moscow — about 2:47 a.m. and then stopped reporting to the network, which happens when a phone is turned off, put on airplane mode or has no service, the affidavit said. A white Hyundai Elantra matching Kohberger’s car was seen passing the victims’ house four times between 3:29 and 4:04 a.m. on the night of the killings, surveillance footage from the neighborhood showed. At 4:20 a.m., 16 minutes after arriving at the house, the Elantra was seen speeding away from the street. At 4:48 a.m., Kohberger’s phone began using cell service again, reporting to the network from a highway near Moscow and traveling back to Pullman. This fall was Kohberger’s first semester at Washington State University, and he completed a master’s program at DeSales University in Pennsylvania in June, the schools’ officials have previously said. The cellphone records indicate that Kohberger’s alleged repeated trips to Moscow began in June.

Kohberger wanted to work at the police department

Kohberger, who has a master’s degree in criminal justice and is enrolled to get his PhD in criminal justice at Washington State, applied in the fall for an internship at the police department in Pullman, according to the affidavit. He wrote in his application essay that he wanted to help rural police collect and analyze data. Investigators said they also found a Reddit post from Kohberger asking people to participate in a survey in which he sought information to “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”

National

5 details about the Idaho killings from the affidavit

Q: Read the full affidavit

Marisa Iati and Andrea Salcedo contributed to this report.

By Justine McDaniel

and

Meryl Kornfield

January 6, 2023 at 12:01 a.m. EST

Authorities unsealed court records on Jan. 5, nearly a week after suspect Bryan Kohberger was arrested for the killings of four Idaho students. (Video: Joy Yi/The Washington Post, Photo: Matt Rourke/AP/The Washington Post)

Authorities in Idaho unsealed court filings Thursday that revealed the most significant details yet in the November killings of four college students, outlining their case against suspect Bryan Kohberger.

The publication of the court documents came after seven weeks with few updates from police in the nationally watched case, and nearly a week after Kohberger’s arrest. The affidavit, filed Dec. 29, offered a small window into what may have happened the night of the killings and revealed authorities’ preliminary evidence against Kohberger, 28.

The filings contain information about what police found the day of the killings and allegations about Kohberger’s behavior before and after, answering some questions about the case but leaving many others open. Investigators alleged Kohberger had planned the attack in advance, but they did not say what his motive may have been or whether he knew anyone who lived in the house.

Kohberger was charged with killing University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21. All four were found stabbed to death in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, in the early hours of Nov. 13. Kohberger, a Washington State University criminology doctoral student, lives in Pullman, Wash., a short drive from Moscow.

Kohberger appeared in court in Idaho for the first time Thursday, where he did not enter a plea and was denied bail. A judge on Tuesday banned police from commenting publicly about the case. The document filed by investigators likely does not disclose their entire case against Kohberger.

Here are the top five things we learned from the affidavit, which lays out allegations authorities used to charge Kohberger with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. The claims in the affidavit have not been proven in court. Kohberger’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.

Read the full affidavit in the Idaho killings