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Investigators reveal new information they say ties Idaho killings to Bryan Kohberger

Becky Sullivan

Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student, is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November. Matt Rourke/AP hide caption

Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student, is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November.

Idaho authorities have released the most comprehensive evidence yet tying the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students to a suspect arrested last week and charged with murder in their killings.

Among the new information is the recovery of a DNA sample from a leather knife sheath found in one of the victims' beds that appears to be a strong match for Kohberger, as well as the revelation that a roommate of the victims had been awoken during the night and saw a strange masked man exit the house.

Idaho authorities have charged Bryan Kohberger with murder in the November stabbing deaths of the four students.

Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, has been charged with four counts of murder in the first degree, along with one count of felony burglary.

Early on the morning of Nov. 13, the four students — Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 — were stabbed to death in the Moscow, Idaho, home where three of them lived together with two other students. The fourth victim, Chapin, was dating Kernodle and spending the night.

What the roommate told police

The hours before the attack had been a normal Saturday night of partying for the four victims, witnesses and friends say. Chapin and Kernodle had attended a fraternity party; Mogen and Goncalves had gone to a bar and stopped by a food truck on the way home to their house on King Road. All four were home by 2 a.m., and most were asleep by 4 a.m.

Two other roommates were not attacked. In an affidavit released Thursday , Moscow police said that one roommate, identified in the document as "D.M.," was awoken at approximately 4 a.m. by sounds coming from upstairs — including what she thought was her roommate Goncalves saying, "there's someone here."

D.M. looked out her bedroom door but didn't see anything, after which she heard more noises, she told investigators: crying, a male voice saying, "it's ok, I'm going to help you," more voices, a loud thud, a dog barking.

She opened her door again and this time saw "a figure clad in black clothing and a mask" walking toward her, the affidavit says.

It was a male stranger, she said, describing him as at least 5 feet, 10 inches, "not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows."

As she "stood in a 'frozen shock phase,'" the man walked past her toward the house's rear sliding door, after which the roommate locked herself in her room, investigators said.

Police tracked car to and from the crime scene

Investigators also canvassed the area of the King Road house to collect video footage, which revealed a white sedan, later identified as a Hyundai Elantra, traveling toward the home around 3:30 a.m., making several passes by the house and then departing the area around 4:20 a.m. "at a high rate of speed."

Security footage from the campus of Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., where Kohberger is a graduate student, showed a similar white sedan headed in the direction of Moscow, about 15 miles away across the state line, shortly before 3 a.m. and then appearing to return around 5:30 a.m.

On Nov. 29, a police search of vehicles registered to WSU students revealed a 2015 white Hyundai Elantra registered to Bryan Kohberger, originally with Pennsylvania plates that were later registered in Washington.

Then, they tracked his cellphone

After identifying Kohberger as a possible suspect, police discovered that he had been subject to a traffic stop in August. At that time, he gave Moscow police his phone number.

In late December, investigators worked through cellphone records, attempting to uncover whether his phone had pinged cellphone towers near the crime scene or on routes to and from it.

An initial search showed that his phone did not, in fact, ping any cellphone towers near the crime scene on Nov. 13 between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m.

But investigators noted that a lack of cellphone pings could be "an effort to avoid alerting law enforcement" of one's proximity to a crime scene, they said.

Expanding their search, authorities discovered that Kohberger's phone pinged cell towers in Pullman around 2:47 a.m., consistent with the phone departing Kohberger's residence "and traveling south through Pullman," the affidavit says.

That was the last ping for about two hours, investigators said.

Then at 4:48 a.m., the phone appeared on the network again, pinging along highways south of Moscow, then west across the border into Washington state and then back north toward Pullman — a timeline that aligns with security footage of the white Elantra, investigators noted.

The disappearance of the phone from the network for two hours was consistent with an effort "to conceal his location during the quadruple homicide," the affidavit says.

There is no evidence in the affidavit that Kohberger's phone had been in contact with any of the victims or people associated with them.

But his phone had pinged cellphone towers in the area of the King Road house at least 12 times before the homicides, investigators found, including as early as Aug. 21, the day before his classes as a graduate student were set to begin at Washington State. Most of those occasions were late at night or early in the morning, the affidavit says.

The phone also returned to the area of the crime scene around 9:15 a.m. on Nov. 13, about five hours after the stabbings, before they had been reported to police.

Kohberger on the move

In mid-December, after the semester at Washington State had come to an end, Kohberger drove the Elantra back to his family's home in Pennsylvania, along with his father, who had traveled to Washington so the two of them could make the long drive together.

Investigators noted evidence of the car's journey back to Pennsylvania: a license plate capture in Colorado, a traffic stop in Indiana.

This week, authorities in Indiana released video of a pair of traffic stops along Interstate 70 east of Indianapolis, where two different officers had pulled over the Kohbergers for tailgating on the morning of Dec. 15.

Body camera footage shows the younger Kohberger driving the car with his father in the passenger seat. Both times, after a brief and polite conversation, the officers let the Kohbergers go without a ticket.

A possible DNA match

With a volume of evidence — the roommate's description, the movements of the white Elantra and the cellphone data — appearing to point to Kohberger, authorities in Idaho enlisted the help of Pennsylvania police to collect a DNA sample to test against the one recovered from the button snap of a tan leather knife sheath found in a bed near one victim's body.

On Dec. 27, police in Pennsylvania recovered a sample from the trash outside the Kohberger family residence in Albrightsville.

The Idaho state crime lab determined that the sample found in the trash likely belongs to the biological father of the person who left DNA on the knife sheath, according to the affidavit.

"At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect's biological father," the affidavit says.

Three days later, Pennsylvania police arrested Kohberger. He was soon extradited to Idaho, where he is expected to appear in court on Thursday.

In an interview Tuesday , Kohberger's lawyer, Jason LaBar, the chief public defender of Monroe County, Pa., said the suspect "believes he's going to be exonerated."

Corrections Jan. 5, 2023

A previous version of this story misspelled the last name of Bryan Kohberger as Kohlberger. And a previous version mistakenly said Jason LaBar is the chief public defender of Monroe County, Idaho. He is the chief public defender of Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

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Criminology Student Is Charged in 4 University of Idaho Killings

The college town of Moscow, Idaho, has been reeling since the attack last month, but the police gave no motive for the murders.

By Rachel Sun Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs and Serge F. Kovaleski

Published Dec. 30, 2022 Updated Jan. 5, 2023

MOSCOW, Idaho — The police arrested a 28-year-old criminology student on Friday and charged him with murder in the brutal killing of four University of Idaho college students who were found stabbed to death overnight in a home near their campus last month.

The man, Bryan C. Kohberger, was taken into custody at his parents’ home in Effort, Pa., where it appeared he had been staying recently, according to Michael Mancuso, an assistant district attorney in Monroe County, Pa.

Mr. Kohberger was pursuing a Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University, which lies about 10 miles from Moscow, Idaho, where the murders took place. He recently entered the program after graduating in June from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., with a master’s degree in criminal justice.

Mr. Kohberger was charged in Idaho with four counts of first-degree murder and was being held without bail in Pennsylvania. An extradition hearing has been scheduled for Tuesday.

“These murders have shaken our community, and no arrest will ever bring back these young students,” the Moscow police chief, James Fry, said at a news conference. “However, we do believe justice will be found through the criminal process.”

The arrest of Mr. Kohberger came nearly seven weeks after the college students were stabbed to death on Nov. 13 in a crime that horrified the small Idaho college town and prompted many students to stay home and finish classes online after Thanksgiving break. Residents had grown increasingly frustrated in recent weeks as a killer remained on the loose, and one victim's father had begun to publicly criticize investigators.

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Man charged in the University of Idaho murders studied criminology at a nearby university

The Pennsylvania man charged in the killing of four University of Idaho students was a doctoral student at nearby Washington State University studying in the criminal justice and criminology department.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was booked into custody on an arrest warrant out of Moscow, Idaho, charging him with first-degree murder , court records show. He was being held at the Monroe County Correctional Facility, according to court records.

Kohberger was arrested by the Pennsylvania State Police in Chestnuthill Township seven weeks after four students were stabbed to death in their beds — an event that stunned residents in tiny Moscow, perplexed police and prompted a nationwide manhunt.

A Pennsylvania judge in Monroe County, north of Allentown, on Friday ordered that Kohberger be extradited to Idaho next month, court records showed.

Killed in the Nov. 13 attack were Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.

A motive has not been disclosed.

More in-depth coverage of the Idaho student slayings

Scene of slayings was 'somber' as police grappled with the public response
Investigators untangling the Idaho student slayings face a 'daunting task': the DNA
' Four beautiful kids ': Community remembers slain University of Idaho students at vigil
How internet sleuthing in University of Idaho slayings can be 'extremely dangerous'

"We are still putting together the pieces," Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a news conference after the arrest was announced.

The chief public defender of Monroe County, Jason A. LaBar, said in an interview Saturday that his client is "eager to be exonerated."

LaBar is representing the Kohberger in the Idaho extradition request, which is not being challenged, he said. LaBar, who is not part of Kohberger's murder defense, said he spoke with his client for about an hour Friday following his arrest.

"He was very aware, but calm, and really shocked by his arrest," LaBar said, adding of the man's parents, "They are also shocked. They said it's out of character for Brian. They just really taken aback."

LaBar said Kohberger "believes he would have been in Pullman at the time" of the killings, referring to the Washington city where he studies, about 9 miles from Moscow.

Moscow police and the Latah County Prosecutor's Office did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the attorney's statements.

County prosecutor Bill Thompson said at a news conference Friday that a narrative supporting murder charges is contained in court documents sealed under state law but likely to become available when the defendant arrives in Idaho.

"We are limited on what we are allowed by the courts to say outside of the courtroom," he said.

Kohberger, who most recently was living in an apartment in Pullman, appeared to have a keen interest in crime. He was listed as a Ph.D. student in the department of criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University, which is 10 miles west and just across the state line from the University of Idaho.

Shortly after Kohberger's arrest was announced, WSU took down a graduate student page listing his name.

Fellow WSU criminal justice grad student Ben Roberts said Kohberger came off as confident and outgoing but also seemed like “he was always looking for a way to fit in.”

“It’s pretty out of left field,” Roberts told The Associated Press. “I had honestly just pegged him as being super awkward.”

Kohberger graduated from nearby DeSales University in 2020 with a degree in psychology and earned a master of arts in criminal justice from DeSales in the spring, DeSales University said in a statement Friday.

"Kohberger received a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed his graduate studies in June 2022," the statement said. "As a Catholic, Salesian community, we are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this difficult time."

Seven months ago, a person with the name Bryan Kohberger took part in a research project that required him to reach out directly to people who had been arrested. At the time, the person identified himself a "student investigator" at DeSales University and was using a school-issued email address.

"My name is Bryan, and I am inviting you to participate in a research project that seeks to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime," Kohberger wrote in a post that appeared seven months ago on a Reddit community for former prisoners. "In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience."

Earlier, a Bryan Kohberger worked as a security guard in the nearby Pleasant Valley School District where he was credited in 2018 with helping save the life of a hall monitor who was having an asthma attack, The Pocono Record reported.

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Kate Martin is an enterprise reporter for NBC News, based in North Carolina.

Corky Siemaszko is a senior reporter for NBC News Digital.

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What we know so far about the investigation into the Idaho college student murders

Updated on: June 26, 2023 / 5:28 PM EDT / CBS/AP

See CBS News' latest coverage on the Idaho student murders case.

On Dec. 30, 2022, Bryan Christopher Kohberger , 28, was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of murder in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students who were found dead on Nov. 13 at a home in Moscow, Idaho.

An investigator said in an affidavit unsealed on Jan. 5 that Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath at the crime scene. In the court document, Brett Payne, a police corporal in Moscow, Idaho, also said cellphone data shows that in the months before the attack, he was in the area of the victims' home multiple times.

A judge entered pleas of not guilty on Kohberger's behalf at his arraignment on May 22. Prosecutors announced June 26 they would pursue the death penalty in the case. The trial is scheduled to begin in June 2025 .

Here's what we know so far.

Who was arrested?

Bryan Kohberger , a 28-year-old graduate student in criminology, was arrested at his parents home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on a fugitive from justice warrant on Dec. 30, 2022. He faces four counts of first-degree murder and a count of felony burglary, Idaho officials announced.

Kohberger did not fight extradition and was returned to Idaho on Jan. 4, 2023.

Kohberger appeared in an Idaho court on Jan. 12 and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing, with his defense team asking the court for time to prepare for the case. A grand jury indicted Kohburger on May 17 on the same four murder charges he was already facing.

At his arraignment on May 22, Kohberger did not respond when the judge asked him in court how he pleaded to the charges, which led the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf.

Investigators haven't disclosed a possible motive or said whether they think Kohberger knew any of the victims. The four students killed were identified as Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

Location data from Kohberger's cellphone showed he had traveled to the area of the victims' residence at least a dozen times between late June and the night of the killings, authorities said.

At the time of his arrest, Kohberger was listed as a Ph.D. criminology student and teaching assistant at Washington State University's Pullman campus, which is a short drive from Moscow, Idaho. He completed a bachelor's degree at DeSales University in 2020, then did further graduate studies at the university until June 2022, a statement from DeSales confirmed.

The Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University responded to the news of Kohberger's arrest with a statement saying it was "deeply saddened" by the deaths and "equally shocked by the news that a student in our program is now a suspect in the case. Members of the department are cooperating with law enforcement officials to provide information pertinent to the ongoing criminal investigation."

It continued, "We look forward to the criminal justice process being carried out as this case progresses. Our hearts remain with the victims' families."

Monroe County chief public defender Jason LaBar, who represented Kohberger for the extradition, said Kohberger was eager to be exonerated and described him as "an ordinary guy."

LaBar previously shared a statement on behalf of the suspect's parents and two sisters, on New Year's Day. Acknowledging the arrest and the charges against him, Kohberger's family said they "will continue to let the legal process unfold" and confirmed that they "have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence." They also recognized "the families suffering loss."

"First and foremost we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them," Kohberger's family said in the statement, which was obtained by CBS News.

One of Kohberger's neighbors in Pullman, Washington, said the suspect spoke to him about the news of the killings days after they occurred.

"He brought it up in conversation," the neighbor, who asked not to be identified, told CBS News on Jan. 11. "[He] asked if I had heard about the murders, which I did. And then he said, 'Yeah, seems like they have no leads. Seems like it was a crime of passion.'"

"At the time of our conversation, it was only a few days after it happened so there wasn't much details out," the neighbor said.

In Kohberger's Washington apartment, investigators executing a search warrant found a pillowcase with reddish-brown stains, hair strands and a black nitrile-type glove, among other items.

What happened the night of the crime?

Police responded to a report of an unconscious person that they received around 11:58 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13. There, members of the Moscow Police Department found four University of Idaho students dead on the second and third floors of the home.

Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle were roommates who lived in the home, while the fourth victim, Ethan Chapin, did not live there but was dating Kernodle. Two other roommates lived in the home, but were not attacked and police said they believe they slept through the killings.

On Saturday night, police said, Chapin and Kernodle were at a party at a Sigma Chi house on the University of Idaho campus. They returned home around 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 13.

Mogen and Goncalves were at a bar called The Corner Club in downtown Moscow that night. They left the bar, stopped at a food truck, and then also returned home at about 1:45 a.m., police said.

Investigators are confident about the accuracy of Mogen and Goncalves' reported whereabouts throughout the night — witnesses say they saw both women at the club, described as a popular nightlife spot for university students, and video footage from a livestream confirmed their visit to the food truck. Leaked screenshots, allegedly taken from surveillance cameras and shared widely online in December, appeared to show Mogen and Goncalves at the nighttime venue called the Corner Club at around 1:30 a.m. on Nov. 13.

Police tape outside the house where four University of Idaho students were killed

The two surviving roommates who lived in the house were out separately in Moscow and returned home by 1 a.m. on Nov. 13, according to police. Neither of the surviving roommates were publicly identified for weeks after the murders took place, until the duo shared a letter at a memorial service in early December.

The timing of multiple calls to the cellphone of Kaylee Goncalves' ex-boyfriend placed the murders sometime after 3 a.m. The coroner said that the victims were likely asleep. Some had defensive wounds, and each person was stabbed multiple times. There was no evidence of sexual assault, police said.

An investigator said in court documents, unsealed on Jan. 5, that a woman who lived at the home awoke to the sound of crying that night to find a masked man in black clothing who walked past her and toward a sliding glass door. The unidentified housemate, who wasn't harmed in the attack, told authorities she opened her second-floor door at around 4 a.m. after hearing the crying and then stood in "frozen shock" as the man, whom she didn't recognize, walked past her, the police investigator said. She then went back into her room and locked the door.

What have investigators said about the evidence?

The investigator named in the affidavit — Moscow, Idaho Police Cpl. Brett Payne — also said that Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath found at the crime scene. According to an affidavit he wrote, agents recovered trash from the Kohberger family residence in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania on Dec. 27 and sent evidence to the Idaho State Lab to be tested. The next day, a DNA profile obtained from the trash was compared to the DNA profile obtained from the sheath.

"At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect's biological father," the affidavit said.

Investigators said surveillance footage captured near the home showed a white sedan — later identified as a Hyundai Elantra — drove by the home three times in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, returning a fourth time at about 4:04 a.m. The car was next spotted on surveillance cameras leaving King Road 16 minutes later "at a high rate of speed," Payne wrote. The same car was later spotted on a different camera headed toward Pullman.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry said a 911 call was made using one of the surviving roommates' phones, but he would not confirm the caller's identity. In a later statement, police said the 911 dispatcher spoke to multiple people, including the two roommates and people police identified as " other friends " before Moscow police arrived on the scene.

Who were the victims?

Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, was a senior at the university, majoring in marketing. Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho, was also a senior, with a major in general studies. The two met as sixth graders and were best friends, Kaylee's father, Steve Goncalves, told a crowd of hundreds who attended a vigil for the slain students.

"They went to high school together, then they started looking at colleges, they came here together. They eventually got into the same apartment together," Steve Goncalves said. "And in the end, they died together, in the same room, in the same bed."

Ben Mogen, Madison's father, said at the vigil she was his only child, so "everything she ever did was such a big deal." Talking about "Maddie" was his pride, Mogen said, and the two loved attending music concerts together.

Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho, was a marketing major and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Ethan Chapin, a 20-year-old freshman from Mount Vernon, Washington, was a member of Sigma Chi. He majored in recreation, sport and tourism management, according to the school.

A flyer seeking information on the murders of four students in Moscow, Idaho

Ethan Chapin was part of a set of triplets with a brother and sister, said his mother, Stacy Chapin. The family always tried to eat dinner together when time allowed, she said, and described spending countless hours taking the kids to various sporting events when they were younger. The triplets chose the University of Idaho because they wanted a small town and a beautiful campus with a thriving Greek system, she said.

In a letter written by the two surviving roommates and read aloud by their pastor, they called Chapin and Kernodle's relationship "unstoppable" and "perfect" before praising the foursome.

"You were all gifts to this world in your own special way, and it just won't be the same without you," Funke's letter said.

Scenes in Moscow, Idaho after four students found dead in their residence

Numerous people cleared by investigators

In the course of their investigation, police publicly cleared several people. The two surviving roommates and the "other friends" who called 911 are not believed to have been involved in the killings, police said; a sixth person also listed on the home's lease moved out at the beginning of the school year and has also been cleared.

Several people who the students crossed paths with before their deaths, including a man seen in the background of surveillance footage at a food truck and a "private party" who drove Goncalves and Mogen home, have also been cleared. Police also do not believe Goncalves' ex-boyfriend is a suspect, despite the early-morning phone calls.

After Rebecca Scofield, an assistant professor at the University of Idaho who chairs the school's history department, filed a defamation lawsuit against TikToker Ashley Guillard for spreading allegedly false and baseless statements claiming the professor was involved in the murders, Moscow Police also seemed to clear Scofield's name in a Dec. 27 news release.

"At this time in the investigation, detectives do not believe the female associate professor and chair of the history department at the University of Idaho suing a TikTok user for defamation is involved in this crime," authorities said in the news release. "The Moscow Police Department will not provide a statement about the ongoing civil process."

Scofield filed the defamation suit in Idaho's federal district court on Dec. 21, after Guillard — a tarot card reader who purports to solve "mysteries," mainly focusing on high-profile murders, on her TikTok page — shared numerous videos between late November and late December accusing the professor of having a role in the brutal killings and a romantic relationship with one of the students, many of which garnered tens of thousands of views. In court documents, Scofield's attorneys said she had never met or taught any of the four students who were killed, and was in Portland, Oregon, with her husband on the night of the murders.

In an update shared on Dec. 5, Moscow Police said investigators had identified an incident between Goncalves and a man, who they did not publicly name, that "may have been the stalker reference she made to friends and family." Detectives did not find evidence suggesting that there was a pattern of stalking linked to this specific incident, according to the police.

"In mid-October, two males were seen inside a local business; they parted ways, and one male appeared to follow Kaylee inside the business and as she exited to walk toward her car. The male turned away, and it did not appear he made any contact with her," police said.

"Detectives contacted both males and learned the two were attempting to meet women at the business," the update continued, adding that additional probing led investigators to "believe this was an isolated incident and not an ongoing pattern of stalking." There is no evidence that suggests either of the men was involved in the murders, police said.

On Nov. 16, Fry told reporters that investigators believed it was "a targeted attack." In the ensuing days, however, police did not clarify that comment, or explain how they could make that statement without a suspect. Alivea Goncalves, the sister of victim Kaylee Goncalves, told NewsNation on Nov. 28 that police had not explained that to the families either.

"Law enforcement is kind of throwing around this word 'targeted,' but we don't know what that means, and it almost makes it feel alienating because we don't have any more information on that," Goncalves said. "I don't know who that target was, if it was one of them, if it was all of them. I just don't know."

In a statement on Nov. 30, the department appeared to walk back their earlier claims while addressing recent conflicting comments made by Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, who had said at least one of the victims was " undoubtedly targeted " in the attack. The department called Thompson's comments the result of a "miscommunication."

Later that week, police clarified that they still believed the attack was targeted, "but have not concluded if the target was the residence or its occupants."

Students Killed
University of Idaho
Bryan Kohberger