Report: Bryan Kohberger files reveal missed clues of his massacre

Daily Mail​

5 days ago

Convicted killer Bryan Kohberger was spotted with fingernail-type scratches across his face and wounds on his knuckles around the time that he murdered four Idaho students in a brutal attack - but brushed the injuries off as a car accident. A teaching assistant and fellow criminology student at Washington State University told investigators he had noticed the injuries on the 30-year-old killer's face and hands on two separate occasions around October and November 2022, new police records show.
One of the injuries was a large scratch on Kohberger's face which the student, whose name was redacted, described as looking like fingernail scratches, the records show. When he asked Kohberger what had happened to him, he claimed he had been in a car accident. It was around that time that Kohberger murdered Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin , both 20. In the early hours of November 13, 2022, the criminology PhD student broke into the victims' home at 1122 King Road, Moscow, and stabbed the four victims to death, many of them while they slept. It is not clear if Kohberger sustained his injuries while carrying out his stabbing rampage but records reveal Kernodle fought for her life against her attacker. Kohberger refused to reveal any details about the murders or his motive when he was forced to face the victims' families at his sentencing Wednesday. But, following his sentencing, Moscow Police has unsealed hundreds of records around the case, including eerie encounters the students had at 1122 King Road before they were murdered.
In the police interview with the unidentified WSU student - who shared an office with the killer - he recalled Kohberger becoming chattier after the murders. On more than one occasion, Kohberger spoke to him about wanting a girlfriend. From what the student saw, the killer had used his authority as a TA to 'inappropriately interact with female students' at WSU. The student also revealed Kohberger liked to discuss his area of study 'which was criminal decision making and burglary type crimes' - a chilling interest that he then acted out himself. While the student considered Kohberger intelligent and a friend, he also described him as selfish and dishonest. Here are some of the other key revelations from the trove of documents:
Keeping track of police
On the night he decided to kill, Kohberger tried to keep an ear to the ground about the movements of local law enforcement. Investigators found he had searched Google for 'Broadcastify.com/listen/feed, Pullman police and fire dispatch live audio feed' at 12.26am on November 13, 2022. Just three hours later, he carried out his attack. That same day, there had been a hit-and-run close to Kohberger's WSU housing in Pullman, which meant there was a heavy police presence near his home earlier that day. Kohberger had also screenshotted the jail roster of the inmate arrested over that crash.
Kohberger's police interview after arrest
Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, in the early hours of December 30, 2022. He was taken to Pennsylvania State Police Barracks at Stroudsburg to be interviewed by officers from the Moscow police department, Idaho State Police and the FBI. After Kohberger was read his Miranda rights and confirmed he understood, he told the officers he was concerned about his parents and his dog following the raid on their home. They then made small talk about sports and Kohberger's studies at WSU. Kohberger went into detail about his education at DeSales University, Northampton Community College and now WSU and regaled the officers with how he became interested in criminal justice and considered becoming a police officer. He told them he wanted to become a professor 'because he loved being in college' and stated that 'knowledge was far more important to him than money'.
When asked if he would be a TA again the following semester, Kohberger said he would. In reality, Kohberger had already been fired as a TA. After engaging freely in small talk, things took a turn when the murders were brought up - with Kohberger then shutting the interview down. Kohberger had asked what he was doing there. He was told it was 'because of what occurred in Moscow'. When asked if he knew what had happened, he replied: 'Of course.' One of the detectives then asked if he wanted to talk about. 'Well, I think I would need a lawyer,' Kohberger replied, ending the interview.
Stalking at 1122 King Road
The records reveal the victims had seen a man lurking in the trees outside their home and noticed a string of bizarre incidents at 1122 King Road in the weeks before the murders. Around one month earlier, Goncalves had told multiple people including surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke and her ex-boyfriend Jack DuCoeur that she had seen a man watching her in the trees around the home when she took her pet dog Murphy outside. Friends also recalled multiple occasions when, during parties at the home, Goncalves' dog Murphy would run barking into the tree line and wouldn't return when he was called. This was out of character for the dog, they said. On November 4, 2022 - just nine days before the murders - the roommates had come home to find the door to their three-story house open. Funke said that they had grabbed golf clubs and gone room to room, thinking there was an intruder.
Goncalves had also mentioned someone following her around two or three weeks before her murder. Around that same time, a female student living on Queen Road - close to the King Road home - said a man tried to break into her home but the door was locked. Evidence indicates Kohberger was watching the home in the lead-up to the murders. From July 2022 through to November 13, 2022, Kohberger's phone placed him in the vicinity of the King Road home at least 23 times, mostly at night. Moscow Police Corporal Brett Payne said Wednesday Kohberger 'targeted' 1122 King Road, but authorities still don't know why.
Photos of students on killer's cell phone
A WSU student told police Kohberger appeared to have kept photos from her Instagram on his cell phone. A recent Dateline episode revealed that Kohberger had several photos of women on his cellphone, many of them students at WSU or the University of Idaho and some of them in swimwear. After the show aired, a woman told police she recognized herself and one of her friends in the photos. She believed they had been taken off her Instagram account which had been public back in 2022. The woman had been in a class at WSU where Kohberger was the TA and recalled him being socially awkward.
Creepy Tinder and club encounters with women
The records reveal that, following his arrest, several women came forward to police about creepy interactions they had with Kohberger. One unidentified woman claimed to have matched with Kohberger on Tinder in September or October 2022 - just weeks before the murders. Kohberger told her he was a criminology student at WSU and she confided that one of her friends had been murdered a few years earlier. They went on to talk about their favorite horror movies, she said. Kohberger then allegedly asked the woman a chilling question: what did she think would be the worst way to die? She told police that when she told him by knife, he responded with an eerie comment to the effect of, 'like a Ka-Bar?' Around one month later, Kohberger is believed to have used a Ka-Bar knife to slaughter his victims.
Surviving roommates' harrowing accounts
Court documents previously revealed Mortensen was woken by noises in the home and came face-to-face with the killer as he walked past her bedroom door and left through the back sliding door on the second floor. The documents reveal for the first time that Funke - whose bedroom was on the first floor - was also woken up by the noises inside the home that night. In her police interview, she told officers she went to bed around 2.30am but was woken to a sound she described as a firecracker and a flash. She also heard what sounded like the beer pong table moving and cups falling in the living room above as well as Murphy barking. Funke told investigators she initially thought it could be a prank from some of Chapin's frat brothers. Around 4am, multiple neighbors said they heard a dog - believed to be Goncalves' pet Murphy - outside and barking for about 45 minutes. Officers found Murphy on the third floor of the home inside Goncalves' bedroom, with the door open.
Murder kit purchases
Several tips came into police about individuals shopping for items matching the description of what the killer wore the night of the murders. Mortensen saw Kohberger masked and dressed head-to-toe in black as he exited the home. During a police canvass of local businesses on November 14, 2022, a worker at Walmart told officers that two to three weeks earlier a man had come in looking for a black ski mask that would cover his face The man, a white college-aged male, left when the worker said they only had camo masks. It is not clear if the man was Kohberger. At that time, Mortensen's eyewitness account had not been made public. Following his arrest, purchase records show Kohberger did buy a beanie from Walmart on November 7, 2022 - six days before the murders. The clothing Kohberger wore when committing the murders has never been found.
Harrowing details of victims' injuries
H arrowing new details were revealed about the injuries Kohberger inflicted on his victims by the accounts of some of the f irst officers on the scene. Kernodle's body was on the floor of her bedroom covered in blood. She had suffered more than 50 stab wounds - including two to the heart and multiple defensive wounds, including a deep gash between her finger and thumb. 'It was obvious an intense struggle had occurred,' the officer wrote. 'There was blood smeared on various items in the room and all over the floor.' Chapin was partially covered with a blanket in her bed, with his jugular severed, the police files said. On the floor above, officers found the bodies of Mogen and Goncalves. As well as more than 20 stab wounds, Goncalves' face was so badly damaged she was 'unrecognizable.' Mogen had wounds to her forearm, hands and a huge gash from her right eye to her nose. Both were covered in blood, which had covered the pink blanket they were sharing.
Jailhouse incidents
Since his arrest, Kohberger's behavior inside prison has also raised eyebrows with some fellow inmates. One inmate told investigators Kohberger would spend hours on video calls with his mom MaryAnn. The inmate reported one incident when, during one of these calls, he had said 'you suck' at a sports player he was watching on TV. The remark rattled Kohberger, causing him to respond aggressively, thinking the inmate was speaking about him or his mother, the records show. He 'immediately got up and put his face to the bars' and asked if he was talking about him or his mom, the inmate told investigators. Other than that incident, Kohberger came across as highly intelligent and polite behind bars, the inmate said. But he also displayed unusual habits such as washing his hands 'dozens of times a day,' spending '45 minutes to an hour in the shower' and staying awake almost all night, only napping during the day.
Sightings at possible dump sites
The murder weapon has never been found. Investigators learned that, later on November 13, 2022, Kohberger drove to the areas of the Clearwater River and the Snake River in the Lewis and Clarkston Valley - around 30 miles south of Moscow and Pullman - stopping at various businesses in the area. It is unclear what Kohberger did during that time or if he disposed of critical evidence of the murders. The records reveal that several tipsters reported sightings of a man believed to be Kohberger and his vehicle around the area at that time - and investigators carried out searches looking for evidence. One woman told police she had seen a man walking in the grassy area between the river and the highway by Red Wolf Bridge and 'thought this was strange as there was nothing for anyone to be doing there.' She said the man looked like Kohberger, was wearing 'nice clothes' and appeared to avoid her gaze.