Latest news with #perfectcrime
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Author Reveals The One Mistake That Ruined Bryan Kohberger's 'Perfect Murders' Of Idaho Students
Bryan Kohberger believed he had committed the perfect crime until one small misstep unraveled everything, according to author James Patterson. During a recent interview, Petterson revealed how the single mistake led to the downfall of the man behind the Idaho University student murders. This revelation comes after Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the killings of 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, along with 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were found dead in their off-campus home. In the wake of Bryan Kohberger's stunning guilty plea to the murders of four Idaho University students, bestselling author James Patterson has offered chilling insight into how one fatal error prevented him from getting away with it all. Drawing from a theory by forensic psychology expert Dr. Katherine Ramsland, Patterson explained that killers often fall into "tunnel vision" during their crimes. This, he claimed, makes them "panic" and "miss things" that wouldn't have happened on a typical day. He believes Kohberger experienced the same psychological spiral while carrying out the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, referencing how it made him leave behind crucial evidence that led to his capture. "So here was Kohberger, who almost committed the perfect murders – except [he had] that tunnel vision," Patterson told Fox News Digital in an interview. He added, "He left that knife sheath behind. And that's what ultimately led to his arrest." Patterson is also the co-author of "The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy" and producer of the Prime Video docuseries "One Night in Idaho: The College Murders," two projects that pull back the curtain on the Idaho University students' murders and Kohberger's life prior to committing these crimes. While discussing with the outlet, he explained how Kohberger was socially awkward, particularly towards women, whom he allegedly wrongfully graded while working as a teaching assistant for his Phd in Criminology. "He was inappropriate – he didn't know how to socialize very well," Patterson said about Kohberger. "He was a teaching assistant, and he was just turning people off. He graded the women poorly. He had an inability to deal with women, yet he thought he was popular. It was a thought of, why aren't these people, these women, loving him? Because he found himself very worthy. And in this documentary, most of this comes out." Speaking further about Kohberger's social awkwardness, Patterson claimed that the former PhD student would often try to engage female bartenders and patrons at the Seven Sirens Brewing Company, a popular restaurant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. However, rather than being attracted to him as he had hoped, he was "simply off-putting" to them. Some even went so far as to complain to the brewery's owner about "the creepy guy," Kohberger, who they claimed had "bulging eyes." "He made people uncomfortable," said Patterson. "The bartenders and owners remembered him as being this weird duck who would sit at a bar and just weird everybody out and talk inappropriately. He had a lot of trouble socializing." Back in December 2022, Kohberger was arrested and charged with the murders, just several weeks after committing the crimes. Although many might view the time between the murders and his arrest as relatively short, Patterson claimed that it wasn't an easy case and that authorities were simply fortunate that Kohberger made a critical mistake. "It was a hard case to solve," the award-winning author shared. "[Investigators] were very fortunate that Kohberger made that one really big blunder. He added, "[Kohberger didn't make a lot of mistakes. So it was a tough investigation… He might've never been caught. We might've been writing about God knows what right now." Having pleaded guilty to the murders and the burglary charge linked to the crimes, Kohberger is expected to be formally sentenced at a hearing on July 23. He is facing four consecutive life sentences, one for each murder, as well as a 10-year sentence for the burglary charge. Pursuing a conviction in court could have resulted in a guilty verdict, but it would likely have triggered years of costly and time-consuming appeals from Kohberger and his lawyers. It would have also forced the victims' families to relive the deaths of their loved ones, an experience that can be profoundly traumatic. These reasons were hinted at in a letter written by prosecutors to the victims' families. "This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family," they said, per ABC News. "This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals," they added. "We hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice."
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE How Bryan Kohberger almost got away with the perfect crime
Bryan Kohberger came within a whisker of pulling off the 'perfect crime' and getting away with the murders of four young students. Robin Dreeke, former Chief of the Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program, told Daily Mail that Kohberger, 30, would have gotten away with the 2022 stabbings in Moscow, Idaho, had he not forgotten to wipe his DNA from a knife sheath. And Dreeke offered a fascinating insight into why he thinks Kohberger made the mistake: the notorious murders he wished to emulate all pre-dated DNA technology. Koherger, who admitted killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernoble and Ethan Chapin at a plea deal hearing in Boise Wednesday, planned and executed most of the bloodbath with the terrifying precision and coldness, Dreeke said. But he slipped up because he had a 'dated' perception of the 'forensic capabilities of investigators,' Dreeke believes. 'He simply didn't know about the potential of touch DNA being on that sheath and the law enforcement folks being able to extract it,' Dreeke told Daily Mail. 'Also, he may not have been aware that his father was in the database that outed him. 'Those were the critical errors.' Kohberger was a criminology student at the University of Washington who searched for notorious killer Ted Bundy online. Bundy killed at least 20 women and girls between 1974 and 1978 and was caught thanks to a lucky break and rudimentary forensic testing on hairs found in his Volkswagen Beetle. Dreeke said that in other respects, Kohberger was the perfect killing machine and offered a bloodcurdling motive for the slaughter. 'He's a psychopath,' Dreeke explained, noting that he is not a clinical psychologist so he cannot formally diagnose Kohberger - but reiterated that the killer fits the profile. Psychopathy is a complex personality disorder marked by several traits, most notably lack of empathy and poor behavioral controls. 'Kohberger has zero empathy. He's devoid of emotion,' he said. 'People ask if he is guilty - do I think he did it? Yes. But guilt is an emotion. 'He does not have emotions.' 'People think too hard about what he's thinking. They were analyzing his court appearance saying he was trying to control his emotions. There's nothing to control. He doesn't have emotions. 'He's cold-blooded killer looking for a rush.' He believes that Kohberger would '100 per cent' kill again had he not been arrested over the slayings because of the emotional response that murder provides him. Although Dreeke only has his 'theory and conjecture', the criminal behavior expert believes Kohberger's decision to kill Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernoble and Ethan Chapin had little to do with them. 'I think it had nothing to do with the girls. It was all about him,' he said of the five women living in the off-campus house in Moscow, northern Idaho. 'Kohberger studied how to do this for a long time. He was OCD in his methodology and I think he set out to commit the perfect crime.' Dreeke believes he targeted the home because it was in a location that he perceived as safe. The shared residence was a 'high traffic home' that allowed him to hide in 'plain sight' and go 'undetected'. 'He did precisely what you should do if you studied this, but you haven't done it before,' he added. The former FBI agents says it his possible Kohberger would still be at large today had he not left DNA on the knife sheath found at the crime scene. Investigators linked Kohberger to the killings after collecting DNA samples from the garbage outside his parents' Pennsylvania home. They determined DNA left on a Q-Tip at the residence belonged to the father of the person whose DNA was found on the sheath. Dreeke notes that investigators may have 'eventually' tied Kohberger to the case after looking into his car - which was seen in Moscow the night of the killings and 23 times prior - but that scenario is 'much less probable'. Regardless, the former FBI agent is confident that had he not been caught, Kohberger would have continued to kill. 'Why wouldn't he? He didn't kill out of vengeance toward the students. He killed for himself... and liked it!' Dreeke told Daily Mail. He believes the murderer would have learned from the Idaho kill, studying what he did correctly and his mistakes, and would do it again. Dreeker further believes Kohberger would've chosen a similar environment - a shared home or 'vulnerable location where he could move in and out unobserved' - for his next kill. 'He would use a knife to again because it worked,' he added. 'Killing someone with a knife is personal, up close and causes an emotional response. Kohberger was looking for an emotional response 'Serial killers often take trophies - a memory, an imprint of the fantasy they tried to live out. In this case, his selfie was the only trophy. That's not a lot to remember it by, so he most certainly would've done it again.' Kohberger on Wednesday pleaded guilty to the quadruple stabbing of Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle and Chapin in November 2022. The controversial plea bargain spared him the death penalty and will instead see him serve four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. The deal also included a clause that Kohberger cannot ever appeal his conviction. He will be sentenced later this month and will have the chance to speak. But Kohberger will not be forced to address the court, meaning his true motive may never be known. Lead prosecutor Bill Thompson laid out his key evidence Wednesday at Kohberger's plea hearing. The evidentiary summary spun a dramatic tale that included a DNA-laden Q-tip plucked from the garbage in the dead of the night, a getaway car stripped so clean of evidence that it was 'essentially disassembled inside' and a fateful early-morning Door Dash order that may have put one of the victims in Kohberger's path. These details offered new insights into how the crime unfolded on Nov. 13, 2022, and how investigators ultimately solved the case using surveillance footage, cell phone tracking and DNA matching. But the synopsis leaves hanging key questions that could have been answered at trial - including a motive for the stabbings and why Kohberger picked that house, and those victims, all apparent strangers to him. Kohberger, now 30, had begun a doctoral degree in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University - across the state line from Moscow, Idaho - months before the crimes. 'The defendant has studied crime,' Thompson told the court. 'In fact, he did a detailed paper on crime scene processing when he was working on his PhD, and he had that knowledge skillset.' Kohberger's cell phone began connecting with cell towers in the area of the crime more than four months before the stabbings, Thompson said, and pinged on those towers 23 times between the hours of 10pm and 4am in that time period. A compilation of surveillance videos from neighbors and businesses also placed Kohberger's vehicle - known to investigators because of a routine traffic stop by police in August - in the area. On the night of the killings, Kohberger parked behind the house and entered through a sliding door to the kitchen at the back of the house shortly after 4am. He then moved to the third floor, where Mogen and Goncalves were sleeping and stabbed them both the death. Kohberger left a knife sheath next to Mogen's body. Both victims' blood was later found on the sheath, along with DNA from a single male that ultimately helped investigators pinpoint Kohberger as the only suspect. On the floor below, Kernodle was still awake. As Kohberger was leaving the house, he crossed paths with her and killed her with a large knife. He then killed Chapin - Kernodle's boyfriend, who had been sleeping in her bedroom. Two other roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, survived unharmed. Mortensen was expected to testify at trial that sometime before 4.19am she saw an intruder there with 'bushy eyebrows,' wearing black clothing and a ski mask. Roughly five minutes later, Kohbeger's car could be seen on a neighbor's surveillance camera speeding away so fast 'the car almost loses control as it makes the corner,' Thompson said. After Kohberger fled the scene, his cover-up was elaborate. But methodical police work ultimately caught up with him, with Kohberger now one of the world's most notorious mass-murderers.
