Court documents released on Thursday reveal that Bryan Christopher Kohberger, the suspect in the murders of four University of Idaho students, was linked to the crime scene through DNA found on a knife sheath. Authorities matched the DNA after testing trash collected from his family's home in Pennsylvania, with a 99.9998% accuracy rate.
The documents also detail a harrowing account from a surviving roommate, who reported seeing a masked man walking past her after hearing crying around 4 am on 13 November. She described him as a tall, athletic white male with bushy eyebrows, dressed in black. The knife sheath was found alongside one of the victims.
Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology graduate student, came under suspicion after security footage near the crime scene showed a white sedan driving past the home four times before the murders. A subsequent 'be-on-the-lookout' alert led a Washington State University security officer to spot a Hyundai Elantra matching the description, registered to Kohberger.
On 13 December, the vehicle was detected by a license plate reader in Colorado, prompting the FBI to instruct Indiana authorities to pull over the car, which contained Kohberger and his father. Surveillance footage on 16 December showed Kohberger in Pennsylvania. On 27 December, Pennsylvania authorities collected trash from his family's home, which provided the DNA match.
Kohberger was arrested on 30 December in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania, and extradited to Idaho earlier this week. The four victims—Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21—were fatally stabbed in their off-campus house. Autopsies indicated they were likely asleep at the time, with multiple stab wounds and some defensive injuries.
