MOSCOW, Idaho — The Moscow Police Department-led investigation into the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students — Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin — came under scrutiny as authorities remained tight-lipped and maintained that they had not identified a suspect nearly seven weeks into the investigation.
But the newly released 19-page probable cause affidavit showed that authorities pinpointed 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger, who police alleged killed the students in an off-campus apartment, less than two weeks after the stabbings.
In the weeks that would follow, law enforcement alleged that, with the help of multiple agencies, they used DNA evidence, cellphone and vehicle records, along with surveillance footage to obtain enough evidence to arrest and charge Kohberger.
Kohberger, a then-Washington State University grad student, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and a single count of felony burglary for entering the King Road home “with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder,” according to a criminal complaint filed by the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office.
He is expected to appear in court again at 10 a.m. Pacific time Thursday, Jan. 12 at the Latah County Courthouse. If convicted, Kohberger could face up to life in prison or the death penalty — if the prosecution chooses to seek that.
Despite new information, some questions remain. The Idaho Statesman has gone through the newest information released by police and compared it with previously known information to try and get a clearer picture of what happened to the four young college friends on Nov. 13.
How long did police have a suspect?
The week before Kohberger was arrested, law enforcement personnel were honing in on him — as police continued to tell the public that they hadn’t identified a suspect.
Just two days before his arrest, the Idaho State Police Crime Lab linked the DNA from the knife sheath to trash found by “Pennsylvania agents” in Kohbeger’s family home. Multiple national news outlets, including CNN, reported that authorities tracked Kohberger during his cross-country trip back east and surveilled him for four days before the arrest.
Police first identified Kohberger on Nov. 25 through vehicles registered with Washington State University. By that point, police had learned they were looking for a white Hyundai Elantra that had driven back to Pullman from Moscow.
But, in a Dec. 29 news release, Moscow police reiterated “no suspect(s) had been identified.”
Former Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney, who now consults for other law enforcement agencies, in a phone interview before Kohberger was arrested, told the Statesman that law enforcement officials may have good reasons for withholding information.
Raney said authorities often will release limited information to the public until a suspect is arrested and convicted — though he acknowledged that sometimes a community has a legitimate reason to be privy to additional information.
“Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and trust them because we want them to do the best possible job they can at the end of the day,” Raney said back in December, “and that may mean that we don’t know something right now.”
Was the community ever in danger?
After Kohberger was apprehended in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30, information flooded the news cycle and online discussion groups with details about who he was and what he was doing in the time between the crimes and his arrest.
The public was shocked to learn he had been living at his on-campus apartment in Pullman and still attending classes at WSU in the weeks following the killings.
Dozens of media organizations interviewed former classmates and others who claimed to know Kohberger, many of whom said he finished out the fall semester in person.
In the days following the four students’ deaths, authorities sought to downplay any broader danger to the community. Investigators, revealing scant about how the victims died, made their best attempts to calm nerves and repeatedly assured residents that there was no wider threat to the community.
“The Moscow police does not believe there is an ongoing community risk based on information gathered during the preliminary investigation,” the local agency said in a Nov. 14 press release. “Currently, there is no one in custody.”
The public began to question Moscow police’s statement as more information trickled in about the victims’ causes of death, as well as the lack of an identified suspect. It’s been seven years since the Moscow community — and its police department — has dealt with a homicide case, and drawn-out murder investigations are rare in the small community.
Many U of I students, fearing for their safety, packed their things and left town. The ones who stayed told the Statesman they were anxious about the dearth of information regarding the killings, worried about what happened and wondered who was responsible.
Three days after the killings, the messaging began to change. Moscow Police Chief James Fry walked back earlier statements, telling the community at a news conference that he “cannot say that there is no threat to the community.”
It’s unclear when investigators officially identified Kohberger as a suspect, but the affidavit showed they began tracking him less than two weeks after the stabbings. Police have not revealed a motive for the crimes.
Kohberger’s cellphone used towers serving the King Road home at least a dozen times before the homicides, according to the affidavit.
What type of knife was used?
Fry said during last week’s news conference that the actual weapon has not been found.
A Ka-Bar “tan leather knife sheath” with a U.S. Marine Corps insignia — which had a key sample of DNA on it — was found on the floor in Mogen’s room, according to the affidavit.
Authorities were unwilling to comment on whether they were specifically searching for a Ka-Bar knife after the Idaho Statesman reported police visited a store asking about the knife. An Idaho State Police spokesperson said officers had visited a few local hardware stores that carried “fixed-blade type knives.”
“They were specifically asking whether or not we carry Ka-Bar-style knives, which we do not,” Scott Jutte, the general manager of Moscow Building Supply said in a November interview. “If we did, we could’ve reviewed surveillance footage. But it wasn’t something I could help them with.”
The 7-inch blade became a standard issue with the Marine Corps in 1942 after World War II, according to the company’s website. It later became a knife used by other branches of the military including the Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Underwater Demolition Teams.
Who lived where?
The Statesman previously reported the surviving roommates lived on the first floor of the three-story King Road rental home. The newly released affidavit showed one of the surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen, lived on the second floor alongside Kernodle.
According to the affidavit, Mortensen lived in the southeast bedroom of the second floor, while Kernodle, whose body was found on the floor of her room, lived on the west side of the house. Chapin, who was spending the night with his girlfriend, Kernodle, was also found in her bedroom.
The other surviving roommate lived on the east side of the first floor. The floor, which has two bedrooms just like every other floor in the house, has access to the driveway.
Goncalves and Mogen lived on the third floor. According to the affidavit, Goncalves’ bedroom was located on the west side, while Mogen’s bedroom was on the southeast side. Both Mogen and Goncalves were found in Mogen’s room in bed.
Goncalves’ dog Murphy was located in her bedroom unharmed.
Were the students asleep?
Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said the four students who were killed were “likely asleep.” But according to the affidavit, Mortensen told authorities Goncalves and Kernodle appeared awake around the time of the attack.
Kernodle received a DoorDash order at the King Road home at 4 a.m. and, according to phone data, used TikTok on her phone around 4:12 a.m, the affidavit said. Mortensen told police she believed that she heard Goncalves playing with her dog — which woke her up around 4 a.m.
Mortensen then heard either Goncalves or Kernodle say something to the effect of “there’s someone here,” the affidavit said. Sometime after 4:17 p.m. Mortensen reopened her door and saw a masked man in black “walking toward her” and was in “frozen shock.” The man walked past her and out the sliding glass door on the second floor, and she locked herself in her room, she said.
It was previously unclear whether the surviving roommates were awake during the attack. Moscow police, in multiple news releases, said that they “did not wake up until later that morning,” keeping their comment vague.
Who was the unconscious person?
Police previously reported that they were called to the residence because one of the victims passed out and would not wake up, and that an unnamed 911 caller requested aid for an “unconscious person.”
Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, appeared on NBC’s “Today” on Friday and shared previously unknown details about what happened during the 911 call. He said one of the two surviving roommates “passed out” during the call.
“One passed out. And the other one was hyperventilating that the message wasn’t clear enough for the operator,” Goncalves said to NBC. “You got to remember these two girls were so upset that when they went outside after seeing this. ... It wasn’t very legible. (The dispatcher) couldn’t quite understand what these girls were seeing.”
Kohberger’s application with Pullman Police Department
According to police, Kohberger did apply for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in the fall of 2022. But Kyle Serrott, a Ph.D. student in the American Studies and Culture program at Washington State University, told the Statesman it’s not uncommon.
“I think that context is important because otherwise, it’s painting a more sinister picture than I think it was,” Serrott said.
He added that as graduate students they are “constantly applying for something.”
Serrott said he believed Kohberger actually applied for a fellowship known as the Doctoral Level Graduate Research Assistantship for Public Safety, based on his knowledge of Kohberger’s program and the description in the affidavit. The assistantship is a three-year program with the city of Pullman and works with the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology — which is the program Kohbeger was enrolled in, according to the university’s website.
In the affidavit, police alleged, Kohbeger in an essay to the department said he had an interest in “assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations.”
