The clues and evidence are finally unraveling the mystery of the murders of four University of Idaho students in November. Law enforcement is beginning to find clues about a motive and the connection between the accused killer and his victims.
A couple of weeks before the four University of Idaho students were murdered on November 13, there is evidence that accused killer Bryan Kohberger was sending one of the victims messages on Instagram, according to sources familiar with the case. The young woman did not reply to the messages, but Kohberger continued to send them to her.
The source said the suspect sent the victim direct messages (DM’s on Instagram) several times, saying, “Hey, how are you?”
Kohberger was allegedly following all the female victims on Instagram.
Police also say that Kohberger, a criminology student, was stalking the female victims. Cell phone data tracked him at the same locations as the victims in the weeks before the murders.
Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin were stabbed at their off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning of November 13. The intruder somehow entered the house and murdered the four students using a fixed-blade knife.
A month and a half after the murders, police arrested 28-year-old Kohberger, a Ph.D. student at Washington State University, which is not far from Idaho State University. They charged him with four counts of murder and one felony burglary count for entering the house.
Kohberger was arrested at his parent’s home in Pennsylvania on December 30. He waived extradition and returned to Idaho on January 4 to face murder charges.
A roommate on the first floor of the house was not attacked and told detectives that she saw the accused as he left the house, dressed in black and wearing a mask. She described what he looked like and said he walked right past her and noticed her, but exited the house.
DNA and cellphone data also linked Kohberger to the crime scene at the time of the murders, and show that he returned to the area in the morning.
Police have not revealed the motive for the gruesome murders or publicly discussed the connection between the victims and the suspect, but the evidence is starting to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
Police don’t think the victims were aware of the accused, but he was clearly aware of them.
Bryan Kohberger will be in court for a preliminary hearing on June 26.