Evidence that caught student killer Bryan Kohberger revealed in new photos
Police have released images for the first time of the crucial piece of evidence that unmasked the killer of four students following ‘a months-long investigation’. On November 13, 2022, University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found murdered in their off-campus apartment after their surviving roommates called police for help. (Picture: AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
More than a month later, in the early hours of December 30, criminology PhD student Bryan Kohberger was arrested after it was revealed he had mistakenly left behind a brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath on a bed next to Mogen’s body as he fled the scene. It proved to be the key for detectives to unlock the case, and Idaho State Police have included images of the sheath as part of more than 2,300 pages of evidence now released to the public. (Picture: Idaho State Police)
The documents include text messages between investigators, who reveal that the sheath was initially checked for fingerprints but that none were found, Daily Mail reports. Swabs were then taken from the sheath for forensic testing, showing it contained the blood of best friends Mogen and Goncalves (pictured), as well as a DNA profile from a then-unidentified male. (Picture: ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock)
The sample found no matches when entered into the CODIS database of known offenders, and the DNA was then sent to Othram’s forensic genetic genealogy lab in Texas, where the team built a profile of the suspect, finding the family derived from Pennsylvania and had a specific Italian background — of which only two families in the US fit the criteria. (Picture: Idaho State Police)
Investigators determined that only one man from those families could have been in the area on the day of the murders. He lived just 10 minutes away from the scene and drove a vehicle matching one spotted at the scene on surveillance footage. Officers tracked Kohberger to his parents’ home and posed as garbage collectors to obtain DNA samples using items including band aids, a straw, earplugs, water bottles, nail clippers and a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup. (Picture: Idaho State Police)
Analysis of a Q-tip found it contained the DNA from the father of the person whose DNA was on the sheath and Kohberger, now 30, was arrested for the murders. Despite a search of his apartment, office and car, no connection between Kohberger and any of the victims was ever found, and his motivation for the killings remains unknown. (Picture: AP)
The murder weapon has also never been found. Kohberger bought the sheath and a Ka-Bar knife, suspected to have been used in the murders, from Amazon in March 2022, eight months before the killings took place. Kohberger fought the charges for more than two years until he struck a plea deal weeks before the trial was due to begin. (Picture: EPA)
The deal meant the mass killer avoided the death penalty and he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. At sentencing, he refused the opportunity to speak or reveal the motives for the crimes. Kohberger is being held at Idaho’s maximum-security prison in Kuna. (Picture: REUTERS)
His lack of explanation for the murders sparked anger, including from President Donald Trump, who wrote on social media at the time: ‘These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered.’ Trump said that life imprisonment is ‘tough’ but ‘certainly better’ than getting the death penalty, adding: ‘Before sentencing, I hope the judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders. There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING. People were shocked that he was able to plea bargain, but the judge should make him explain what happened. Thank you for your attention to this matter!’ (Picture: EPA)
Trump also referred to the victims – Kaylee Goncalves, 21 (bottom left); Xana Kernodle, 20 (right); Madison Mogen, 21 (top left); and Ethan Chapin, 20 (middle) – as ‘four wonderful young souls’. The families of victims have been divided on Kohberger’s plea deal, with Chapin’s parents reportedly satisfied. However, Goncalves’ loved ones vocally opposed it. Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves, left the courtroom before Kohberger’s plea hearing began, saying he was ‘just getting out of this zoo’. The family wrote on Facebook that they were ‘beyond furious at the State of Idaho’ and that ‘they have failed us’. (Picture: Instagram) Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google Add as preferred source
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