@Idaho College Murders

[aprilsails]

I read some articles and it looks as though it is a strong case against him. Thank goodness. My heart breaks for the families and community impacted by this tragedy.

[Velar Fricative]

The probable cause affidavit was released today: www.cnn.com/us/live-news/idaho-student-murders-suspect-bryan-kohberger-court-01-05-2023/index.html

I read the whole thing. He is toast.

Main points:

1. He left a knife sheath on the bed next to one of the victims. A small DNA sample was found.

2. One of the surviving roommates lived on the same floor as some of the other victims. She heard noises at around 4:00 am and opened the door to find a masked man matching the suspect's physical description walking by her. They looked at each other but he still left the house without harming her. They found a footprint by her door.

3. Cell phone records show consistency with where his locations were on the night of the murders (showing a clear path between his home in WA and the area of the murders), but he likely turned off his phone in the immediate 2 hours surrounding the murders. Cell phone records also show he was tracked somewhere in the house's vicinity at least a dozen times between his arrival in WA in August until the murders.

4. DNA was collected from a trash bag in PA right after Christmas. The DNA from the trash was likely his father's since it was a familial match.

[eddy]

I am so disturbed by the details. I have followed this case closely as it is so bizarre someone could stab 4 people in their sleep.

Anyways the investigators did a great job of keeping details close to the vest. So many surprising details.

And yes he is toast. This is really solid preliminary evidence.

[mcppalmbeach]

I am so sad for those family members. I can’t imagine any of it.

I am unclear about the detail about the encounter with the Roomate. I’m trying to remember back to college and whether or not seeing a masked person at 4am in my apartment would not seem alarming. And it’s crazy that he would kill 4 people and then just randomly let her go when she could have immediately called the police. And then that the Roomate’ would call 911 at noon thinking someone was unconscious. Wouldn’t there be visible blood and wouldn’t you think even if they thought a Roomate was unconscious they would run into the other roommates’ rooms to try to get help and then find them as well? I don’t know why I’m trying to ponder out the details..it just still seems weird to me.

[Pilsy]

I'm in shock at how it went down (e.g., one of the survivors heard multiple instances of commotion and SAW HIM! he really did drive his car right there!) and that they shared this much in the PCA. I expected it to be more heavily redacted.

But what's the motive?

And yes, like PP, I am thinking of the victims and their families? Why did this happen? Why them? It's so horrible, and it didn't have to be this way. I am so sad for all of them.

[JayTea]

Jan 5, 2023 14:58:59 GMT -5 mcppalmbeach said:

I am so sad for those family members. I can’t imagine any of it.

I am unclear about the detail about the encounter with the Roomate. I’m trying to remember back to college and whether or not seeing a masked person at 4am in my apartment would not seem alarming. And it’s crazy that he would kill 4 people and then just randomly let her go when she could have immediately called the police. And then that the Roomate’ would call 911 at noon thinking someone was unconscious. Wouldn’t there be visible blood and wouldn’t you think even if they thought a Roomate was unconscious they would run into the other roommates’ rooms to try to get help and then find them as well? I don’t know why I’m trying to ponder out the details..it just still seems weird to me.

Same - except still not clear on whether it was a covid type mask (she saw his eyes and eyebrows) or a ski mask type.  Given the numerous calls to the police about their partying, she may have just figured she was imagining things.  Regardless, the outcome wouldn't have been different if she'd called earlier, IMO.  I'm sure a statement will come out about it.

[devonpow]

I read it was a balaclava - covering everything but his eyes, and they made eye contact. And she then locked herself in her room. Honestly I think she was terrified and hid. I think we all wish and hope we would be brave in these types of situations, but we can’t say what we would do. I feel terrible for her.

[cuadrado]

Reading the affidavit was really disturbing. It sounded like X &E may have been awake when it happened plus I cannot imagine how traumatizing this was for the surviving roommates.

I was really shocked at how careless he was with his cell phone. He had driven around their house 12 different times prior to the murder, often later at night. It seemed like they had excessive video footage of him driving to and from the area of the house. And how incriminating is it to turn your phone off in the hours of the murder? My understanding is also that not all of the evidence is included in the affidavit, just what is needed to make the arrest.

I'm really curious to hear if or how much DNA they find in his car. There is no way he could have cleaned it well enough to get rid of every last bit, especially if he had cloth seats.

As far as the surviving roommate not calling 911, it seems like there are a lot of reasons why this could have been. Maybe it was shock / trauma response. Maybe they were drunk or high and she was questioning what she saw or didn't want to get in trouble. Maybe she didn't have her phone or was afraid to try to find it. Maybe with all of the partying and the people coming in and out, she didn't think that the other roommates had been hurt. I feel so bad for her that it's all everyone is talking about online.

[Velar Fricative]

Yeah, it is pretty shocking she waited about 8 hours before calling someone (and she apparently called friends and not the police; one of those friends appeared to have called the police upon coming to the house). But then I'm thinking about the fact that this is a college student - could have been drunk, high, in the middle of sleeping and thought she was having a bad dream, terrified, and/or more than one of the above. And I slept until noon in college like it was going out of style. I'm sure she was forthcoming with the police upon questioning and she's probably feeling terrible about everything, and also grateful as hell for surviving.

What was also interesting is that the suspect applied to become an intern in his college town in WA with the police department there and was pursuing studies related to rural police departments and tech they use to solve crime (paraphrasing). I don't think that because he was a criminology PhD student means that he was never going to make a mistake or was super calculating with everything he did, especially he made some weird mistakes. Almost feels like he wanted to be caught, but that obviously seems pretty unlikely. But given the time was spending in the area multiple times since he moved to the area, I'm pretty disturbed by the idea of him potentially choosing this location to carry out heinous crimes and deciding a certain house was going to be the scene of the crime. It's scary to think about.

[mcppalmbeach]

Jan 5, 2023 16:15:08 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Yeah, it is pretty shocking she waited about 8 hours before calling someone (and she apparently called friends and not the police; one of those friends appeared to have called the police upon coming to the house). But then I'm thinking about the fact that this is a college student - could have been drunk, high, in the middle of sleeping and thought she was having a bad dream, terrified, and/or more than one of the above. And I slept until noon in college like it was going out of style. I'm sure she was forthcoming with the police upon questioning and she's probably feeling terrible about everything, and also grateful as hell for surviving.

What was also interesting is that the suspect applied to become an intern in his college town in WA with the police department there and was pursuing studies related to rural police departments and tech they use to solve crime (paraphrasing). I don't think that because he was a criminology PhD student means that he was never going to make a mistake or was super calculating with everything he did, especially he made some weird mistakes. Almost feels like he wanted to be caught, but that obviously seems pretty unlikely. But given the time was spending in the area multiple times since he moved to the area, I'm pretty disturbed by the idea of him potentially choosing this location to carry out heinous crimes and deciding a certain house was going to be the scene of the crime. It's scary to think about.

Yes, I don’t want to Monday morning quarterback..I’m sure it will haunt her. I make not great decisions under duress and it certainly wouldn’t have been super unusual in college for someone to find random men in my apartment. It’s just an unusual turn of events.

[Velar Fricative]

Jan 5, 2023 16:26:11 GMT -5 mcppalmbeach said:

Jan 5, 2023 16:15:08 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Yeah, it is pretty shocking she waited about 8 hours before calling someone (and she apparently called friends and not the police; one of those friends appeared to have called the police upon coming to the house). But then I'm thinking about the fact that this is a college student - could have been drunk, high, in the middle of sleeping and thought she was having a bad dream, terrified, and/or more than one of the above. And I slept until noon in college like it was going out of style. I'm sure she was forthcoming with the police upon questioning and she's probably feeling terrible about everything, and also grateful as hell for surviving.

What was also interesting is that the suspect applied to become an intern in his college town in WA with the police department there and was pursuing studies related to rural police departments and tech they use to solve crime (paraphrasing). I don't think that because he was a criminology PhD student means that he was never going to make a mistake or was super calculating with everything he did, especially he made some weird mistakes. Almost feels like he wanted to be caught, but that obviously seems pretty unlikely. But given the time was spending in the area multiple times since he moved to the area, I'm pretty disturbed by the idea of him potentially choosing this location to carry out heinous crimes and deciding a certain house was going to be the scene of the crime. It's scary to think about.

Yes, I don’t want to Monday morning quarterback..I’m sure it will haunt her. I make not great decisions under duress and it certainly wouldn’t have been super unusual in college for someone to find random men in my apartment. It’s just an unusual turn of events.

Trust me, I've been going back and forth a lot on that piece too. 

[eddy]

The other thing to keep in mind with the roommate, this house was a reported party house. So you have to assume a good amount of in and out traffic especially with 6 people living there. It could be she assumed the guy was visiting one of the other roommates? I mean when you are used to a level of chaos you can explain more stuff away. Pair that with booze/drugs or whatever. And perhaps paralyzing fear. My guess is she dissassociated and made up a story in her head to explain it all away given the gap in time before the 911 call. 

It is really unfortunate. I won't second guess the poor roommate because that is just the worst thing to live with.

[wesleycrusher]

I feel like this a morbid question and I haven't researched this case so maybe it is known, but- Even if the roommate had called police right away, would it have mattered? All 4 were killed by the stabbings? I hope so in that they went quickly and for (a small) peace of mind of the roommate.

[Deleted]

Jan 5, 2023 17:14:08 GMT -5 wesleycrusher said:

I feel like this a morbid question and I haven't researched this case so maybe it is known, but- Even if the roommate had called police right away, would it have mattered? All 4 were killed by the stabbings? I hope so in that they went quickly and for (a small) peace of mind of the roommate.

No, sadly I don’t think it would have resulted in anyone surviving. It might have helped them find the killer sooner? Or pinpoint the timeline? But that’s conjecture.

[tacokick]

Jan 5, 2023 16:42:01 GMT -5 eddy said:

The other thing to keep in mind with the roommate, this house was a reported party house. So you have to assume a good amount of in and out traffic especially with 6 people living there. It could be she assumed the guy was visiting one of the other roommates? I mean when you are used to a level of chaos you can explain more stuff away. Pair that with booze/drugs or whatever. And perhaps paralyzing fear. My guess is she dissassociated and made up a story in her head to explain it all away given the gap in time before the 911 call. 

It is really unfortunate. I won't second guess the poor roommate because that is just the worst thing to live with.

Yeah, we don’t know if any of the roommates were close or what their habits were. Maybe people were routinely coming and going all hours of the night. It was November in Idaho, I can’t imagine someone being bundled up would have set off too many alarm bells either. I think I’d just assume they were either just arriving or leaving not that they were stabbing people.

IMO it’s possible she woke up, heard him say something that didn’t make a lot of sense, think her roommate(s) had guests over (who were helping them with something?) and went back to sleep.

[RoxMonster]

We don't know for sure if the killer was aware that the surviving roommate saw him or not. I didn't see anything in the probable cause affidavit about them locking eyes. It states "D.M. stated she opened her door for the third time after she heard the crying and saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose walking towards her. D.M. described the figure as 5' I 0" or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows. The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a "frozen
shock phase." The male walked towards the back sliding glass door." Link

If she was in her dark bedroom and possibly just cracked her door open and the rest of the house was dark, it's possible he didn't notice her and just walked past her bedroom which is why her life was spared.

I was also shocked to hear this and really surprised about the Door Dash delivery just minutes before the killer entered the house. It was also so disturbing to read he was likely stalking them ahead of time as his phone kept pinging 12+ times near the house. Because he was attending school elsewhere the school year previously and just moved to the Pullman, WA area for his PhD program that started that August, yet we know the first time he was by their house was also in August (Per the PCA), he likely started stalking them soon after arriving in town, which is really creepy. It makes me think it's not the first time he has stalked someone before and is just something he does wherever he goes.

My heart breaks for both of the survivors in the house and all the victims' family members especially after reading how this all went down. 

[Mushe]

I keep typing and deleting this, but has anyone else seen the TikTok video that seems to have been made by him? It was haunting and creepy. I couldn’t finish and wish I’d never started it.

[starlily]

20 years as a prosecutor and this was one of the most chilling affidavits I've ever read. I feel so awful for the victims, their families, and the surviving roommates.

[cuadrado]

CNN reporting that they observed him cleaning his vehicle in PA, wearing surgical gloves, and throwing his family’s trash bag in the neighbors trash can at 4am, which is how they got the dna match.

This guy is done.

www.cnn.com/2023/01/06/us/idaho-killings-suspect-bryan-kohberger-friday/index.html

[shauni27]

Jan 6, 2023 0:28:14 GMT -5 Mushe said:

I keep typing and deleting this, but has anyone else seen the TikTok video that seems to have been made by him? It was haunting and creepy. I couldn’t finish and wish I’d never started it.

I have no desire to watch it, care to summarize? 

[cattledogkisses]

Is it known whether this guy had any connection to the victims, or was it just a random thing? If it was random, that makes the whole thing even more disturbing.

[Velar Fricative]

Jan 6, 2023 0:28:14 GMT -5 Mushe said:

I keep typing and deleting this, but has anyone else seen the TikTok video that seems to have been made by him? It was haunting and creepy. I couldn’t finish and wish I’d never started it.

I didn't know about it until this post. It's creepy. That reflection does look like him, but it was also mentioned that the account has been posting even after his arrest, so who knows?

[Velar Fricative]

Jan 6, 2023 9:01:18 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Is it known whether this guy had any connection to the victims, or was it just a random thing? If it was random, that makes the whole thing even more disturbing.

Nothing's been shared yet about any connection. Given that he only moved to the area in August from across the country, there may be a connection but not a super close one. Like maybe they crossed paths somewhere, which is also really disturbing.

[Velar Fricative]

RoxMonster, I totally misinterpreted the affidavit. No, we don't know if he saw the surviving roommate when she opened her door.

[Pilsy]

I find myself a bit disappointed they included the bit about the roommate seeing him in the probable cause affidavit. Couldn't they have at least redacted that bit before making it public? I feel like they set her up for a lot of unnecessary, unfair ridicule.

[Mushe]

Jan 6, 2023 9:06:09 GMT -5 Velar Fricative said:

Jan 6, 2023 0:28:14 GMT -5 Mushe said:

I keep typing and deleting this, but has anyone else seen the TikTok video that seems to have been made by him? It was haunting and creepy. I couldn’t finish and wish I’d never started it.

I didn't know about it until this post. It's creepy. That reflection does look like him, but it was also mentioned that the account has been posting even after his arrest, so who knows?

I’m glad to hear that! Hopefully it’s not him, then.

Shauni - the speaker started going through details of the murders that he allegedly knew from a relative who was working on the investigation, alleging that one person was the target. It tracked with the idea that he’s some incel who can’t shake off a rejection.

[Bad Dingo]

Jan 6, 2023 9:38:27 GMT -5 Pilsy said:

I find myself a bit disappointed they included the bit about the roommate seeing him in the probable cause affidavit. Couldn't they have at least redacted that bit before making it public? I feel like they set her up for a lot of unnecessary, unfair ridicule.

Or they could have redacted that part like they did the whole other page with the medical examiner's report.  It almost seems malicious to leave that in for the world to speculate about.

[sju]

Jan 6, 2023 10:31:44 GMT -5 Bad Dingo said:

Jan 6, 2023 9:38:27 GMT -5 Pilsy said:

I find myself a bit disappointed they included the bit about the roommate seeing him in the probable cause affidavit. Couldn't they have at least redacted that bit before making it public? I feel like they set her up for a lot of unnecessary, unfair ridicule.

Or they could have redacted that part like they did the whole other page with the medical examiner's report.  It almost seems malicious to leave that in for the world to speculate about.

I was very disappointed too. I feel terrible for her.

The affidavit is so hard to read. Had all victims been asleep when the attack happened could have hopefully bring a tiny relief to their loved ones. Just awful.

One observation is that he seemed to have been stopped a lot by police at various points. Or maybe it is normal for some and not to me?? I just can’t wrap my head around the possibility that he could have gone from zero to four victims the first time he did something like this.

[mrsukyankee]

sju, my guess is that detectives in the areas he has lived in will be checking out cases that have happened to see if anything might connect him with them. It's rare for someone to do a 4 person murder as their first major crime.

[Velar Fricative]

Jan 6, 2023 15:38:34 GMT -5 mrsukyankee said:

sju , my guess is that detectives in the areas he has lived in will be checking out cases that have happened to see if anything might connect him with them. It's rare for someone to do a 4 person murder as their first major crime.

Yeah I'm very curious to know if there are unsolved cases in PA that could be tied to him, for example.

One thing to note - 2 of the 4 victims weren't living there. While I definitely agree it seems like a leap to go from no crimes to this, it's possible he had no idea others were there until he went inside.