(Washington Insider Magazine) – Bryan Kohberger’s DNA was found at the crime scene, authorities say.
The DNA of the man accused of murdering four Idaho college students was found at the crime scene, according to details in court documents recently released by authorities.
The suspect, named Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested last week in Pennsylvania.
He has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and felony robbery in connection with the crime.
An attorney representing Kohberger previously said the young man is eager to be exonerated.
Kohberger pleaded no guilty at a court appearance in Idaho on Thursday.
The man responded in the affirmative to questions from the Latah County Magistrate Judge about whether he understood his rights and the charges against him, and was denied bail.
What The Documents Say
The documents, unsealed shortly before his court appearance, provide the latest details on the arrest of the criminology graduate student, as well as the murders that rocked the small Idaho college town of Moscow.
The probable cause affidavit indicates that Kohberger’s DNA matched a sample found on a knife sheath in the apartment where University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were killed in November.
At the crime scene, police were able to collect a male DNA sample from a brown leather case found on the bed next to Mogen’s body, according to the affidavit written by Trooper Brett Payne.
Authorities later compared this sample to a DNA profile taken from the trash at the Kohberger family home in Pennsylvania.
Witnesses
Two other roommates were present in the house at the time of the murders, but were unharmed in the attack.
The affidavit, which summarizes the evidence and circumstances of the arrest, also alleges that one of those two people saw a masked man dressed in black in the house on the morning of the events.
One of the roommates, identified by the initials “DM,” said she woke up at 4:00 a.m. local time to what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the rooms upstairs. .
When she opened the door, she thought she heard crying coming from Kernodle’s room and she heard a male voice say, “Okay, I’ll help you.”
The third time the roommate opened the door she said that she saw a figure dressed in black.
There is also new information about a white sedan, a Hyundai Elantra, seen near the crime scene, which was a breakthrough in an investigation that had found no suspect or murder weapon six weeks after the crime.
Authorities were able to locate a car matching that description at Washington State University, where Kohberger was a student. The vehicle was registered in his name.
The document indicates that although the cell phone of the suspect was not registered in the Moscow telephone towers during the hours in which the crime occurred, it did happen at around 4:48 am on a highway south of the city and in in the direction of Pullman, where the college campus where the suspect is a graduate student and where the car was located is located.
Police say the murder weapon, described as a “fixed blade knife,” has yet to be found.
Investigators did not share a motive for the killings or say whether the suspect knew the victims.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on December 30.
He was transferred to Idaho on Wednesday after agreeing to be extradited to face murder charges.
This article is authored by BBC News Mundo.
