Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger had ‘no connection’ to victims, family lawyer says

The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday

Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US

Please enter a valid email address

Please enter a valid email address

SIGN UP

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

The suspect arrested in the murders of four University of Idaho students had no connection with the victims, a lawyer for one of the grieving families has said.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle did not appear to have personally met Washington State University (WSU) criminal justice PhD student Bryan Kohberger prior to their 13 November slayings, the Goncalves family lawyer told Insider on Monday.

Following the attack that rocked the college town of Moscow, Mr Kohberger, 28, finished his semester at WSU. Weeks later, he reportedly travelled with his father from his apartment in Pullman, Washington, around nine miles west of the victims’ home, to Pennsylvania to spend the holidays with his family.

Law enforcement raided Mr Kohberger’s family home in a surprise arrest on 30 December after weeks of mounting criticism about a lack of updates in the probe. Mr Kohberger was charged with four counts of murder and extradited to Idaho — it was later revealed in the affidavit for his arrest that police linked him to the crime scene using genealogy DNA.

“No one knew of this guy at all,” attorney Shanon Gray said. “It appears from the affidavit that he was in the area of the house on several occasions ... That’s all we know.”

The affidavit, released on 5 January, also states that investigators believe that Mr Kohberger stalked the victims’ home at least 12 times prior to the massacre.

Cellphone records show that his phone pinged in the area of the King Road home on at least twelve occasions prior to the time of the murders. The exact dates of these instances were not revealed in the documents but all but one were in the late evening or early morning hours.

One incident was identified on 21 August, when the suspect was stopped by police just minutes from the home.

A citation from Latah County Sheriff’s Office, obtained by The Independent, reveals that the traffic stop took place at around 11.40pm at the intersection of West Pullman Road and Farm Road in Moscow.

The record shows he was stopped for failing to wear his seatbelt – just a few minute’s drive from the home on King Road where the victims were murdered.

Investigators believe that Mr Kohberger turned his cell phone off at the time of the murders in order to try to avoid detection.

However, cellphone data places him close to the home on King Road at around 9am on 13 November – suggesting that he returned to the scene of the crime just hours after allegedly murdering the four victims at around 4am.

On Sunday (8 January), Goncalves’ sister Alivea Goncalves told NewsNation that specific revelation haunts her.

“We had no idea. She had no idea. I had no idea that true evil was genuinely watching them,” she said.

Ms Goncalves said that it wasn’t until the affidavit was released that it “hit her” that when she and her sister were exchanging “normal”, carefree messages with each other, the accused killer was likely planning his next move.

“That’s been the hardest part of this is to sit back and look at the totality of it. When my sister was Facetiming me about a new egg bites recipe, he was planning his next visit to the home,” she said.

“That’s really difficult not to wish that you had done more and wish that you had known more. But, it’s just the first step. A lot more evidence will come out.”

As well as cellphone data, the affidavit reveals other evidence also led them to arrest Mr Kohberger for the student murders.

Police said that his DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the scene by the killer.

A white Hyundai Elantra spotted at the crime scene at the time of the murders was also traced back to the suspect, the affidavit reveals.

At the time of the murders, two roommates were also in the student home but were left unharmed.

The grim scene went undiscovered for around eight hours after the murders – which police believe occurred between 4am and 4.25am.

It was around midday when a 911 call was finally made to report an unconscious person inside the home. Police officers arrived to find the bloody scene.

The affidavit has now revealed for the first time that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the masked killer as he left the home after killing her four friends.

Investigators initially said the two survivors were in bedrooms on the first floor – while the victims were found on the second and third floor of the three-storey home. It has now emerged that one of the survivors was in her bedroom on the second floor.

In her terrifying account to investigators, the roommate, identified as D.M. in the documents, revealed that she heard the killer inside the home and heard what sounded like crying coming from one of her roommates.

At one point she heard a woman’s voice – believed to be either Goncalves or Kernodle – saying something to the effect of “there’s someone here”, before hearing a man’s voice saying “it’s ok, I’m going to help you”.

She then had a lucky escape as she opened her door to see what was happening to see “a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her”.

The man, who had bushy eyebrows and was around 5 foot 10 tall walked right past her and headed toward the back sliding glass door of the home, while she stood in a “frozen shock phase”.

Mr Kohberger, who faces life in prison or the death penalty, is next scheduled to appear for a status hearing on Thursday morning.