The University of Idaho student murders on November 13, 2022 was a shock for the entire nation. The Moscow police and FBI seemed to be slow about releasing details, but they were doing their jobs. As details emerge, the alleged killer revealed his footprint in a poorly planned crime.
Police arrested Bryan Kohberger, a Ph.D. criminal justice student for the fatal stabbings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, both 20, at their off-campus house in Idaho.
Law enforcement experts say that Kohberger might not have been the mastermind he thought he was. Some argue that the accused killer made almost every mistake he could make.
Here are some of the mistakes Kohberger made that led law enforcement to accuse him of the crimes:
The White Hyundai Elantra
Surveillance footage showed a white Hyundai Elantra driving around the neighborhood around the time of the murders. Kohberger owns a white Hyundai Elantra.
According to the police, the car made a final trip around the neighborhood at around 4:04 am and then left the neighborhood at a high speed at around 4:20 am. Police matched the vehicle to a similar one captured heading toward Moscow, Idaho an hour before the slayings. The same car was seen on footage returning to Pullman, Washington at around 5:25 am.
On December 15, Washington State University security officers flagged a white Hyundai Elantra registered to Kohberger, which made him a person of interest.
He Left Behind a Leather Knife Sheath
The killer left a critical piece of evidence behind that became crucial in identifying him. He left a leather knife sheath at the scene, on the bed next to one of his victims.
Police took the evidence to the Idaho State lab, which identified male DNA on the button clasp. His DNA was later matched to Kohberger’s father, after investigators retrieved trash found outside the Kohberger family home in Pennsylvania, where Bryan and his father had arrived after a cross-country trip.
He Let a Witness Live
Police records also show that Taylor Mortensen, a student who was living on a lower floor of the house, saw a man leaving the house at the time of the murders. She told police that she saw a man dressed in black, around 5 foot 10 inches, with an athletic build and bushy brows as he passed by her open bedroom door. She froze with fear, then went back into her room and closed the door.
According to experts, leaving a witness behind was a big mistake.
Cell Phone Records
Kohberger’s mistakes began months before the crimes, when he went to surveil his future victims’ home and did not turn his phone off. Cell phone records from his mobile phone show that he visited the area at least 12 times before November 13, 2022. During all but one of the occasions, the suspect visited the area late at night and very early in the morning.
The cell phone data also shows that Kohberger turned off his cell phone during the time of the murders. His phone showed he was in Pullman, Washington, where he lived, at 2:47 am, and then it was turned off and turned on again at 4:48 am, less than 20 minutes after police believe the murders took place.
His phone locates him on a highway heading to Pullman at 5 am and then driving toward his apartment at 5:30 am.
Kohberger Returned to the Scene.
Cell phone records also show that the suspect left his Pullman apartment the day after the killings, at 9 am on November 13, and went back to Moscow, Idaho. His phone showed he was in the area of the murders about 12 minutes later. He returned hours before the roommates called the police to report the grizzly murders, and authorities speculate that Kohberger returned to the crime scene to admire his work.
With the murder suspect in custody, the country eagerly awaits the beginning of his trial, with the police continuing their investigations that should reveal several other clues that led to the suspect’s capture.
