A couple of weeks before the four University of Idaho students were murdered on November 13, accused killer Bryan Kohberger sent one of the victims a series of messages on Instagram, according to sources familiar with the case.
Towards the end of October last year, an Instagram account, believed to be Kohberger’s, sent a message greeting one of his female victims. The young woman did not reply to the message, but Kohberger continued to send her messages.
The source said he sent her direct messages (DMs on Instagram) several times, but she did not message him back. The repeated messages said, “Hey, how are you?”
The specific young woman’s identity was not disclosed, but the suspect did follow all the female victims on Instagram.
The DMs were sent around the same time that police claim Kohberger was stalking the victims. Cellphone data showed he was around the same location as the students in the weeks before the murder.
Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin were stabbed at their off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning of November 13. An intruder gained access to the home and murdered the four using a fixed-blade knife.
A month and a half later, police arrested 28-year-old Kohberger, a Ph.D. criminology student at Washington State University, down the road from Idaho State University, in connection with the crime. They charged him with four counts of murder and one felony burglary count.
Police arrested Kohberger at his parent’s home in Pennsylvania on December 30. He voluntarily agreed to return to Idaho to face murder charges against him, waiving his extradition. He returned to Idaho on January 4.
A probable cause affidavit states that one of the surviving roommates told detectives that she saw the killer, a man dressed in black with a mask, and he walked past her as he left the crime scene.
DNA and cellphone data also linked Kohberger to the crime scene.
Authorities have not revealed a final motive for the gruesome murders or publicly discussed the connection between the victims and the suspect, but the evidence is starting to come out.
Police are still trying to figure out if the victims were aware of Kohberger’s existence.
According to the source, there was no indication that the suspect was getting irritated or frustrated with the young woman’s lack of response, but he was persistent. What was going on in his mind?
Kohberger’s preliminary hearing will be on June 26.
