‘Violent' sex offender rapes teen in remote area, more victims feared, CA cops say
Ardy Vance Thompson, 50, of Victorville was arrested on a rape charge, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a July 1 news release.
The teen was picked up by a man, later identified as Thompson, 'in a dark gray 2009 Hyundai Accent' on Tuesday, June 24, deputies said.
Thompson gave the teen marijuana and drove her 'out to a deserted area' in Oro Grande, deputies said.
Then, Thompson sexually assaulted the girl, deputies said.
At the time of the alleged assault, Thompson and the teen did not know one another, deputies said.
Video surveillance helped detectives identify Thompson as a suspect, according to deputies.
After an arrest warrant for Thompson was issued, he was taken into custody by Colton police on Sunday, June 28, deputies said.
'Thompson is currently listed on California's Megan's Law website as a violent sex offender,' deputies said.
The website shows Thompson was convicted of rape by force or fear in 2005 and released from jail in 2019.
Thompson is being held on $1 million bail and was scheduled to appear in court July 2, jail records show.
Deputies said there may be more victims and asked for anyone with information to contact them at 760-956-5001.
Oro Grande is about a 90-mike drive northeast from Los Angeles.
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San Francisco Chronicle
17 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
A Q-Tip and spotless car were key evidence linking Bryan Kohberger to murders of 4 Idaho students
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The lead prosecutor tasked with finding justice for four University of Idaho students killed in a grisly quadruple stabbing more than two years ago laid out his key evidence Wednesday at a court hearing for Bryan Kohberger, who agreed to plead guilty earlier this week to avoid the death penalty. The evidentiary summary — recited by lead prosecutor Bill Thompson before Kohberger entered his pleas — spun a dramatic tale that included a DNA-laden Q-tip plucked from the garbage in the dead of the night, a getaway car stripped so clean of evidence that it was 'essentially disassembled inside" and a fateful early-morning Door Dash order that may have put one of the victims in Kohberger's path. These details offered new insights into how the crime unfolded on Nov. 13, 2022, and how investigators ultimately solved the case using surveillance footage, cell phone tracking and DNA matching. But the synopsis leaves hanging key questions that could have been answered at trial — including a motive for the stabbings and why Kohberger picked that house, and those victims, all apparent strangers to him. The small farming community of Moscow, in the northern Idaho panhandle, had not had a homicide in about five years when Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found dead at a rental home near campus. Kohberger, now 30, had begun a doctoral degree in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University — across the state line from Moscow, Idaho — months before the crimes. 'The defendant has studied crime,' Thompson said, as the victims' family members dabbed at their tears. 'In fact, he did a detailed paper on crime scene processing when he was working on his Ph.D., and he had that knowledge skillset.' What we learned from the hearing Kohberger's cell phone began connecting with cell towers in the area of the crime more than four months before the stabbings, Thompson said, and pinged on those towers 23 times between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. in that time period. A compilation of surveillance videos from neighbors and businesses also placed Kohberger's vehicle — known to investigators because of a routine traffic stop by police in August — in the area. On the night of the killings, Kohberger parked behind the house and entered through a sliding door to the kitchen at the back of the house shortly after 4 a.m., Thompson said. He moved to the third floor, where Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were sleeping. After killing both of them with a knife, Kohberger left a knife sheath next to Mogen's body. Both victims' blood was later found on the sheath, along with DNA from a single male that ultimately helped investigators pinpoint Kohberger as the only suspect. On the floor below, another student was still awake. Xana Kernodle had ordered Door Dash not long before, and as Kohberger was leaving, he crossed paths with her and killed her with a large knife, Thompson said. He then killed her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, who was sleeping in Kernodle's bedroom. Kohberger left two others in the house alive, including one roommate who was expected to testify at trial that sometime before 4:19 a.m. she saw an intruder there with 'bushy eyebrows,' wearing black clothing and a ski mask. Roughly five minutes later, the car could be seen on the next-door neighbor's surveillance camera. speeding away so fast 'the car almost loses control as it makes the corner,' Thompson said. What did Kohberger do next? After Kohberger fled the scene, Thompson said, his cover-up was elaborate. Prosecutors believe he drove backroads to his apartment in Pullman, Washington, to avoid surveillance cameras on the major roads and didn't turn his cell phone back on until 4:48 a.m. By 5:26 a.m., he was back in Pullman, Thompson said. Later, Kohberger changed his car registration from Pennsylvania to Washington State — significant for investigators who were combing through surveillance camera footage because Pennsylvania law doesn't require a front license plate, making it harder to identify the vehicle. And by the time investigators did catch up with him weeks later, his apartment and office in nearby Pullman were scrubbed clean. 'Spartan would be a kind characterization. There was nothing there, nothing of evidentiary value was found,' Thompson said of Kohberger's apartment. The car, too, 'had been essentially disassembled inside," he added. 'It was spotless. The defendant's car had been meticulously cleaned inside.' The Q-tip that broke the case Investigators had honed in on Kohberger, but they needed to prove he was their suspect. With the DNA of a single mystery male on the knife sheath, they worked with the FBI and the local sanitation department to secretly retrieve garbage from the Pennsylvania home of Kohberger's parents, seeking a DNA match to their suspect. 'They conducted what's called a trash pull during the nighttime hours,' Thompson said, and 'took trash that had been set out on the street for collection' and sent it to Idaho's forensics lab. The pile of garbage yielded investigative gold: A Q-tip that contained DNA identified 'as coming from the father of the person whose DNA was found on the knife sheath that was found by Madison Mogen's body on the bed,' he said. With that, Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania, where he had gone for the holidays, and ultimately was extradited to Idaho for prosecution. The mysteries that remain Even while prosecutors detailed that night, a key question remains: Why did Kohberger target that house and those victims? Did he know them? And what was his motive? 'We do not have evidence that the defendant had direct contact with 1122 or with residents in 1122, but we can put his phone in the area on those times,' Thompson said, referring to the house number where the murders took place. Some of that evidence may have come out at trial, and may yet be contained in documents related to the case that have been sealed by the court until after a July 23 sentencing hearing. A gag order in place for all attorneys in the case is still in effect as well. Those documents include witness lists, a list of exhibits, an analysis of the evidence, requests for additional discovery, filings about mitigating factors and various unsuccessful defense motions that sought to introduce alternative suspects, among other things. The families of the victims are split over the plea deal With the case solved, families remain divided over its resolution. The deal stipulates that Kohberger will be spared execution in exchange for four consecutive life sentences. He also waived his right to appeal and to challenge the sentence. Chapin's and Mogen's families support the deal. 'We now embark on a new path. We embark on a path of hope and healing,' Mogen's family said in a statement. The family of Kaylee Goncalves publicly denounced the plea deal ahead of Wednesday's hearing and her father refused to attend the proceedings. Goncalves 18-year-old sister, Aubrie Goncalves, said in a Facebook post that 'Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world."
New York Post
19 hours ago
- New York Post
Revealed: Chilling step-by-step account of Bryan Kohberger's blood-lust murders of 4 Idaho students
Bryan Kohberger's first two victims were sleeping when he stole into the off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho around 4 a.m. Nov. 13, 2022. Best friends Maddy Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were in bed together as he butchered them with a Ka-Bar knife he had bought months earlier on Amazon, prosecutors revealed Wednesday. Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson choked up as he summarized the details that a weeks-long trial would have revealed about the cold-blooded and ruthless blood-lust murders that Kohberger admitted to on Wednesday. Advertisement His guilty plea — which has divided the victims' families, including the Mogens and the Goncalveses — means Thompson's run-down of the evidence may be the best picture the world ever gets of what happened inside that home near the University of Idaho campus. Thompson suggested that Kohberger may have been plotting the senseless quadruple homicide for nearly six months. 'He killed — intentionally, willfully, deliberately, with premeditation, and with malice and forethought — Maddy Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle,' prosecutor Thompson told a Boise courtroom Wednesday before Kohberger, 30, formally submitted his guilty plea. 6 Bryan Kohberger, 30, pleaded guilty for four counts of first degree homicide in a Boise courtroom Wednesday. AP Advertisement Kohberger's deal means he'll be safe from execution by firing squad — on the table if he were found guilty at a trial which was scheduled for August — but he will spend his life in prison serving four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. The shocking confession comes as the prosecution amassed piles of damning evidence that pointed directly at Kohberger, which Thompson laid out in bare detail ahead of the plea Wednesday. It all started in March 2022, when Kohberger was living at his parents' Pennsylvania home and logged onto to buy a military-grade Ka Bar knife and sheath — the same blade he would go on to hack his victims to death with eight months later. Advertisement He then moved to Pullman, Washington — located minutes from the Moscow, Idaho, murder site — in June to pursue a PhD in criminology at Washington State University. By early July, six months before the murders, Kohberger's phone began pinging off the cell tower that served the house — but only during odd hours of the night. 6 The University of Idaho victims (clockwise from bottom left): Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20. Between July and the night of the November murders, Kohberger's phone pinged off that tower 23 times between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m., prosecutors said, adding that there was no evidence he ever had any direct contact with his victims during that time. Advertisement But on the day of the killing Kohberger's phone was powered off in Pullman around 2 a.m. before being turned back in the Moscow area just before 5 a.m. — disappearing from the cellular grid at the exact time he was hacking his victims to death. During that blackout window he drove his White Hyundai from his Pullman apartment and parked it behind the victims' Moscow house, prosecutors said. Evidence like security footage clearly showed the vehicle. Wearing a dark face mask he slipped into the home using the kitchen's sliding door around 4 a.m. He then climbed to the home's third floor where he used his seven-inch Ka Bar blade to butcher Mogen and Goncalves — both 21-year-old college seniors — as they slept alongside each other. There he left the knife's sheath. It had his DNA on it, which would later ensure his downfall. 6 Prosecutor Bill Thompson nearly broke down in tears as he read the names of Kohberger's victims in court. August Frank/Tribune Kohberger then stole out of the room when he encountered 20-year-old Kernodle on the stairs. She had been awake after picking up a food delivery, and he cut her down and left her dying where she stood. 'Her room was not on the third floor, it was on the second floor,' Thompson said, his voice shaking. 'He encountered Xana, and he ended up killing her, also with a large knife.' Kohberger then moved into her bedroom where her boyfriend — 20-year-old Chapin — was sleeping, and butchered him. Advertisement 'We will not represent that he intended to commit all of the murders that he did that night, but we know that that is what resulted,' Thompson said. 6 Kohberger dodged the death penalty with his guilty plea, but will spend his life in prison no possibility of parole. AP As Kohberger was leaving the house one of the two housemates who were left alive and untouched peered into a hallway and saw a man with 'bushy eyebrows' exiting the home. From there a neighbor's security footage showed Kohberger's car peeling out of the neighborhood, and cell records indicate he was back home in Pullman around 5:30 a.m. He then drove back to his victims' home around 9 a.m., cell records show, but by 9:30 a.m. he was back home and taking a bizarre photo of himself flashing a thumbs up in his apartment bathroom. Advertisement From there, he began desperately trying to cover his tracks. Over the next days he took a trip to Lewiston, Idaho — a town prosecutors noted was filled with rivers and fast-moving water. They believe that's where he dumped the murder weapon, which was never found. He also began searching online for another knife and sheath, and tried in vain to delete his purchase history on Amazon. He also changed his car's registration from Pennsylvania to Idaho in an apparent attempt to throw investigators off his trail, Thompson said. Advertisement Then he carried on with his life. 'Mr. Kohberger proceeded to finish his semester of studies at Washington State University and return to Pennsylvanian for the holidays,' Thompson said. 6 Kohberger parked his car outside of the Moscow, Idaho, home during the murders, and was seen peeling out after. Kevin C. Downs for NY Post But in the weeks following, investigators began to identify him as a suspect. Advertisement After searching his parents' trash, were able to pull DNA off a Q-Tip that tests proved was was related to the DNA was found on the sheath left by Mogen's bloodied body. Kohberger was arrested soon after, and the full scope of his attempts to hide his crimes became apparent as they began to search his home and belongings. 'Spartan would be a kind characterization, there was virtually nothing there,' Thompson said of Kohberger's Pullman apartment. And his car had been 'pretty much disassembled internally,' Thompson added, characterizing it as being scrubbed absurdly clean. 6 AP 'I think we can all look to our own cars. Those compartments in the doors where you try to keep them clean where you put stuff? There's always some degree of crud in there – they were spotless,' Thompson said. 'Defendant's car had been meticulously cleaned inside.' Prosecutors said evidence indicated Kohberger had even called on his criminology studies to cover up the crime, explaining he had recently written a paper on crime scene analysis. 'That was part of the defendant's plan in covering up this. The defendant has studied crime. In fact, he did a detailed paper on crime scene processing when he was working on his pre-doctorate degree,' Thompson said. 'He had that knowledge and skill,' he added. Despite the laundry list of evidence, it still remains unclear why Kohberger carried out the killings — and his guilty plea means the world may never know as has no legal obligation to provide a motive. His sentencing is set for July 23. Kohberger will have an opportunity to speak after listening to victim impact statements, though it is unclear if he will say anything.
Miami Herald
a day ago
- Miami Herald
‘Violent' sex offender rapes teen in remote area, more victims feared, CA cops say
A 'violent sex offender' drove a 16-year-old to a deserted area and raped her, California deputies say. Ardy Vance Thompson, 50, of Victorville was arrested on a rape charge, the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said in a July 1 news release. The teen was picked up by a man, later identified as Thompson, 'in a dark gray 2009 Hyundai Accent' on Tuesday, June 24, deputies said. Thompson gave the teen marijuana and drove her 'out to a deserted area' in Oro Grande, deputies said. Then, Thompson sexually assaulted the girl, deputies said. At the time of the alleged assault, Thompson and the teen did not know one another, deputies said. Video surveillance helped detectives identify Thompson as a suspect, according to deputies. After an arrest warrant for Thompson was issued, he was taken into custody by Colton police on Sunday, June 28, deputies said. 'Thompson is currently listed on California's Megan's Law website as a violent sex offender,' deputies said. The website shows Thompson was convicted of rape by force or fear in 2005 and released from jail in 2019. Thompson is being held on $1 million bail and was scheduled to appear in court July 2, jail records show. Deputies said there may be more victims and asked for anyone with information to contact them at 760-956-5001. Oro Grande is about a 90-mike drive northeast from Los Angeles.
