Latest news with #KaBar
New York Post
02-07-2025
- 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.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger bought a knife before University of Idaho killings, took a selfie hours later, court docs say
Mar. 20—Attorneys working to present their case in the murder trial of Bryan Kohberger this summer are zeroing in on the timeframe before and after four University of Idaho students were slain in an ambitious effort to convince a judge to discard or allow certain evidence. A flurry of court records submitted this week is a potential preview to what will be presented in the August murder trial — Kohberger's internet history, purchases, photos and witness descriptions are all setting the groundwork for whether the 30-year-old will face a quadruple murder conviction. Internet searches Kohberger's internet activity before the killings shows Amazon purchases of a Ka-Bar military-style knife, much like the one used to kill Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Ethan Chapin in a home near the University of Idaho campus in November 2022. He also purchased a knife sheath and a knife sharpener in the months before the homicides, prosecutors revealed in court records. The former Washington State University criminology student's DNA was found on a USMC knife sheath left under the bodies of one of the victims, according to the probable cause affidavit, although the defense has plans to argue the sheath was planted and his DNA does not prove he was at the crime scene. Prosecutors are attempting to convince a judge the Ka-Bar searches and purchases from Amazon are relevant to trial, while the defense wants it thrown out for lack of relevancy, court records say. The knife used to kill the four students has never been found. "Kohberger's click activity which shows a purchase of a Ka-Bar knife and sheath before the homicides makes it more probable (than it would be without the evidence) that the KaBar sheath found at the crime scene was Bryan Kohberger's," Latah County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Jennings wrote. He also searched for a knife and a sheath following the homicides, because he "had a reason" to, Jennings said in the records. 'Bushy eyebrows' Among the filings, prosecutors have released a never-before-seen "selfie" photo of Kohberger in what appears to be a bathroom — he looks like he is wearing earbuds, is somewhat smiling and gesturing a thumbs-up. That photo, the state says, was taken about six hours after the students are believed to have been killed. Releasing the photo was largely in an attempt to thwart the defense's notion that Dylan Mortensen, a roommate, is an unreliable witness. Mortensen awoke after hearing noises upstairs, opened her door and watched a man walk by her room, she told investigators. Mortensen said she was having trouble remembering everything because she was suffering from trauma, but she remembered a white man with bushy eyebrows, a lean "basketball"-like build and clad in a black mask. "All I remember was seeing their eyebrows. And I don't — I don't remember what their eyes looked like, but I remember their eyebrows. I don't remember the color the eyebrows were. I just remember, like, bushy eyebrows. That's all I could think about," Mortensen is quoted as telling investigators. The defense doesn't believe it should be allowed in trial to help identify Kohberger because it's prejudiced and confusing, their filings say. "She only saw the intruder briefly. Her recollection or lack thereof is filled with uncertainty, fuzziness, the influence of alcohol, dreaming, and sleepiness. She did not see the intruder well enough to describe him to a composite artist. After Mr. Kohberger was arrested, she did not recognize him from a photo," Kohberger's attorney Elisa Massoth wrote. Because Mortensen is the only person alive to have seen the intruder that night, prosecutors instead believe her statements hold weight — she has relayed the same statement repeatedly, is believed to be credible and her descriptions are not confusing, they claim. The "selfie" photo of Kohberger and his eyebrows makes his identity as the killer "more probable," court records say. "The State intends to introduce a photograph of Bryan Kohberger taken from his phone on November 13, 2022, only hours after the homicides at 10:31 a.m. ... Whether or not Bryan Kohberger can be described as having "bushy eyebrows" is a factual determination to be decided by the jury, Jennings wrote. Text messages The morning the students were killed, the two surviving roommates in the home were communicating back and forth via text message. Court records show the roommates had texted each other out of fear — one left her room and went downstairs to be with the other roommate, Bethany Funke, because she was scared. The police were called after neither of them heard from Kernodle, Chapin, Goncalves and Mogen, the prosecution says. The defense disputes this narrative and claims it's hearsay, according to court records. "Neither of them left the house. Neither of them called friends, family or law enforcement for help. Instead, both have a substantial amount of activity beginning in earnest less than 4 hours after DM made her way to BF's room. BF and DM communicate with friends and parents and DM is on social media," Kohberger's attorneys wrote in court filings, using initials to reference Mortensen and Funke. The texts between the roommates read in part: 4:22:42 Mortensen to Goncalves: "Kaylee" 4:22:43 Mortensen to Goncalves: "What's going on" 4:23:28 Funke to Mortensen: "Xana was wearing all black" 4:23:33 Mortensen to Funke: "I'm freaking out (right now)" 4:23:42 Mortensen to Funke: "No it's like ski mask almost" 4:23:52 Mortensen to Funke: "Like he had soemtbinf over is for head and little nd mouth" 4:24:00 Mortensen to Funke: "Bethant I'm not kidding o am so freaked out" 4:24:07 Funke to Mortensen: "So am I" 4:24:11 Mortensen to Funke: "phone is going to die (expletive)" 4:24:14 Funke to Mortensen: "Come to my room" 4:24:22 Funke to Mortensen: "Run" 4:24:27 Funke to Mortensen: "Down here" The pair then access social media accounts, call their family and try calling Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves again with no answer. At 10:23 a.m., Mortensen texts Goncalves, "Pls answer," "R u up" and "R u up??" with no response. More texts are sent between friends and roommates for the next few hours, court records say. The 911 call is made at 11:56 a.m. that day. A Vandal alert warning students of a homicide at 1122 King Road came in two hours later. Kohberger's trial is set for August. He faces the death penalty if convicted.
