Bryan Kohberger is in no hurry to stand trial for the quadruple murder, and, not shockingly, the judge is ordering him to be held without bail until that trial.
He appeared in a Moscow, ID courtroom Thursday morning — wearing an orange jail jumpsuit — as he waived his right to a speedy trial. The whole hearing was over after just a few minutes, and a preliminary hearing for the trial has been set for June 26.
Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, ID, on November 13. The three women lived at the house; Chapin was visiting.
Investigators had Kohberger on their radar nearly from the start … two weeks after the homicides, police obtained several videos showing a white Hyundai Elantra cruising past the murder house several times before finally stopping at 4:04 AM.
About 20 minutes later, surveillance videos showed the car speeding away from the house. Police deduced that the Elantra had traveled about 10 miles away to Washington State University, where Kohberger was enrolled as a graduate student in criminology.
Cops then released a bulletin asking the public to be on the lookout for the Hyundai Elantra. A WSU officer spotted a vehicle matching the description parked in the driveway of Kohberger’s home and ran the license plate … turns out the car belonged to Bryan.
Police caught a few more breaks. One of the surviving victims — who saw the killer up close during the bloody rampage — described him as a man 5’10” or taller, not very muscular but athletically built with bushy eyebrows, wearing black clothing with a mask. Detectives obtained Kohberger’s photo driver’s license, which had a similar description, including bushy eyebrows.
Police pulled cell phone records, which showed Kohberger was on the move the night of the murders. He drove from the WSU campus at 2:44 AM and headed south through Pullman, Washington. His cell phone went dead for a period of time, then picked up again around 5:30 AM — but only after the slayings. Police believe Kohberger deliberately disabled the phone to conceal his travels.
Investigators also found Kohberger’s DNA on a leather sheath he allegedly left at the crime scene and matched it to his father’s genetic profile through testing.
Police had retrieved the father’s DNA from trash discarded at their family home in Pennsylvania. Bryan had been staying there while he was on Christmas break from school.
1/5/23
Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30 after an FBI SWAT team descended on the PA home. He was later charged with four counts of murder and now faces a possible death sentence if convicted. Kohberger denies any wrongdoing and says he’s fighting the charges.
