Idaho murders – update: Bryan Kohberger’s comments about student stabbings revealed as Tinder date speaks out

Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger spoke about on the murders of the four University of Idaho students as he was extradited from Pennsylvania back to Moscow to face charges, it has been revealed.

A law enforcement source told People that the 28-year-old criminology PhD student made small talk about the case to officers, saying that it was “sad what happened” to Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

“He did say, ‘It’s really sad what happened to them,’ but he didn’t say anything more. He’s smarter than that,” the source said.

The revelation comes as a woman who says she once went on a Tinder date with Mr Kohberger claimed he was “very pushy” with her and said she now wonders if it “could have been so much different”.

Now, Mr Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder and one charge of burglary over the 13 November stabbing attack in Moscow. He is set to appear in court for a status hearing on 12 January.

Key points

  • Bryan Kohberger to appear in court this week

  • Victims have no known connection to accused killer

  • Kaylee Goncalves’ sister brands Kohberger ‘true evil'

  • Classmates reveal how suspect’s behaviour changed after murders

  • Affidavit reveals what led investigators to criminology PhD student

Suspect’s DNA found at the scene, police say

09:50 , Rachel Sharp

The killer left a tan leather knife sheath on Mogen’s bed next to her butchered body, according to the court documents.

Mr Kohberger’s DNA was found on the sheath which features the “Ka-Bar” “USMC” and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe and anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it,” the documents state.

“The Idaho state lab later located a single source of male DNA (suspect Profile) left on the button snap of the knife sheath.”

Investigators were able to trace the DNA evidence to Mr Kohberger by matching it to DNA found on trash recovered from his family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.

The knife itself has still yet to be found.

Bryan Kohberger’s comments about student murders revealed

09:33 , Rachel Sharp

Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger spoke about on the murders of the four University of Idaho students as he was extradited from Pennsylvania back to Moscow to face charges, it has been revealed.

A law enforcement source told People that the 28-year-old criminology PhD student made small talk about the case to officers, saying that it was “sad what happened” to Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

“He did say, ‘It’s really sad what happened to them,’ but he didn’t say anything more. He’s smarter than that,” the source said.

Mr Kohberger seemed “really nervous” during his extradition and spoke aloud to himself in an apparent effort to reassure himself.

“He was narrating to himself everything that was happening. At one point, he was saying something to himself like ‘I’m fine, this is okay.’ Like he was reassuring himself that this whole thing wasn’t awful,” he said.

Masked killer’s chilling words

09:00 , Andrea Blanco

A roommate who lived with the three female victims at the King Road residence told investigators that she spotted the killer and overheard him telling his victims “I’m going to help you” before stabbing them to death, according to the affidavit released last week.

The survivor - identified as D.M. - told investigators that the four victims had all come back to the King Road home from their respective nights out at around 2am and were in their rooms by around 4am – except for Kernodle, who got up to collect a DoorDash order around that time.

D.M. said that she had gone to sleep in her bedroom on the second floor of the three-floor home and was awoken by what sounded like Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the third-floor bedrooms.

A short time later, D.M. said that she heard someone believed to be either Goncalves or Kernodle saying something to the effect of “there’s someone here”.

Minutes later, D.M. said that she looked out of her bedroom for the first time but did not see anything.

She then opened her door for a second time when she heard what she thought was crying coming from Kernodle’s room, the documents state.

At that point, she said she heard a man’s voice saying something to the effect of “it’s ok, I’m going to help you”.

When she opened her door for a third time minutes later, she said she saw “a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her”.

As she stood in a “frozen shock phase,” she said the man – who she did not recognise – walked past her and headed toward the back sliding glass door of the home.

The witness said that she then locked herself in her room, the affidavit continues.

Hours later, Mogen and Goncalves were both found stabbed to death together in Mogen’s single bed in her room on the third floor.

The bodies of young couple Kernodle and Chapin were both found in Kernodle’s bedroom on the second floor of the property, with the 20-year-old woman found on the floor.

WATCH: Moment Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger appears in court for the first time

08:00 , Andrea Blanco

Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger appeared in court today, 5 January, for the first time since being charged for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin on 13 November 2022.

Victim’s family friend creates tribute hoodie designs

07:00 , Andrea Blanco

A friend of Madison Mogen’s mother partnered with a business by the name of TaraStitches to memorialise Mogen and three other University of Idaho students brutally murdered in an off-campus home on 13 November.

All the proceeds from the sales of the hoodies, which have the design of Angel wings that Mogen had tattoed on her arm, will go to the families of the victims.

“I had my heart on this design and made it come to life ... I wanted to create something special in remembrance of Kaylee, Maddie, Xana and Ethan. Thank you for supporting the U of I students,” the woman wrote on the website.

On Monday, Kaylee Goncalves’s mother Kristi Goncalves encouraged the public to support the business’ tribute to the slain students.

Victims were not familiar with murder suspect, family attorney says

06:00 , Andrea Blanco

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle did not appear to have personally met Washington State University (WSU) criminal justice PhD student Bryan Kohberger prior to their 13 November slayings, the Goncalves family lawyer told Insider on Monday.

Following the attack that rocked the college town of Moscow, Mr Kohberger, 28, finished his semester at WSU. Weeks later, he reportedly travelled with his father from his apartment in Pullman, Washington, around nine miles west of the victims’ home, to Pennsylvania to spend the holidays with his family.

Law enforcement raided Mr Kohberger’s family home in a surprise arrest on 30 December after weeks of mounting criticism about a lack of updates in the probe.

Mr Kohberger was charged with four counts of murder and extradited to Idaho — it was later revealed in the affidavit for his arrest that police linked him to the crime scene using genealogy DNA.

“No one knew of this guy at all,” attorney Shanon Gray said. “It appears from the affidavit that he was in the area of the house on several occasions ... That’s all we know.”

Rumours about Bryan Kohberger attending Idaho murders vigil debunked

05:00 , Andrea Blanco

Rampant online speculation that the suspect arrested in the Idaho murders was in attendance at a vigil for the victims has been debunked by newly-emerged footage.

The armchair detectives - who have been poring over alleged clues in the case for weeks - seized on a specific clip showing the back of a tall man with brown hair, making wholly far-fetched claims that he could be Mr Kohberger.

The baseless speculation has now been discredited by new footage from Inside Edition, which appears to show the face of the same man the online commenters identified as Mr Kohberger from the back. It is clear on the outlet’s video that the man is not Mr Kohberger.

The Independent has the story:

Rumours about Bryan Kohberger attending Idaho murders vigil debunked by new video

‘Blood-stained’ mattresses removed from murder home

04:00 , Andrea Blanco

Investigators were seen on Friday removing mattresses with apparent blood stains from the home where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered in November.

The removal involved a bed frame and at least two mattresses, on which dark stains were visible through plastic wrap, the New York Post reports.

Forensic work has been winding down for weeks at the home where Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were killed.

Grieving parents demand death penalty for murder suspect

03:00 , Andrea Blanco

Kaylee Goncalves’ parents Steve and Kristi Goncalves spoke to NewsNation last week just hours after they came face to face with their daughter’s accused killer Bryan Kohberger for the first time in court in Idaho.

Mr Goncalves said that justice for his daughter would mean the death penalty for the 28-year-old criminology PhD student, saying that “he has to pay” for what he allegedly did to Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

“If you want to play god’s role, you’re gonna have to go answer to him,” he said.

The devastated father said that he will eventually “forgive” his daughter’s killer but said that life in prison is not enough for his alleged crime.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story:

Idaho murders victim’s parents call for death penalty for Bryan Kohberger

Bryan Kohberger’s former friends claim he was a bully in high school

02:00 , Andrea Blanco

Former high school classmates of the man accused of murdering four students at the University of Idaho have alleged that suspected killer Brian Kohberger was bullied before becoming a bully himself and allegedly using heroin.

The former classmates made the comments on an upcoming episode of 48 Hours titled “The Idaho Student Murders” set to premiere Saturday on Paramount+.

One former classmate knew Mr Kohberger in college at Washington State University, and recalled him being opinionated but otherwise “comfortable around other people,” according to a CBS News report about the episode.

“He was very quick to offer his opinion and thoughts,” Mr Roberts said. “He would describe things in the most complicated, perhaps academic way possible.”

Craig Graziosi has the story for The Independent:

Bryan Kohberger’s childhood friends say he was a bully and used heroin in high school

Kaylee Goncalves’ sister believes Bryan Kohberger followed investigation online

01:00 , Andrea Blanco

The sister of murdered student Kaylee Goncalves has said that she suspects the accused killer wouldn’t have been able to resist following the investigation online so that he could watch “his circus” unfold.

Bryan Kohberger has spent years studying criminal justice and at the time of the murders was a criminology PhD student at Washington State University.

According to the affidavit, he appears to have stalked the home of the victims at least 12 times prior to the 13 November slayings.

“A lot of that comes from the fact that he had visited the home so many times before, late at night and early hours. He’s presented this pattern of behavior,” she told NewsNation.

“He went back to the home the morning of, before police had been called, I think to see if his circus, so to say, had started to unfold,” she said.

“I think he would not have been able to refrain from engaging with the online communities, the theories, the conspiracies, and everything in between.”

The evidence linking Bryan Kohberger to the Idaho murders

00:00 , Andrea Blanco

It is currently unclear if any evidence was found on Mr Kohberger’s Hyundai Elantra which was seized by authorities at the time of his arrest.

Since early December, investigators had been asking for the public’s help in tracking down a white Hyundai Elantra which had been spotted at the crime scene at the time of the murders.

Investigators ultimately traced the vehicle to Mr Kohberger, with surveillance footage capturing the car driving from the direction of his home in Pullman, Washington state, to the King Road home in the early hours of 13 November – and then back again, the affidavit reveals.

The murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – is yet to be found.

Other chilling details about the murders were also revealed in the affidavit, showing how cellphone records had also been used to tie Mr Kohberger to the crime.

Investigators believe that Mr Kohberger turned his cell phone off on the night of the murders in order to try to avoid detection.

However, cellphone data shows that Mr Kohberger appears to have stalked the home at least 12 times in the run-up to the 13 November attack.

The affidavit for his arrest, released on Thursday, reveals that investigators had used DNA obtained from the trash at his parents’ home to match Mr Kohberger to DNA evidence left behind at the crime scene.

The killer had left a tan leather Kabar knife sheath, which featured the United States Marine Corps symbol, inside the bloodied home, lying on Mogen’s bed next to the victim’s butchered body.

Male DNA on the sheath matches that of Mr Kohberger, the affidavit states.

Bryan Kohberger changed licence plates on his white Hyundai Elantra days after Idaho murders

Tuesday 10 January 2023 23:00 , Andrea Blanco

The suspect’s car had Pennsylvania plates when it was pulled over by police in Moscow, Idaho, in August, according to a citation from the Latah County Sheriff’s Office.

A review of documents on CarFax by Newsweek showed that Mr Kohberger changed the registration from Pennsylvania to Washington on 18 November, five days after four students were found stabbed to death in a Moscow home.

A public information request with the Washington State Department of Licensing by The Independent confirmed the car was registered in the state on 19 November.

The Independent’s Bevan Hurley has the story:

Bryan Kohberger changed licence plates on Hyundai Elantra days after Idaho murders

Why Bryan Kohberger’s search warrant will not be immediately released

Tuesday 10 January 2023 22:11 , Andrea Blanco

After Mr Kohberger’s 30 December arrest in Pennsylvania, a search began at his apartment in Pullman, Washington, for evidence that could potentially further link him to the murders of four University of Idaho students.

The search warrant that authorised law enforcement to proceed with the search was sealed until 1 March 2023, local news station KREM reported.

Documents filed in Whitman County Superior Court state that “premature public disclosure of the details of this law enforcement investigation will create a serious and imminent threat to effective law enforcement, and could result in the premature end of this investigation which could create a threat to public safety.”

Bryan Kohberger applied to police internship months before murders

Tuesday 10 January 2023 21:30 , Andrea Blanco

Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders, arrest affidavit reveals

The criminology PhD student charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students had applied for an internship with the local police department within months of the murders, according to an unsealed arrest affidavit.

“Kohberger wrote in his essay he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations,” the affidavit states.

The Independent’s Sheila Flynn has the full details:

Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders

BTK compares his crimes to Idaho murders

Tuesday 10 January 2023 21:00 , Andrea Blanco

BTK killer Dennis Rader has said that he sees similarities between himself and Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four Idaho students.

Rader, who was convicted of murdering 10 in Wichita, Kansas, told TMZ in a jailhouse email that he can relate to Mr Kohberger’s “dark mind” and believes he may have been motivated by “Fantasy Homicide” to kill – much like himself.

“[Mr Kohberger] may have killed by Fantasy Homicide. Which I did!” he wrote.

While Rader confessed to killing his victims in order to fulfill his sexual fantasies, a motive has not yet been revealed for the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

Mr Kohberger has not yet entered a plea in Idaho court but is said to be planning to fight the allegations.

According to his affidavit, the suspect may have stalked the victims’ home at least 12 times prior to the murders.

BTK wrote in his email that he thinks Mr Kohberger would lie in wait for the victims and stalked them and their student home in Moscow, writing that this was ”much like I did”.

He went on to point out similarities between one of his own attacks and the quadruple murder that Mr Kohberger is now charged with.

In 1974, Rader murdered four members of the Otero family, strangling them to death in their Wichita home.

“Murder four, much like the Oteros, up close and personal stabbed,” he wrote in the email comparing the two crimes.

It previously emerged that BTK and Mr Kohberger have an eerie connection.

Mr Kohberger gained a Master’s degree in criminology in 2022 from Pennsylvania’s DeSales University, where he was taught by Dr Katherine Ramsland.

Dr Ramsland is the leading academic authority on the BTK killings and wrote the 2016 book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and phone conversations with the serial killer to delve deep into his psyche.

Key revelations in the Bryan Kohberger affidavit

Tuesday 10 January 2023 20:30 , Andrea Blanco

Stunning new details about the murders of four University of Idaho students have been revealed in an affidavit supporting the arrest of suspect Bryan Christopher Kohberger.

Mr Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology PhD student at Washington State University, has been charged in the 13 November deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21. They were killed in a rental home just blocks from the UI campus in Moscow, Idaho, right across the state border from WSU in Pullman, Washington.

The suspect was arrested in his native Pennsylvania, then extradited to Idaho, where court documents were unsealed following his first appearance before a judge in the state.

Portions were redacted but the remaining pages revealed chilling details about the murders - among them that a surviving roommate came face to face with the killer; Kohberger’s cell phone record and police traffic stops indicate he’d been casing the home; and DNA from a knife sheath was used to forensically connect the grad student to the crimes.

Here are the biggest revelations from the documents:

Key revelations from Bryan Kohberger’s arrest affidavit

Victim’s sister defends surviving roommate for delay in 911 call

Tuesday 10 January 2023 19:59 , Andrea Blanco

The grieving sister of slain student Kaylee Goncalves has defended one of her sibling’s surviving roommates who has faced questions about a delay in alerting police to the murders.

Two roommates were also in the student home in Moscow, Idaho, when four students were stabbed to death in a brutal knife attack at around 4am on 13 November. The two women were left unharmed.

At around midday, a 911 call was made to report an unconscious person in the home. Police arrived to find the bloody scene.

The affidavit for Bryan Kohberger, released last Thursday, revealed that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the masked killer as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders.

Since then, questions have arisen around why the roommate did not call 911 for another eight hours.

Goncalves’ sister Alivea Goncalves defended the roommate in an interview with NewsNation on Sunday.

“She was probably really, really scared,” she said.

“Until we have any more information, I think everyone should stop passing judgments because you don’t know what you would do in that situation.”

Suspect Bryan Kohberger ‘threw trash in Pennsylvania’s neighbour’s bin’

Tuesday 10 January 2023 19:17 , Andrea Blanco

A law enforcement source has revealed that quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger threw out garbage in his neighbours’ bins while he was visiting family in Pennsylvania weeks after the murders.

The source told ABC News that Mr Kohberger disposed of the unspecified trash in the middle of the night. The incident took place in the days before he was arrested at his parent’s home in Albrightsville on 30 December.

Mr Kohberger was surveilled for four days before he was taken into custody, and was ultimately linked to the crime scene thanks to the use of genealogy DNA, police officials revealed in an affidavit released on 5 January.

Idaho murders victim had no idea she was being stalked by ‘true evil’

Tuesday 10 January 2023 18:27 , Andrea Blanco

The grieving sister of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves has said that her sibling had no idea she was being stalked by “true evil” before she was brutally stabbed in an attack that sent shockwaves through the small college town of Moscow.

Alivea Goncalves spoke out for the first time since Idaho authorities released the arrest affidavit for suspected killer Bryan Kohberger, revealing chilling new details about the quadruple murder of Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

She said that the revelation that the 28-year-old criminology PhD student appears to have stalked the student home on King Road, Moscow, prior to the 13 November murders especially haunts her.

“We had no idea. She had no idea. I had no idea that true evil was genuinely watching them,” she told NewsNation.

Suspect ‘had no connection’ to victims, family lawyer says

Tuesday 10 January 2023 17:45 , Andrea Blanco

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle did not appear to have personally met Washington State University (WSU) criminal justice PhD student Bryan Kohberger prior to their 13 November slayings, the Goncalves family lawyer told Insider on Monday.

Following the attack that rocked the college town of Moscow, Mr Kohberger, 28, finished his semester at WSU. Weeks later, he travelled with his father from his apartment in Pullman, Washington, around nine miles west of the victims’ home, reportedly to spend the holidays with his family in Pennsylvania.

Law enforcement raided Mr Kohberger’s family home in a surprise arrest on 30 December after weeks of mounting criticism about the lack of updates in the probe. Mr Kohberger was charged with four counts of murder and extradited to Idaho — it was later revealed in the affidavit for his arrest that police linked him to the crime scene using genealogy DNA.

“No one knew of this guy at all,” attorney Shanon Gray said. “It appears from the affidavit that he was in the area of the house on several occasions ...That’s all we know.”

Who really is Bryan Kohberger?

Tuesday 10 January 2023 17:20 , Andrea Blanco

Bryan Kohberger became a household name upon his 30 December arrest in Pennsylvania for the killings of four University of Idaho students.

“People from his past - though shocked - build a picture of a bullied loner who could be aggressive; fellow students from his time in Idaho describe a criminology zealot who ‘creeped people out,” Sheila Flynn writes.

The Independent has the story:

Bryan Kohberger devoted his life to studying crime. Now, the tables have turned

All the questions left unanswered after the affidavit was released

Tuesday 10 January 2023 16:50 , Andrea Blanco

For nearly eight weeks, the families of four slain University of Idaho students have waited in agony for answers about the unspeakable killings, Rachel Sharp writes for The Independent.

But even after the arrest of a suspect and the release of an affidavit offering some insight into law enforcement’s investigation, many questions remain unanswered about the circumstances surrounding the brutal stabbings.

Read the full story:

Bryan Kohberger’s Idaho murders arrest affidavit raises these new questions

Washington Tulip farm sells tribute bulbs

Tuesday 10 January 2023 16:30 , Andrea Blanco

Before Ethan Chapin moved to Idaho along with her two triplets to go to college, he lived in Washington with his family.

In the Evergreen State, Chapin worked at the Tulip Valley Farm. The tulip farm is now looking to memorialise the slain student by planting yellow and white bulbs, a mix they’ve named “Ethan’s Smile,” which will be available for purchase later this Spring.

All proceeds from sales will support Ethan’s Smile’s community gardens and scholarship funds in Chapin’s name.

Surgical gloves, trash disposal and car cleaning: Bryan Kohberger’s odd behaviour after Idaho murders revealed

Tuesday 10 January 2023 16:10 , Rachel Sharp

Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger was caught dumping trash in his neighbours’ bins in the dead of the night in the weeks after four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered, it has been revealed.

The 28-year-old criminal justice PhD student has been charged with the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin that rocked the small, college town of Moscow, Idaho.

The net had been closing in on Mr Kohberger for several weeks and he was placed under surveillance by law enforcement for four days leading up to his arrest at his family home in Pennsylvania on 30 December.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story here:

Bryan Kohberger’s peculiar behaviour after Idaho murders revealed

Kaylee Goncalves’ sister defends surviving roommate for delay in 911 call

Tuesday 10 January 2023 15:50 , Rachel Sharp

The grieving sister of slain student Kaylee Goncalves has defended one of her sibling’s surviving roommates who has faced questions about a delay in alerting police to the murders.

Two roommates were also in the student home in Moscow, Idaho, when four students were stabbed to death in a brutal knife attack at around 4am on 13 November. The two women were left unharmed.

At around midday, a 911 call was made to report an unconscious person in the home. Police arrived to find the bloody scene.

The affidavit for Bryan Kohberger, released last Thursday, revealed that one of the surviving roommates came face to face with the masked killer as he left the home in the aftermath of the murders.

Since then, questions have arisen around why the roommate did not call 911 for another eight hours.

Goncalves’ sister Alivea Goncalves defended the roommate in an interview with NewsNation on Sunday.

“She was probably really, really scared,” she said.

“Until we have any more information, I think everyone should stop passing judgments because you don’t know what you would do in that situation.”

Will Bryan Kohberger get the death penalty?

Tuesday 10 January 2023 15:30 , Rachel Sharp

Accused killer Bryan Kohberger may face the death penalty for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

The 28-year-old criminal justice PhD student is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary over the 13 November attack.

Under Idaho state law, he faces the death penalty or life in prison on each murder charge.

Goncalves’ parents have already said that they support him receiving a death sentence, saying that life imprisonment is not enough for his alleged crimes.

Bryan Kohberger devoted his life to studying crime. The Idaho murders have turned the tables

Tuesday 10 January 2023 15:10 , Rachel Sharp

Bryan Kohberger became a household name upon his 30 December arrest in Pennsylvania for the killings of four University of Idaho students.

People from his past - though shocked - build a picture of a bullied loner who could be aggressive; fellow students from his time in Idaho describe a criminology zealot who “creeped people out”.

As he faces trial accused of shocking crimes, The Independent’s Sheila Flynn asks: Who really is Bryan Kohberger?

Bryan Kohberger devoted his life to studying crime. Now, the tables have turned

Is Bryan Kohberger the stalker Kaylee Goncalves complained about?

Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:50 , Rachel Sharp

Prior to the 13 November massacre, investigators believe that Bryan Kohberger stalked the victims’ home at least 12 times.

Cellphone records show that his phone pinged in the area of the King Road home on at least twelve occasions between 23 June and 13 November when the murders took place.

The exact dates of these instances were not revealed in the documents but all bar one were in the late evening or early morning hours.

One incident was identified on 21 August, when the suspect was stopped by police just minutes from the home where he allegedly knifed the four students to death three months later.

A citation from Latah County Sheriff’s Office, obtained by The Independent earlier this week, reveals that the traffic stop took place at around 11.40pm at the intersection of West Pullman Road and Farm Road in Moscow.

The record shows he was stopped for failing to wear his seatbelt – just 1.7 miles and a five-minute drive from the victims’ student rental home.

On that occasion, Mr Kohberger’s cellphone pinged in the area of the King Road home from around 10.34pm to 11.35pm, the affidavit shows.

Prior to her death, Kaylee Goncalves had told friends and family members that she believed she had a stalker.

The details of the stalker were unknown and, throughout the murder investigation, Moscow Police said that they had been unable to confirm or deny the claims.

It remains unclear if Mr Kohberger was the stalker Goncalves was fearful of and how long he may have been surveilling the victim or victims at the home.

Xana Kernodle’s childhood best friend says she wants answers

Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:30 , Rachel Sharp

Xana Kernodle’s childhood best friend has spoken out to say that she wants answers about her murder.

“I still think there are a lot of answers that I would like. Until I get those, I still am going to be a little hung up on this. So, it’s just about the answers, I guess,” Sydney Gribnitz told NewsNation.

Ms Gribnitz said that she was in shock when she heard that the friend she described as “one of the funniest people I’ve ever met” had been brutally killed.

“It definitely was a shock. We were really, really close in middle school, not as much recently,” she said.

“I guess just because I live in Florida. We were really far apart, but I always knew I could count on her. It’s just a lot.”

Ms Gribnitz and her father – who used to be Kernodle’s gymnastics coach – have now set up a fundraiser in the slain 20-year-old’s honour.

Read the affidavit on Bryan Kohberger’s arrest for the Idaho murders in full:

Tuesday 10 January 2023 14:10 , Rachel Sharp

Authorities released an affidavit in support of suspect Bryan Kohberger’s arrest in the murders of four Idaho university students on Thursday as he appeared in court for his arraignment.

The affidavit is filled with horror new details about the 13 November killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin - and what led investigators to identify Mr Kohberger as the suspect.

Read the full affidavit here:

Read the affidavit on Bryan Kohberger’s arrest for the Idaho murders in full

Victim’s sister believes Bryan Kohberger wouldn’t have been able to resist following the investigation online

Tuesday 10 January 2023 13:50 , Rachel Sharp

The sister of murdered student Kaylee Goncalves has said that she suspects the accused killer wouldn’t have been able to resist following the investigation online so that he could watch “his circus” unfold.

Bryan Kohberger has spent years studying criminal justice and at the time of the murders was a criminology PhD student at Washington State University.

According to the affidavit, he appears to have stalked the home of the victims at least 12 times prior to the 13 November slayings.

“A lot of that comes from the fact that he had visited the home so many times before, late at night and early hours. He’s presented this pattern of behavior,” she told NewsNation.

“He went back to the home the morning of, before police had been called, I think to see if his circus, so to say, had started to unfold,” she said.

“I think he would not have been able to refrain from engaging with the online communities, the theories, the conspiracies, and everything in between.”

BTK killer Dennis Rader sees similarities between himself and Bryan Kohberger

Tuesday 10 January 2023 13:30 , Rachel Sharp

BTK killer Dennis Rader has said that he sees similarities between himself and Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four Idaho students.

Rader, who was convicted of murdering 10 in Wichita, Kansas, told TMZ in a jailhouse email that he can relate to Mr Kohberger’s “dark mind” and believes he may have been motivated by “Fantasy Homicide” to kill – much like himself.

“[Mr Kohberger] may have killed by Fantasy Homicide. Which I did!” he wrote.

While Rader confessed to killing his victims in order to fulfill his sexual fantasies, a motive has not yet been revealed for the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

Mr Kohberger has not yet entered a plea in Idaho court but is said to be planning to fight the allegations.

According to his affidavit, the suspect may have stalked the victims’ home at least 12 times prior to the murders.

BTK wrote in his email that he thinks Mr Kohberger would lie in wait for the victims and stalked them and their student home in Moscow, writing that this was ”much like I did”.

He went on to point out similarities between one of his own attacks and the quadruple murder that Mr Kohberger is now charged with.

In 1974, Rader murdered four members of the Otero family, strangling them to death in their Wichita home.

“Murder four, much like the Oteros, up close and personal stabbed,” he wrote in the email comparing the two crimes.

It previously emerged that BTK and Mr Kohberger have an eerie connection.

Mr Kohberger gained a Master’s degree in criminology in 2022 from Pennsylvania’s DeSales University, where he was taught by Dr Katherine Ramsland.

Dr Ramsland is the leading academic authority on the BTK killings and wrote the 2016 book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer, drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews and phone conversations with the serial killer to delve deep into his psyche.

Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders, arrest affidavit reveals

Tuesday 10 January 2023 13:10 , Rachel Sharp

The criminology PhD student charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students had applied for an internship with the local police department within months of the murders, according to an unsealed arrest affidavit.

“Kohberger wrote in his essay he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations,” the affidavit states.

The Independent’s Sheila Flynn has the full details:

Bryan Kohberger applied for police internship around time of Idaho murders

Victim’s family plans to set up foundation in her honour

Tuesday 10 January 2023 12:50 , Rachel Sharp

The family of murdered student Kaylee Goncalves is planning to set up a foundation in her memory.

Goncalves’ sister Alivea Goncalves told NewsNation that they are in the early stages of launching a foundation to honour the 21-year-old.

Now that a suspect has been arrested for her murder, Ms Goncalves said that she and her family can finally begin the grieving process.

“We still have such a long road ahead of us. The relief that we all felt having a suspect in custody was, I can’t even describe it, like the weight of the world was lifted from our shoulders,” she said.

Former friend believed Kohberger had turned his life around

Tuesday 10 January 2023 12:33 , Rachel Sharp

A former friend of suspected killer Bryan Kohberger has revealed that she believed he had turned his life around – before his shock arrest for a quadruple homicide last month.

On CBS News’ 48 hours, Bree said that she knew Mr Kohberger when they were in high school but their friendship ended when he began using heroin.

“You just saw him becoming more self-destructive… He really stayed secluded,” she said.

When she saw him again sometime later, she said it appeared as if he was getting his life together.

“He was telling me that he wanted to get sober, that he was getting sober. … And he wanted to let me know like, ‘I’m gonna do better. I’m gonna be better,’” she said.

Bree said that he “wanted to do something that impacted people in a good way” and that she believed that studying criminology was his way of doing this.

Instead, he is now facing the death penalty for the murders of four students.