Idaho murders – update: Bryan Kohberger attorney reveals why college stabbings case can be ‘attacked’ in court

Rachel Sharp and Andrea Blanco

January 17, 2023 at 4:56 AM·77 min read

The attorney who represented Bryan Kohberger before his extradition from Pennsylvania has voiced his belief that the case against the murder suspect could be “attacked”.

Jason LaBar told local outlet WFMZ that he believes the circumstantial evidence against the 28-year-old PhD student is “strong” but “individually taken, the evidence could be attacked”.

The attorney, who no longer represents Mr Kohberger now he is back in Idaho facing murder charges, added that he told his client not to divulge any details about the case to him.

Mr Kohberger is next scheduled to appear in court on 26 June, for a preliminary hearing on charges of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

The four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in a student rental home on 13 November in the small college town of Moscow.

New details continue to emerge about the suspect, with his chilling online comments and posts resurfacing. In one disturbing rap song which appears to have been shared by Mr Kohberger on Soundcloud, he referred to himself as a “devil” and warned “don’t f*** with us, you underestimate”.

Key points

Bryan Kohberger’s alleged rap song ‘calling himself devil’ emerges
Chilling online comments from suspect as teen revealed
Bryan Kohberger waives right to speedy trial
Affidavit reveals what led investigators to criminology PhD student

Madison Mogen’s father reveals what he did when he learned of Bryan Kohberger’s arrest

10:00 , Andrea Blanco

The devastated father of slain University of Idaho student Madison Mogen has revealed that he just “broke down and cried” when he learned that his daughter’s accused killer had been taken into custody by police.

Ben Mogen had been clinging onto hope that the murderer who violently stabbed his daughter to death alongside her friends Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin would be brought to justice.

Finally, seven weeks on from the 13 November slayings, an investigator broke the news to him that a suspect – Bryan Kohberger – had finally been arrested and charged with their murders.

Mr Mogen spoke out about the moment that he learned about the break in the case on ABC’s “Good Morning America” this week.

“He said, ‘Ben, this is the moment we’ve been waiting for,’” he said the officer told him.

The Independent has the full story:

Madison Mogen’s father ‘broke down’ when he learned of Bryan Kohberger’s arrest

Bryan Kohberger allegedly called Idaho murders a ‘crime of passion’

09:00 , Andrea Blanco

Washington State University PhD student Bryan Kohberger stands accused of brutally stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin at an off-campus home in the college town of Moscow on 13 November. It took seven weeks for Mr Kohberger to be linked to the killings, resulting in his arrest late last month.

One of Mr Kohberger’s neighbours in Pullman, Washington, a few miles across the Idaho border from Moscow, has now come forward to claim the suspect mentioned the killings to him soon after they occurred, when very few details about the investigations were available to the public.

“He brought it up in conversation,” the neighbour told CBS News on Wednesday. “[He] asked if I had heard about the murders, which I did. And then he said, ‘Yeah, seems like they have no leads. Seems like it was a crime of passion.’”

The neighbour’s account bears contrast to those of Mr Kohberger’s classmates, who have said he was unwilling to discuss the case.

Bryan Kohberger attends a status hearing at Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho, U.S., January 12, 2023 (REUTERS)

A new explanation emerges about mystery 911 call

08:00 , Andrea Blanco

The 911 call alerting law enforcement to the murders of the four University of Idaho students has long been shrouded in mystery after Moscow Police said that the caller initially reported “an unconscious individual” in the home.

The call was made from the cellphone of one of the two surviving roommates at around 11.58am on 13 November, with the dispatcher speaking to multiple people.

Officers arrived at the home to find a bloody scene, with Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin all dead from multiple stab wounds.

Since then, questions have persisted around why the caller reported an “unconscious individual” when officials described the crime scene as one of the worst they had ever seen.

A potential reason for the mysterious 911 call has now been revealed in Air Mail’s article “The Eyes of a Killer”.

Civilian employees at Whitcom 9-1-1, an agency in Pullman, Washington, handle the 911 calls to the Moscow Police Department as well as several other agencies, according to the report.

The agency is severely understaffed to such an extent that the dispatchers’ guild has previously warned that “our ability to uphold public safety is at risk”.

Under standard protocol, when callers “are agitated” the dispatcher will often assign the call with the generic label of “unconscious person” rather than waste valuable time and resources trying to gather specific details.

In this case, it is possible that the dispatcher assigned the generic label while speaking to the students who were panicked by what they saw and were passing the phone from one to the other.

Why did Bryan Kohberger’s attorneys request his court hearing be pushed back to June?

07:00 , Andrea Blanco

Mr Kohberger’s public defender Anne Taylor requested on Thursday that his next court date be pushed back until June.

The prosecution agreed to the request and the judge scheduled the preliminary hearing for the week beginning 26 June.

The entire week has been set aside for the hearing – when evidence of the case against Mr Kohberger will be laid out for the first time in court and he is likely to enter a plea on the charges.

His request for a delay before the next court appearance came after the defence asked the prosecution to hand over all discovery in the case in the next 14 days - including witness statements, digital media and police reports.

Ms Taylor told the judge that waiving the 14-day deadline would give the defence more time to review all the evidence in the case.

Now, the families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin will have to wait six more months to face their childrens’ accused killer in the court.

Until then, Mr Kohberger will be held behind bars at Latah County Jail after he was ordered to be held on no bail for a second time.

Mother in Oregon cold case hopes Idaho murders will help find her son’s killer

06:00 , Andrea Blanco

Online sleuths have been debating the similarities between the murders of four Idaho University students and the Oregon cold case from 13 August 2021.

Myra Juetten, the mother of 26-year-old Travis Juetten, said last week that she hoped that the Idaho case will bring attention to the stabbings of her son and his 24-year-old wife Jamilyn Juetten.

Ms Juetten said: “There’s a lot of similarities. I have no proof there’s a connection. But I’m hopeful that this will reinvigorate this case and bring attention to my son’s murder.”

Travis and Jamilyn were stabbed in the middle of the night in Salem, Oregon, as they slept. Travis died and Jamilyn survived 19 stab wounds.

Moscow Police have previously said there are no links between the 2021 attack and the recent student murders.

Ms Juetten told News Nation’s Banfield show that “my son was an amazing young man, and it’s very hard not to have any answers. I just wish somebody would come forward just to give that extra piece to the puzzle that we need”.

She continued: “I can’t even start grieving until I have an answer, so it’s very difficult for my family.”

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

05:00 , 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.’ 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

Bryan Kohberger’s offhand comments about Idaho student murders

04:00 , Andrea Blanco

A law enforcement source told People last week 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,” said the source, who was involved in the accused killer’s extradition process.

Mr Kohberger seemed “really nervous” during the journey back to Moscow and spoke aloud to himself in an apparent effort to reassure himself, the source added.

“He seemed really nervous. He was narrating to himself everything that was happening,” they said.

“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.”

Mr Kohberger has so far remained tightlipped about the brutal stabbing murders that he is accused of carrying out.

He did not enter a plea when he appeared in court in Idaho for the first time last week.

However, the attorney who represented him in Pennsylvania said that the suspect planned to fight the allegations and was “eager to be exonerated”.

Mr Kohberger will next appear in court on 26 June for a preliminary status hearing.

Bryan Kohberger waives right to speedy trial

03:00 , Andrea Blanco

Suspected quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger appeared in court on Thursday with cuts on his face as he waived his right to a speedy trial on charges of murdering four Idaho students.

The 28-year-old criminology PhD student made the brief appearance in Latah County Courthouse in Moscow for a status hearing in his murder case.

Dressed in an orange t-shirt and with unexplained marks on his face, Mr Kohberger spoke only to answer “yes” when asked if he understood his rights to a speedy preliminary hearing within the next 14 days and if he agreed to waive those rights.

Mr Kohberger’s public defender Anne Taylor then requested that his next court date be pushed back until June.

The prosecution agreed to the request and the judge scheduled the preliminary hearing for the week beginning 26 June.

The heartbreaking reason why Kaylee Goncalves returned to Idaho on 13 November

02:00 , Andrea Blanco

Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of the student rental home on King Road, Moscow, before she was brutally murdered there along with three of her friends, it has been revealed.

Goncalves’ parents told NBC’s “Dateline” special that the 21-year-old had recently left the student property ahead of her upcoming graduation that December and a move to Austin, Texas, for a new job at a tech firm.

But, that fateful weekend, she decided to go back to the college town to visit her best friend Madison Mogen.

The two young women had been inseparable since meeting in the sixth grade and Goncalves wanted to show Mogen her new Range Rover that she had saved up for and bought. The pair also planned to go to a party together the night of 12 November.

“These girls were best friends since sixth grade, like inseparable,” said Goncalves’ mother Kristi Goncalves.

“That was the last time that I saw Kaylee.”

In the early hours of 13 November, Goncalves, Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were all stabbed to death in the home.

Goncalves and Mogen were found in the same bed together in Mogen’s room, with the killer’s knife sheath left behind next to their bodies.

VOICES: The eerie online world of the Idaho murders case

01:00 , Andrea Blanco

Even now Bryan Kohberger is in police custody, the online rumour mill shows no signs of winding down.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp explores the fascination with the Idaho murders case, and its effect on the online true crime community.

The eerie online world of the Idaho murders case

Bryan Kohberger’s alleged rap song ‘calling himself devil’ emerge

00:44 , Andrea Blanco

New details continue to emerge about the suspect as he awaits his next court hearing on 26 June, with his chilling online comments and posts resurfacing.

In one disturbing rap song which appears to have been shared by Mr Kohberger on Soundcloud in 2011, he referred to himself as a “devil” and warned “don’t f*** with us, you underestimate,” the New York Post reported.

“You are not my equal / You are evil but I’m devil,” the lyric reads.

Previously, the New York Times had reported on comments on a forum made also by a profile with the username Exxar, which has been linked to Mr Kohberger.

The posts offered new insight into the alleged murderer’s troubled teenage years and his struggle to feel emotion from a young age.

The Tapatalk profile behind the chilling posts from 2011 was linked to the Washington State University PhD criminology student with the help of recollections from former friends of Mr Kohberger, and a username match with an email account used by him, according to the Times.

In another post, the author explored feelings of self-loathing, regretting that he was no longer the “healthy blonde-haired boy with blue eyes, and in a few years, [he then had] darker hair and darker eyes, half the body weight”.

He then proceeded to say he felt “unintelligent” and as though he was experiencing “depersonalization” and felt “little to no remorse.’

“I often find myself making simple human interactions, but it is as if I am playing a role-playing game such as oblivion; I can see what is going on, I am slightly into it, but I can pause the game and focus on my real life,” the post states.

It continues: “I view everything as I would if I was playing oblivion, pointless and full of nothing, out of reality. I am moving out of my house, my last holidays were already lived, but where was I? As my family group hugs and celebrates, I am stuck in this void of nothing, feeling completely no emotion, feeling nothing.”

“I feel dirty, like there is dirt inside of my head, my mind, I am always dizzy and confused.”

The evidence linking Bryan Kohberger to the crime scene

00:05 , Andrea Blanco

An affidavit for Mr Kohberger’s arrest, released on 5 January when Mr Kohberger was extradited to Moscow, Idaho, reveals how Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were found with multiple stab wounds in the same single bed in Mogen’s room.

Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were also found murdered on the second floor.

A knife sheath was found on the bed next to Mogen’s body, left behind by the killer.

Investigators said that Mr Kohberger’s DNA was found on the sheath – matching it to the 28-year-old through the use of a genetic genealogy website and comparing it to his father’s DNA recovered from trash seized from the family’s home in Pennsylvania.

Cellphone data also suggests that Mr Kohberger stalked the student home at least 12 times in the run-up to the night of the murders, according to the affidavit. The exact dates and times of these instances were not revealed in the affidavit but all bar one were in the late evening or early morning hours.

At the time of the murders, investigators believe Mr Kohberger turned his cellphone off in order to try to avoid detection.

However, cellphone data places him close to the home on King Road at around 9am on 13 November – suggesting that he returned to the scene of the crime just hours after allegedly murdering the four victims at around 4am.

As well as cellphone data and DNA evidence, the affidavit reveals that a white Hyundai Elantra spotted at the crime scene at the time of the murders was also traced back to the suspect.

One of the victims’ surviving roommates was also able to partially describe the killer to investigators after she came face to face with him in the aftermath of the murders in the early hours of 13 November.

The motive for the murders is unknown and it remains unclear why Mr Kohberger allegedly targeted the victims.

Kaylee Goncalves’ family reveal potential reason why she called ex-boyfriend before Idaho murders

Monday 16 January 2023 22:52 , Andrea Blanco

A University of Idaho student stabbed to death in her sleep may have called her ex-boyfriend on the night of her murder to rekindle their relationship, her family believes.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed during a 13 November attack in the small college town of Moscow. The murders gripped the nation and a secretive investigation by the FBI, Moscow Police, and Idaho State Police eventually materialised into the 30 December arrest of Washington State University PhD criminology student Bryan Kohberger.

Goncalves’ family has now shed new light on why she might have been calling her ex-boyfriend Jack DuCoeur in the hours before she was brutally attacked. In a sit-down interview with the YouTube channel Chronicles of Olivia — filmed two days before Mr Kohberger’s arrest– the Goncalves said their daughter broke up with Mr DuCoeur ahead of her post-graduation move to Texas, but had later voiced concerns that she “might not ever find another Jack” and was considering getting back together with him.

The Independent has the story:

Kaylee Goncalves’ family reiterate support for Idaho murder victim’s ex-boyfriend

No proof that Bryan Kohberger was in attendance of November vigil for the victims

Monday 16 January 2023 21:52 , Andrea Blanco

In the wake of Bryan Kohberger’s arrest on charges for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, social media sleuths began scouring video of a 30 November vigil for the slain students to see if the suspect may have been present.

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 vigil rumours marked the latest wild theory to go viral online, only to be swiftly debunked.

VOICES: I lived through an attack similar to the Idaho murders. We must defend the survivors

Monday 16 January 2023 21:22 , Andrea Blanco

Like two roommates in the Idaho murders case, Alanna Zabel also survived an attack at a student home.

Her close encounter with death happened more than 2,000 miles away in Buffalo, and nearly 31 years ago, but one thing remains consistent.

“We must defend the survivors,” she writes.

Read Alana’s piece for The Independent:

I lived through an attack similar to the Idaho murders. We must defend the survivors

She slept through an attack that nearly killed her roommate. Now, she’s defending a stranger in the Idaho murders

Monday 16 January 2023 20:52 , Andrea Blanco

There are many chilling similarities between the murders of four Idaho students in November and a 1992 attack at a student home in Buffalo – none more so than the experiences of the roommates who survived.

Alanna Zabel tells Rachel Sharp why she feels the need to defend the surviving roommate in Idaho and how she understands the way trauma can shape reactions to such horrifying events.

She slept through an attack in her home - and has a message about the Idaho murders

Idaho murder suspect ‘stalked Idaho murders house at least 12 times,’ affidavit reveals

Monday 16 January 2023 20:19 , Andrea Blanco

Suspect Bryan Kohberger may have stalked the Idaho house where four students were brutally knifed to death “at least 12 times” before the killings, an arrest affidavit suggests.

The bodies of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found at their King Road rental house opposite the University of Idaho in the city of Moscow on 13 November.

Mr Kohberger, a PHD criminology student from nearby Pulman, Washington, has been charged with their murders and appeared in an Idaho court on Thursday morning, just before which a probable cause affidavit describing the police case against him was unsealed.

Investigators state in the document that they received historical data for the suspect’s phone from AT&T for the time after his account was opened in June 2022 “to determine if Kohberger stalked any of the victims in this case prior to the offense, conducted surveillance on the King Road Residence, was in contact with any of the victims’ associates before or after the alleged offense.”

And the document states that Mr Kohberger’s phone showed that it had registered in the area of the King Road murder house “on at least twelve occasions prior to November 13, 2022.”

Was Bryan Kohberger the stalker Kaylee Goncalves complained about?

Monday 16 January 2023 19:54 , Andrea Blanco

Prior to the 13 November massacre, investigators believe that Mr 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, 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.

Bryan Kohberger’s odd behaviour after Idaho murders revealed

Monday 16 January 2023 19:29 , Andrea Blanco

During a period of surveillance, investigators observed Mr Kohberger behaving suspiciously, including wearing surgical gloves, secretly dumping trash and rigorously cleaning his car.

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 surveillance team was tasked with both keeping eyes on the suspect so that authorities could arrest him as soon as a warrant was obtained and obtaining a DNA sample that investigators could use to try to match him to DNA found at the crime scene.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story:

Bryan Kohberger’s peculiar behaviour after Idaho murders revealed

A potential explanation behind the 911 call

Monday 16 January 2023 19:08 , Andrea Blanco

The call was made from the cellphone of one of the two surviving roommates at around 11.58am on 13 November, with the dispatcher speaking to multiple people.

Officers arrived at the home to find a bloody scene, with Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin all dead from multiple stab wounds.

Since then, questions have persisted around why the caller reported an “unconscious individual” when officials described the crime scene as one of the worst they had ever seen.

A potential reason for the mysterious 911 call has now been revealed in Air Mail’s article “The Eyes of a Killer”.

The Independent has the story:

New explanation emerges about mystery 911 call alerting police to Idaho murders

Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger is criminal justice PhD student

Monday 16 January 2023 18:40 , Andrea Blanco

As a criminal justice PhD student at Washington State University, Mr Kohberger lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman.

He had moved there from Pennsylvania to begin his studies in August and has just completed his first semester.

Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022.

While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him.

He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”.

On 30 December, he was arrested in an early-morning raid on his family home in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania, where he had gone to spend the holidays.

He was extradited back to Idaho and his white Hyundai Elantra was seized by investigators.

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

Now, he is facing life in prison or the death penalty for the murders that have rocked the small college town of Moscow and hit headlines around the globe.

Why did the killer spare the two surviving roommates?

Monday 16 January 2023 18:20 , Andrea Blanco

Questions remain about why the killer stabbed the four students to death and then spared the two surviving roommates.

The roommate identified as D.M. even saw the killer exiting the crime scene but was left unharmed.

It is unclear if the killer saw her or whether she simply had a lucky escape because he didn’t notice her inside the dark home.

This also raises the question around whether or not he planned to kill all four victims or whether some of the victims were treated as collateral damage in the horrific attack.

Will Bryan Kohberger get the death penalty?

Monday 16 January 2023 18:01 , Andrea Blanco

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.

Neighbour of Bryan Kohberger says they chatted about the murders days after the attack

Monday 16 January 2023 17:36 , Andrea Blanco

Bryan Kohberger’s neighbour has claimed that the murder suspect brought up the student killings in conversation one time.

The neighbour, who wishes to remain anonymous, told CBS News that Mr Kohberger spoke to him about the quadruple homicide just days on from the 13 November attack.

“He brought it up in conversation,” they said.

“[He] asked if I had heard about the murders, which I did. And then he said, ‘Yeah, seems like they have no leads. Seems like it was a crime of passion.’”

“At the time of our conversation, it was only a few days after it happened so there wasn’t much details out.”

Kaylee Goncalves was no longer living at murder home at the time of slayings

Monday 16 January 2023 17:10 , Andrea Blanco

Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of the student rental home on King Road, Moscow, before she was brutally murdered there along with three of her friends, it has been revealed.

But, that fateful weekend, she decided to go back to the college town to visit her best friend Madison Mogen.

“These girls were best friends since sixth grade, like inseparable,” said Goncalves’ mother Kristi Goncalves.

“That was the last time that I saw Kaylee.”

In the early hours of 13 November, Goncalves, Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were all stabbed to death in the home.

Goncalves and Mogen were found in the same bed together in Mogen’s room, with the killer’s knife sheath left behind next to their bodies.

Victims were not familiar with Bryan Kohberger, attorney says

Monday 16 January 2023 16:49 , Andrea Blanco

The suspect arrested in the murders of four University of Idaho students had no connection with the victims, a lawyer for one of the grieving families has said.

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.”

Grieving parents call for death penalty for Bryan Kohberger

Monday 16 January 2023 16:07 , Andrea Blanco

The grieving parents of one of the slain University of Idaho students have called for the death penalty for the man accused of stabbing her and her three friends to death in a brutal knife attack.

Kaylee Goncalves’ parents Steve and Kristi Goncalves spoke to NewsNation on 5 January 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.

Idaho murders victim had already moved out of student home – but returned for visit on fateful weekend

Monday 16 January 2023 15:40 , Rachel Sharp

Idaho murders victim Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of the home where she and three other students were brutally murdered – but tragically returned to Moscow to visit her best friend that fateful weekend.

Goncalves’ parents told NBC’s “Dateline” that the 21-year-old had recently left the student rental property on King Road, Moscow, ahead of her upcoming graduation that December and a move to Austin, Texas, for a new job at a tech firm.

Then, on the weekend of 12 November, she decided to go back to the college town to visit her best friend Madison Mogen.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Idaho victim Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of student home before murders

Bryan Kohberger’s family plans to support him at June hearing

Monday 16 January 2023 15:20 , Rachel Sharp

The attorney who represented Bryan Kohberger in Pennsylvania has said that the suspect’s family plans to support him at his June hearing in Moscow.

Mr Kohberger is next scheduled to appear in court for his preliminary hearing on 26 June.

Attorney Jason LaBar, who only represented him as he was extradited from Pennsylvania to Idaho, told WFMZ that it has been “very difficult” for Mr Kohberger’s family as he said he has advised them not to comment on the case.

“They understand the situation that he’s alleged to have committed these murders, and they understand that there’s four families suffering loss of their loved ones. They pray every day,” he said.

“It’s very difficult for them.”

Mr LaBar would not confirm whether or not the family believes he is innocent saying: “You know, they’ll let it play out, unfold in court.”

He added: “Obviously, the American criminal justice system isn’t perfect. It has its flaws, but it is the best system in the world, in my opinion, and the basis of that, the foundation of that, is the presumption of innocence and it’s the Commonwealth in Pennsylvania, in Idaho, it’s the prosecution’s job to prove someone actually committed the crime.”

VOICES: The eerie online world of the Idaho murders case

Monday 16 January 2023 15:00 , Rachel Sharp

“While America has long been fascinated with true crime, the shocking brutality and seeming randomness of the Moscow murders sent the internet sleuth community into overdrive.

“Conspiracy theories and rumours have dominated the investigation with thousands of people joining social media groups to discuss their take on what transpired and why.”

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has more:

The eerie online world of the Idaho murders case

Unanswered questions: Who was the intended target?

Monday 16 January 2023 14:40 , Rachel Sharp

From the early days of the investigation, authorities said that the attack was “targeted” – but refused to reveal what led them to that conclusion and who or what the target was.

The 19-page affidavit reveals no details about what connection – if any – Bryan Kohberger had to his alleged victims.

The victims were all students at the University of Idaho meanwhile Mr Kohberger was a criminal justice PhD student at Washington State University.

He lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman, having moved there to begin the PhD program in August.

Despite the proximity, there is no known connection between the victims and the accused killer. It is not clear if the victims even knew who Mr Kohberger was.

Kaylee Goncalves’ father Steve Goncalves told ABC News that he had found unnamed connections between the suspect and the daughter – but was not ready to reveal what these potential ties were.

Bryan Kohberger’s classmate says he would ‘stare’ in class

Monday 16 January 2023 14:20 , Rachel Sharp

A former classmate of accused killer Bryan Kohberger has claimed that he would “stare” at her and her friends in class.

Madison, who was on the same criminology course at DeSales University in Pennsylvania as Mr Kohberger in 2018, told NBC’s Dateline that, while she remembered his “prominent eyes”, he did not make conversation with her.

“He would stare at us. He definitely had very prominent eyes,” she said.

“I would always catch him staring at us. He wouldn’t ever really try to ‘talk’ to us.”

She added that he would “give every single detail that he possibly could to help further his point” when answering questions in class.

“It was always, like, ‘Oh, Bryan’s answering this question. This is gonna take up the whole entire class,’” she said.

Despite his sometimes unusual behaviour, Madison said she was shocked when she learned that he had been arrested for a brutal quadruple homicide.

“It definitely took me by shock,” she said.

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

Monday 16 January 2023 14:00 , 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

When will Bryan Kohberger next appear in court?

Monday 16 January 2023 13:40 , Rachel Sharp

More than six months will now pass before suspected quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger will appear in court in Idaho on charges of murdering four Idaho students.

The preliminary hearing for the 28-year-old criminology PhD student has been scheduled for 26 June in Latah County Courthouse in Moscow.

The entire week has been set aside for the hearing – when evidence of the case against Mr Kohberger will be laid out for the first time in court and he is likely to enter a plea on the charges.

The six-month delay comes after Mr Kohberger waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing at his status hearing on Thursday morning.

Will Bryan Kohberger get the death penalty?

Monday 16 January 2023 13:20 , 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’s Idaho murders arrest affidavit raised more questions than answers

Monday 16 January 2023 13:00 , Rachel Sharp

Why did the surviving roommate wait eight hours to call 911 after seeing the killer?

Who was the intended target?

Is Bryan Kohberger the stalker Kaylee Goncalves complained about?

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp reports on the questions still unanswered in the case:

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

Mother in Oregon cold case hopes Idaho murders will help find her son’s killer

Monday 16 January 2023 12:40 , Rachel Sharp

The mother of a man who was stabbed in the middle of the night in 2021 along with his wife, believes that the focus on the Idaho murders might help find her son’s killer.

Online sleuths have been debating the similarities between the murders of four Idaho University students and the Oregon cold case from 13 August 2021. Myra Juetten, the mother of 26-year-old Travis Juetten, said she hoped that the Idaho case will bring attention to the stabbings of her son and his 24-year-old wife Jamilyn Juetten.

Ms Juetten said: “There’s a lot of similarities. I have no proof there’s a connection. But I’m hopeful that this will reinvigorate this case and bring attention to my son’s murder.”

Travis and Jamilyn were stabbed in the middle of the night in Salem, Oregon, as they slept. Travis died and Jamilyn survived 19 stab wounds.

She continued: “I can’t even start grieving until I have an answer, so it’s very difficult for my family.”

The police investigating the murders of the four students ruled out a possible connection to the Oregon stabbings.

Moscow Police issued a statement that the August 2021 fatal stabbing of Travis Juettern, 26, in Salem, Oregon, is not believed to be linked to the killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.

“There have been numerous media inquiries about a 1999 double stabbing in Pullman, Washington, and the 2021 double stabbing (with one death) in Salem, Oregon,” the statement read.

“While these cases share similarities ... there does not appear to be any evidence to support the cases are related.”

Travis’s mother had previously told The Independent that finding out who killed her son and also catching the killer of the students would be “the best Christmas present ever”.

Bryan Kohberger ‘stalked Idaho murders house at least 12 times’

Monday 16 January 2023 12:20 , Rachel Sharp

Suspect Bryan Kohberger may have stalked the Idaho house where four students were brutally knifed to death “at least 12 times” before the killings, an arrest affidavit suggests.

The bodies of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found at their King Road rental house opposite the University of Idaho in the city of Moscow on 13 November.

And the document states that Mr Kohberger’s phone showed that it had registered in the area of the King Road murder house “on at least twelve occasions prior to November 13, 2022.”

ICYMI: Bryan Kohberger appears in court with face cuts as he waives right to speedy trial

Monday 16 January 2023 12:00 , Rachel Sharp

Suspected quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger appeared in court with cuts on his face as he waived his right to a speedy trial on charges of murdering four Idaho students.

The 28-year-old criminology PhD student made a brief appearance in Latah County Courthouse in Moscow on Thursday morning for a status hearing in his murder case.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Bryan Kohberger seen with face cuts as he waives right to speedy trial

Victims’ friend shares moment she learned of murders

Monday 16 January 2023 11:40 , Rachel Sharp

A friend of the slain students has spoken out about the moment she learned of their murders.

Martha, a sophomore at the University of Idaho, was friends with Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin and had gone to the same Sigma Chi frat party as the young couple on the night of 12 November.

She told NBC’s “Dateline” that 13 November began like any other Sunday and she met up with classmates at midday at the Sigma Chi house to work together on a project.

At almost exactly the same time, officers were called to the home on King Road to the brutal scene.

Martha said that their classmate Hunter Chapin – Chapin’s brother – failed to show as planned and when they called him to find out where he was, he gave them the chilling news.

“We called him, and we said, ‘Hey, are you coming?’ And he said, ‘No, I think Ethan’s dead,’” she said.

Martha said she then tried to text Kernodle but got no reply.

The students then learned that she had also died.

At that point, Martha said that it didn’t occur to them that the couple had been murdered, saying she instead wondered if it could have been something like a carbon monoxide leak.

“We didn’t know if it was a carbon monoxide thing, we didn’t know, and so we all just basically stood in a big, quiet circle and watched all the beginning stuff happen,” she said.

Not long after, the University of Idaho issued a shelter in place.

Neighbour says Bryan Kohberger described murders as ‘crime of passion’ prior to arrest

Monday 16 January 2023 11:20 , Rachel Sharp

Bryan Kohberger’s neighbour has claimed that the murder suspect brought up the student killings in conversation one time.

The neighbour, who wishes to remain anonymous, told CBS News that Mr Kohberger spoke to him about the quadruple homicide just days on from the 13 November attack.

“He brought it up in conversation,” they said.

“[He] asked if I had heard about the murders, which I did. And then he said, ‘Yeah, seems like they have no leads. Seems like it was a crime of passion.’”

“At the time of our conversation, it was only a few days after it happened so there wasn’t much details out.”

New explanation emerges about mystery 911 call alerting police to Idaho student murders

Monday 16 January 2023 11:00 , Rachel Sharp

The call was made from the cellphone of one of the two surviving roommates at around 11.58am on 13 November, with the dispatcher speaking to multiple people.

Officers arrived at the home to find a bloody scene, with Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin all dead from multiple stab wounds.

Since then, questions have persisted around why the caller reported an “unconscious individual” when officials described the crime scene as one of the worst they had ever seen.

A potential reason for the mysterious 911 call has now been revealed in Air Mail’s article “The Eyes of a Killer”.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

New explanation emerges about mystery 911 call alerting police to Idaho murders

Bryan Kohberger referred to himself as ‘devil’ in old rap song

Monday 16 January 2023 10:40 , Rachel Sharp

New details continue to emerge about Bryan Kohberger as he awaits his next court hearing on 26 June, with his chilling online comments and posts resurfacing.

In one disturbing rap song which appears to have been posted by Mr Kohberger on Soundcloud, he referred to himself as a “devil” and warned “don’t f*** with us, you underestimate”.

In the track titled “Rise up instrumental - test” and posted 11 years ago under the username Exarr, the artist sings: “You are not my equal / You are evil but I’m devil.”

Other lyrics include: “End your life you get no sequel, Leave your loved ones crying like some seagulls.”

The username Exarr matches an email address linked to Mr Kohberger.

Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of student home before killings

Monday 16 January 2023 10:20 , Rachel Sharp

Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of the student rental home on King Road, Moscow, before she was brutally murdered there along with three of her friends, it has been revealed.

But, that fateful weekend, she decided to go back to the college town to visit her best friend Madison Mogen.

“These girls were best friends since sixth grade, like inseparable,” said Goncalves’ mother Kristi Goncalves.

“That was the last time that I saw Kaylee.”

In the early hours of 13 November, Goncalves, Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were all stabbed to death in the home.

Goncalves and Mogen were found in the same bed together in Mogen’s room, with the killer’s knife sheath left behind next to their bodies.

Idaho murders victim’s parents call for death penalty for killer

Monday 16 January 2023 10:00 , Andrea Blanco

The grieving parents of one of the slain University of Idaho students have called for the death penalty for the man accused of stabbing her and her three friends to death in a brutal knife attack.

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

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story:

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

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

Monday 16 January 2023 08:00 , Andrea Blanco

During a period of surveillance, investigators observed Mr Kohberger behaving suspiciously, including wearing surgical gloves, secretly dumping trash and rigorously cleaning his car.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story:

Bryan Kohberger’s peculiar behaviour after Idaho murders revealed

Was Bryan Kohberger the stalker Kaylee Goncalves complained about?

Monday 16 January 2023 06:00 , Andrea Blanco