Idaho murders - updates: Bryan Kohberger ‘co-defendant’ theory debunked as hit-and-run revealed

Rachel Sharp and Andrea Blanco

January 18, 2023 at 12:25 PM·52 min read

A prominent attorney has debunked speculation that suspected killer Bryan Kohberger had an accomplice in the stabbing murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in Moscow, Idaho, on 13 November.

Duncan Levin, former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office and attorney at Levin & Associates, spoke to The Independent about the criminal case against the 28-year-old PhD student.

Last week, Mr Kohberger’s attorney filed a discovery request, asking to receive all discovery from the prosecution within 14 days. In the filing, the defence requested information about a “co-defendant” in the case, prompting speculation that there may be evidence suggesting he had an accomplice – or that the defence could seek to argue that as part of its case.

However, Mr Levin explained that this is just “very standard requests as part of the defence’s discovery request”, adding: “I don’t think I would make much hay of that.”

Meanwhile, it has been revealed that a hit-and-run unfolded outside of Mr Kohberger’s home on the same night of the murders. It is not clear if Mr Kohberger witnessed the hit-and-run which took place within the eyeline of his apartment.

Key points

Attorney debunks speculation about ‘co-defendant’ discovery
Bryan Kohberger told neighbour he submitted DNA to ancestry website
Survivor of similar student attack defends Moscow roommate
Chilling online comments from suspect as teen revealed
Bryan Kohberger waives right to speedy trial

DNA evidence ‘very, very important’ in otherwise circumstantial case

17:00 , Andrea Blanco

Based on the “damning” evidence outlined in the probable cause affidavit, the prosecution has a “very strong case” against Mr Kohberger, according to prominent defence attorney Duncan Levin.

Mr Levin, a former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office who has no official connection to the Idaho murders case, speaks to The Independent about the strength of the criminal case and what to expect next as it makes it way through the courts.

“It’s an exceedingly detailed probable cause affidavit and frankly it’s pretty surprising that the prosecutors would include the level of detail they included in it,” said the attorney at Levin & Associates who has represented clients including Harvey Weinstein and Anna Delvey.

He added: “I have to say looking at it it is a perfect case of where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

“There’s so many damning pieces of evidence. The information here all points to Kohberger as the only person to have committed the crime.”

The suspect - who is presumed innocent until proven guilty - was tied to the murders through DNA evidence, cellphone data, an eyewitness account and his white Hyundai Elantra, according to the bombshell probable cause affidavit released earlier this month.

The DNA evidence in particular is one “very, very important piece of information,” Mr Levin said.

Revealed: The tragic reason an Idaho murders victim returned to Moscow after moving out of her student home

16:30 , Andrea Blanco

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 story:

Revealed: Tragic reason an Idaho murders victim returned to Moscow after moving out

The parallels between Bryan Kohberger and BTK killer Dennis Rader, as explained by the latter

15:57 , 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 been asked to enter a plea in Idaho court but is said to plan 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.

BTK and Mr Kohberger have an eerie connection.

Mr Kohberger had 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.

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

15:26 , Andrea Blanco

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

The incident took place more than 2,000 miles away in Buffalo, and nearly 31 years ago, but one thing remains consistent: survivors deserve a space free of judgement to process their emotions.

“While I personally didn’t see our attacker, as one of the surviving Idaho housemates did, I am sure that both she and her other roommate are devastated just the same,” she writes.

Read Alanna’s piece for The Independent:

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

Bryan Kohberger’s former classmates say he was ‘opinionated’ in high school

15:09 , 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 episode of 48 Hours titled “The Idaho Student Murders” aired last week 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.”

Bryan Kohberger’s chilling posts as a teen

14:40 , Andrea Blanco

Earlier this week, the New York Times reported on comments on a forum made 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.”

Bryan Kohberger’s neighbour reveals ‘normal conversation’ about murders

14:20 , Rachel Sharp

Bryan Kohberger’s neighbour has revealed how he had a “normal conversation” about the college murders with the man now accused of carrying them out.

The neighbour, who did not wish to be named, told Fox News that the 28-year-old criminology PhD student raised the topic just days on from the 13 November slayings.

“He actually says, ‘Have you heard about the murders?’” FOX Nation host Nancy Grace asked.

The neighbour responded: “Yeah, he’s like, ‘Yeah, it seems like they don’t have any leads.’”

Mr Kohberger chillingly went on to suggest that the murders were a “crime of passion”.

In the early days of the investigation, a Moscow official described the killings in that way.

How airtight is the case against Bryan Kohberger?

14:00 , Andrea Blanco

It will be another six months before Bryan Kohberger and the families of his alleged victims come face to face in court again, after his preliminary hearing was postponed until the summer.

Prominent attorney Duncan Levin spoke to The Independent’s Rachel Sharp about the case against Mr Kohberger and what to expect for the next moves from the defence and the prosecution.

How strong is the case against Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger?

VOICES: The eerie online world of the Idaho murders case

13:40 , 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 writes:

The eerie online world of the Idaho murders case

Bryan Kohberger’s attorneys likely to ask to move trial from Moscow

13:20 , Rachel Sharp

Bryan Kohberger’s attorneys are likely to ask to move the trial out of Moscow, according to Duncan Levin, former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office and attorney at Levin & Associates.

He told The Independent that it is likely that the defence will request a change of venue for the trial, to move it away from the small college town.

“I think that will be something that will be taken seriously by the judge because so many residents of the small town lived through the experience and they will be potential jurors,” he said.

“But it is a steep uphill battle to win a venue change because the pretrial publicity in the case has been everywhere – all over Idaho and internationally too.”

Kaylee Goncalves’ longtime boyfriend creates Instagram account for their dog Murphy

13:00 , Andrea Blanco

Goncalves’ mother Kristi Goncalves shared that Jack DuCoeur is behind an Instagram account dedicated to Murphy, the pet dog found inside the home when police made the grim discovery on 13 November.

The dog was handed over to animal services and was later released to Mr DuCoeur.

Although the couple had recently broken up ahead of Goncalves’ move to Texas, they had remained friendly, their relatives have said.

On the account’s first post on Monday, Mr DuCoeur posted a picture of the Labradoodle with the caption: “Missing my mom every day, but trying to live my best life. I got to admire her beauty in the sky this evening.”

“This is a throwback photo of me. My mom loved this one,” another post read.

The account already has more than 10,000 followers, with people commenting heartfelt messages.

“This hurts my heart. You’re a good boy Murphy. So happy you and your Dad have each other,” an Instagram user wrote. “You’ll be best pals for life. Much love and sympathy to everyone mourning Kaylee.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by @murphy_goncalves

What’s missing from the affidavit?

12:40 , Rachel Sharp

According to Mr Levin, the affidavit is “unusually” detailed in laying out the case against the suspect.

“Usually probable cause affidavits are very bare bones as at the early stage of the investigation the police and prosecution don’t want to lay out the entire case to the defence,” he said. “Here it was unusually detailed.”

Mr Levin pointed out two potential reasons for this: to prove to the court that there is enough probable cause to believe that investigators have the right person and that he should be held behind bars until trial, and to correct some of the speculation around the high-profile case.

“I think they wanted to correct some of the narrative of what’s going on,” he said.

“This case has allegedly been cracked through old-school police methods and they’re trying to demonstrate how thorough it is.”

However, despite the extensive nature of the affidavit, Mr Levin said that there are gaps in the case so far laid out by investigators.

“What’s interesting is that there is no specific evidence that puts Kohberger in the house at the time of the murder,” he said.

“There’s no actual footage of him entering the house, no cellphone data of him definitively in the house,” he said.

“There’s no video of him behind the wheel of the car… so it’s a highly circumstantial case.

“It’s an extremely strong circumstantial case but as of yet nothing definitively placing him at the scene,” he said, adding: “But the strands of it all point in his direction with some of key damning pieces of evidence in the case.”

Police responded to hit-and-run in front of Kohberger’s home on night of murders

12:31 , Rachel Sharp

Police responded to a hit-and-run in front of Bryan Kohberger’s home on the night of the murders of the four Idaho students, it has emerged.

At around 11.40pm on the night of 12 November, officers were called to a report of a crash at the apartment complex on the Washington State University campus, in Pullman, Washington state.

A male WSU student and a woman had been struck by a car and suffered injuries.

Witness Turner Gardner told Business Insider “it was horrifying”. The driver fled the scene.

Student Carmen Fernandez, 19, was arrested hours later and charged with DUI, felony vehicular assault and hit-and-run, according to the Pullman Police Department.

It is not clear if Mr Kohberger witnessed the hit-and-run or if police were still on the scene when he allegedly left his home in the early hours of 13 November and travelled to Moscow to carry out the murders.

Cellphone data, detailed in his affidavit, places him at the apartment complex when it took place. He then left at 2.42am and allegedly drove to the student home on King Road.

ICYMI: Everything we know about Bryan Kohberger’s next court hearing

12:00 , Andrea Blanco

Suspected quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger made a brief appearance in Latah County Courthouse in Moscow last week for a status hearing in his murder case.

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.

His 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 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.

Mr Kohberger did not enter a plea at Thursday’s hearing – his second appearance in an Idaho court since being extradited from Pennsylvania last week.

However, he is said to be planning to fight against the allegations that he broke into a student home in Moscow in the early hours of 13 November and stabbed the four students to death in a savage knife attack.

Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of the student rental home before murders

11:40 , Rachel Sharp

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the full story:

Revealed: Tragic reason an Idaho murders victim returned to Moscow after moving out

Bryan Kohberger’s former attorney says case against him could be ‘attacked’

11:20 , Rachel Sharp

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 laid out in the probable cause affidavit is “strong” but “individually taken, the evidence could be attacked”.

“[I]t certainly was a strong circumstantial case, but I believe that individually taken, the evidence could be attacked,” he said.

The attorney, who no longer represents the 28-year-old PhD student 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.

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

11:00 , 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.

Kaylee Goncalves’ parents Steve and Kristi Goncalves spoke to NewsNation last week. 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 crimes.

“We will forgive this individual and we will, but he has to pay for what he’s done,” said Mr Goncalves.

“And it’s not just our daughter, it’s all the victims he needs to pay justice to.”

He added: “For me, it’s gonna look a lot like an end... Justice is when you leave the planet, and the whole world is able to rejoice and be glad that you’re not there.”

Bryan Kohberger’s neighbour says he claimed to have submitted DNA to ancestry website in past

10:40 , Rachel Sharp

A neighbour of Bryan Kohberger has claimed that the murder suspect told him he had submitted his DNA to an ancestry website in the past – casting new light on the revelation that investigators used a genealogy database to help match him to DNA evidence found at the crime scene.

The 28-year-old PhD student was tracked down by investigators in part thanks to DNA that the killer is believed to have left inside the student home in Moscow, Idaho.

According to the probable cause affidavit, a knife sheath was left behind at the crime scene on the bed next to the bodies of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.

DNA found on the sheath was matched to Mr Kohberger, using DNA obtained from trash taken from his parents’ home, the affidavit states.

Sources told CNN that investigators also enlisted the help of a genetic genealogy database.

Now, Mr Kohberger’s neighbour has spoken out to say that the suspect once brought up the topic of his ancestry and told him he had submitted his DNA for consumer genetic testing months before the murders.

The neighbour, who was not named but is a fellow Washington State University graduate student who lived in the same on-campus apartment complex in Pullman, Washington, as Mr Kohberger, told the Idaho Statesman that the pair got to know each other after they both moved there in August.

He said that they exchanged cellphone numbers and they went on a walk together chatting one evening in August.

“He talked about his ancestors,” he said.

“He had some sort of DNA test. I don’t know how he got to that point… It was just interesting to him.”

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

10:20 , Rachel Sharp

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 The Independent’s 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.

Read here:

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

ICYMI: Bryan Kohberger’s offhand comments about Idaho student murders

10:00 , Andrea Blanco

Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger made an offhand comment about the murders of the four University of Idaho students as he was extradited from Pennsylvania to Moscow to face charges in their killings, 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,” 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.

Why is the defence requesting evidence about a ‘co-defendant’?

09:40 , Rachel Sharp

Last week, Bryan Kohberger’s attorney Ann Taylor filed a discovery request in the case, asking the judge to order the prosecution to hand over all discovery in the case within 14 days.

Among the discovery requests were witness statements, digital media and police reports about the case.

It also included a request for information about a “co-defendant” in the case.

“Statements of co-defendant. Any written or recorded statements by a codefendant, and the substance of any relevant oral statement made by a co-defendant whether before or after arrest in response to interrogation by any person known by the codefendant to be a peace officer or agent of the prosecuting attorney, or which are otherwise relevant to the offense charged,” the filing reads.

The request has prompted speculation of evidence suggesting that Mr Kohberger may have had an accomplice – or that the defence could seek to argue that as part of their case.

However, Mr Levin explained that this is just part of the standard requests for discovery in a case.

“These are just very standard requests as part of the defence’s discovery request,” he said.

While ruling out other individuals as possible suspects will likely form part of the state’s case against Mr Kohberger, he said that this does not indicate that there are other suspects.

The probable cause affidavit makes no mention of a co-defendant and law enforcement officials have previously insisted that they believe the suspect acted alone.

The request making mention of a co-defendant is also just one of 18 discovery requests made in the court filing.

“I don’t think I would make much hay of that,” Mr Levin said of the discovery request.

Madison Mogen’s father says ‘he broke down’ upon learning of Bryan Kohberger’s arrest

09:00 , 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” last week.

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

“I just broke down, and I just cried.”

The grieving father said that learning about Mr Kohberger’s arrest felt like “a huge weight that got lifted”.

But, despite his relief, he revealed that he has been unable to bring himself to read the full affidavit for Mr Kohberger’s arrest – a document that outlines chilling new details about the horrific murders and lays out what led investigators to the suspect.

“I could only take so much of that,” he said of the document.

“I still haven’t read the rest of it.”

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

08:00 , 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

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

07:00 , Andrea Blanco

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

The incident took place more than 2,000 miles away in Buffalo, and nearly 31 years ago, but one thing remains consistent: survivors deserve a space free of judgement to process their emotions.

“While I personally didn’t see our attacker, as one of the surviving Idaho housemates did, I am sure that both she and her other roommate are devastated just the same,” she writes.

Read Alanna’s piece for The Independent:

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

Bryan Kohberger’s alleged rap song and chilling posts

06:00 , 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.

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

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

ICYMI: Idaho murders suspect should ‘get an F in criminology,' prominent criminal defence attorney says

05:00 , Andrea Blanco

Duncan Levin, the former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office and attorney at Levin & Associates who has represented clients including Harvey Weinstein and Anna Delvey, spoke exclusively to The Independent about the strength of the criminal case against the 28-year-old PhD student.

Based on the evidence outlined in the probable cause affidavit, Mr Levin said that Mr Kohberger did a poor job of “covering his tracks” and that the prosecution has a “very strong case” against him. “In short, he should get an F in criminology class,” he said. “He did not do a good job of covering his tracks.”

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story:

Bryan Kohberger should ‘get an F in criminology’ over Idaho murders, attorney says

Kaylee Goncalves’ family says she was considering rekindling her relationship with longtime boyfriend

04:00 , Andrea Blanco

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.

Kaylee’s father Steve Goncalves said that the couple had remained friends and the slain student was looking “for every excuse for [Mr DuCoeur] to pick up the phone.” T

he family noted that they were not just blindly sticking up for Mr DuCoeur, and that they had done their due diligence by looking out for scratches on his body, and potential evidence on his shoes and inside his car.

“Even logically, I think a lot of people assume that we’re blinded by this individual but contrary to that, we’re very capable of removing our emotions for Jack —which is absolute love — and just looking at the situation logically,” Alivea Goncalves, Goncalves’ sister, said on the interview released on Friday. “Looking at this individual logically, looking at a pattern of behaviours of him that we have seen throughout five, six years ... In our hearts and in our heads and in every sense of the word, it’s just not [plausible that he committed the crime].”

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

03:00 , Andrea Blanco

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.

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.”

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”.

Online rumours about Bryan Kohberger attending Idaho murders vigil debunked by new footage

02:00 , 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.

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.

Bryan Kohberger’s Idaho murders arrest affidavit was meant to give answers. Instead, it raises these new questions

00:00 , Andrea Blanco

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 Sharpreports on the questions still unanswered in the case:

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

The tragic reason Kaylee Goncalves returned to Moscow after moving out of her student home

Tuesday 17 January 2023 22:41 , Andrea Blanco

Revealed: Tragic reason an Idaho murders victim returned to Moscow after moving out

Kaylee Goncalves was looking forward to rekindling relationship with longtime boyfriend before murders, family says

Tuesday 17 January 2023 21:12 , Andrea Blanco

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed during a 13 November attack in the small college town of Moscow.

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.

Read the full story.

The BTK killer sees similarities between himself and Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger

Tuesday 17 January 2023 20:59 , Andrea Blanco