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New documents from Bryan Kohberger investigation released
New documents from Bryan Kohberger investigation released
New documents detail strange occurrences at the house where four Idaho college students were killed and what a friend of Bryan Kohberger told police.
Bryan Kohberger sentenced in University of Idaho student murders
Bryan Kohberger will serve four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years for burglary.
Police in Idaho released a trove of documents shedding light on the exhaustive investigation that led to the arrest of Bryan Kohberger, the man who has been sentenced to life in prison for murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022.
The more than 300 documents released July 23 by the Moscow Police Department include never-before-seen transcripts of interviews with Kohberger, survivors of the deadly killing spree and the victims’ friends and loved ones.
Among the revelations were a string of ominous occurrences at the house where the murders took place, including a possible break-in days before the killings and a report of a shadowy figure watching one of the victims as she walked her dog.
After the deadly attack, police interviewed a friend of Kohberger who said the former doctoral student spoke of “wanting a girlfriend” and had attempted to use his position as a teaching assistant to “inappropriately interact with female students.” He also said Kohberger had a large scratch on his face around the time of the murders and said his wounds were from “a car accident.”
While the new files include details about Kohberger, the victims and the investigation, many questions remain unanswered. It is still unclear what motivated Kohberger to carry out the murders and why he chose the three-story rental home near the University of Idaho campus.
The documents were released the same day Kohberger received four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Kohberger struck a plea deal earlier this month that divided the victims’ families as it allowed him to avoid the death penalty and a highly publicized trial.
At the sentencing hearing, relatives gave overwhelming, tearful testimony about how the killings changed their lives. Some said their days have been haunted by grief and anguish while others admonished Kohberger, calling him “weak” and “pathetic.” Kristi Goncalves, the mother of victim Kaylee Goncalves, said her family wished that Kohberger could face execution by a firing squad, allowed under a state law passed by Idaho legislators in 2023.
Kohberger declined to give a statement near the end of his sentencing hearing, disappointing the families, the judge, President Donald Trump and others who had hoped Kohberger would explain his actions.
After the hearing, local police told reporters that investigators still don’t know Kohberger’s motivation for the killings. “The evidence suggested that there was a reason that this particular house was chosen,” Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne said. “What that reason is, we don’t know.”
A ‘dark figure,’ a ‘stalker’ and a strange Facebook message
In newly released police documents, several people said Goncalves had seen a shadowy figure staring at her when she took her dog outside about a month before she and three of her roommates were killed.
Bethany Funke, one of the two roommates who survived the attack, said Goncalves “told everyone” about the unknown man who she had seen outside the three-story house. It scared Goncalves and she called her roommates to ask when they’d be back home, Funke said.
Dylan Mortensen, the other surviving roommate, said “Kaylee saw a dark figure staring at her from the tree line when she took her dog Murphy out to pee,” according to police documents. Mortensen went on to say “there had been lighthearted talks and jokes made about a stalker in the past” and that “all the girls were slightly nervous about it being a fact though.”
Another friend of Goncalves told law enforcement about two to three weeks before the murders, Goncalves told her friends, “an individual was following her.” Friends who had lunch with Goncalves in September told police they remembered her mentioning a strange message on Facebook and receiving something in the mail.
It’s unclear whether these occurrences had anything to do with the murders. Investigators have not found evidence showing Kohberger had direct contact with any of the victims – including over social media. However, between July and November 2022, Kohberger’s phone was picked up nearly two dozen times by a cell tower near the murder house.
Days before murders, roommates worried about a possible intruder
Funke told investigators that on Nov. 4, 2022, about nine days before the murders, she and her roommates came home to find their front door wide open.
Concerned, the roommates grabbed golf clubs from one of the first-floor bedrooms and checked the house for a possible intruder. Goncalves was away for the weekend, Funke said.
“Wind was blowing and the screws on the hinges were loose and Xana’s dad fixed it before he left that weekend,” she told police.
Woman says she saw Kohberger walking near her home in Moscow
A woman who lived about 220 yards from the murder house told investigators she had once confronted a man who she saw nervously walking near her home months before the killings took place.
The woman told police that in August or September 2022, her daughter came running into the house and told her “there was a man walking through their yard.” She went to the window and “saw a man who ‘looked nervous’ walking from the south side of her house from east to west,” police records say.
She said the man had a prominent nose and curly hair and did not say anything as he walked by. She then saw the same man walk in the opposite direction about 15 minutes later. The woman stepped outside and yelled that he was on private property. The man “didn’t look at her and simply walked away,” she told police.
Unprompted, the woman said she believed the she saw man was Kohberger after seeing pictures of him on the news.
Kohberger says he heard about the killings through a university alert
After Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in December 2022, he was taken to the Pennsylvania State Police Barracks to be interviewed by two investigators, documents say.
According to a transcript, the interview started calmly with investigators and Kohberger discussing sports, Kohberger’s studies at Washington State University, his teaching assistant job and how he had once thought about becoming a police officer. After a while, Kohberger asked the investigators to explain why he was being interviewed.
A detective with the Idaho State Police said it had to do with “what occurred in Moscow” and asked Kohberger if he had heard about the incident. “Of course,” Kohberger replied, according to the transcript.
Investigators asked him to elaborate, and Kohberger said he was made aware of the murders through an alert issued by his university. When asked if he would like to talk further about the incident, Kohberger replied, “Well, I think I would need a lawyer.”
Kohberger repeatedly asked the investigators to explain “specifically” why he was there. Kohberger at one point sat back in his chair and said while he had “the utmost respect for law enforcement” he had a constitutional right to speak with an attorney.
Investigators soon ended the interview and Kohberger left the room, the transcript says.
Kohberger ‘wanted a girlfriend’ and to wield power over female students, friend says
A former teaching assistant who shared an office with Kohberger described the convicted murderer as a smart but dishonest person who often spoke about his desire for a girlfriend and displayed concerning behavior toward female students.
The man said he considered Kohberger a friend but told investigators he was “selfish” and would mislead him into completing work meant for Kohberger. He also said Kohberger “attempted to use his authority as a TA to inappropriately interact with female students,” but he did not elaborate.
The man told law enforcement that “Kohberger wanted a girlfriend” and said “they talked about Kohberger wanting a girlfriend on many occasions,” according to a transcript of the interview.
After the murders, the friend said Kohberger asked him for a ride to class and “began to talk much more than usual.” He characterized Kohberger’s conversations “as those coming from someone who wanted to vent,” investigators wrote.
On two occasions in October and November 2022, the man said he noticed wounds on Kohberger’s knuckles and what looked like a “large scratch” on his face. When he asked what happened, Kohberger said “he had been in a car accident.”
Contributing: Terry Collins
(This story was updated to add new information.)
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