The suspect who allegedly murdered the four Idaho University students left DNA at the scene of the crime that helped authorities hone in on him, police say.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves (21), Madison Mogen (21), Ethan Chapin (20) and Xana Kernodle (20) in a case that has received global media attention.
Officer Brett Payne wrote in his affidavit that a tan leather knife sheath was found at the scene of the crime and contained a single source of DNA from a male. Authorities also found a shoe print. On Dec. 27, three days before police arrested Kohberger in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, authorities took a DNA sample from the trash at his parents’ home that matched the DNA left on the knife sheath, the document reads.
MOSCOW, ID – JANUARY 4: Law enforcement personnel keep watch shortly before a convoy, believed to be carrying murder suspect Bryan Kohberger, entered the Latah County Courthouse on January 4, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger has been arrested for the murders of four University of Idaho students. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
Payne wrote that he found the knife sheath “laying on the bed next to Mogen’s right side” and that the Idaho State Lab “located a single source of male DNA left on the button snap of the knife sheath.” (RELATED: Xana Kernodle, One Of The Slain University Of Idaho Students, Fought For Her Life: Report)
According to the affidavit one of the roommates — identified as “D.M.” — who was not harmed in the attack saw a man with “bushy eyebrows” leaving the property while wearing a mask.
Payne also wrote that security cameras showed a white Hyundai Elantra speed away from the premises at around 4:20 a.m. and arrive at Washington State University, where Kohberger was studying criminology.
Kohberger was arrested in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on a warrant for first degree murder. Screenshots circulating on social media reportedly show posts from Kohberger’s Reddit account in which he allegedly asked former prisoners to participate in a criminology study.
Kohberger purportedly asked for participants so he could “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”
“This study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post allegedly read.