Police documents released after Bryan Kohberger sentencing detail strange happenings weeks before slayings

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BOISE, Idaho — In the weeks before Bryan Kohberger killed four University of Idaho students, there were strange happenings at their rental home near campus.

One of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, told her roommates she saw a man she didn’t recognize staring at her when she took her dog outside. Another time, the residents came home to find the door open, loose on its hinges. They grabbed golf clubs to arm themselves against a possible intruder.

Those details were included in hundreds of documents released by police within hours of Kohberger being sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the brutal stabbing murders of Gonclaves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin early Nov. 13, 2022.

It remains unclear whether the strange happenings had anything to do with the killings. But the documents do illustrate the frenzied efforts by law enforcement to follow every possible lead to find and convict Kohberger.

Here’s a look at some information from the documents:

Curious happenings at 1122 King Rd.

Bethany Funke was one of two roommates to survive the night of the stabbings. In interviews after the murders, she told police that about a month earlier, Goncalves had taken her dog, Murphy, outside when she saw an unknown man “up above their house to the south,” staring at her.

It was concerning enough that Goncalves “told everyone” about it and called her roommates to ask if they’d be home soon, Funke said.

Then, on Nov. 4, nine days before the attack, the roommates came home at 11 a.m. to find the door open, loose on its hinges, as the wind blew. Goncalves was away at the time. Kernodle’s father fixed the door, Funke reported.

On Nov. 13, police found a gruesome scene. Blood pooled on bed comforters, covered floors and was splattered on walls. One the victims, Kernodle, had extensive defensive wounds; in her room “it was obvious an intense struggle had occurred,” one office wrote.

Detailing the investigation’s steps

Tips poured in. A staff member at Walmart told police that two to three weeks earlier, a white, college-age male had come in looking for a black ski mask that would cover his face. People who saw online feeds of some of the victims at a food truck offered their thoughts about a possible perpetrator, and investigators also looked into leads about bar-goers they had seen earlier in the night or an Uber driver they frequently used, the documents show.

A woman who lived nearby told police that in either August or September 2022, she and her daughter saw a man in their yard who “looked nervous.” She said she was almost certain it was Kohberger.

Officers eventually identified Kohberger — a doctoral student in criminology at nearby Washington State University — using a DNA sample found on a knife sheath at the crime scene. They tracked his movements that night with cellphone data, obtained online shopping records showing he had purchased a military-style knife, and linked him to a car that repeatedly drove by the students’ house.

The documents include memos memorializing the subpoenas or warrants they served seeking records and the responses to those requests. Investigators served a warrant on the dating app Tinder, looking for accounts Kohberger might have created with certain emails and which might link him to his victims.

No such evidence emerged, and the motive for the killings remains a mystery.

Kohberger spoke with police — briefly

Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, about six weeks after the killings. He was taken to a state police barracks to be interviewed by officers from the Moscow police department, Idaho State Police and the FBI.

They chatted about the Washington State football team, Kohberger’s doctorate studies in criminal justice, his required duties to be a teaching assistant while in college, and why he wanted to become a professor.

Kohberger eventually said he understood they were engaging in small talk, but he would appreciate if the officers explained what they wanted. One detective told him it was because of what had happened in Moscow. Asked if he knew what had transpired, he replied, “Of course.”

Did he want to talk about it? “Well, I think I would need a lawyer,” Kohberger replied.

He continued speaking, though — asking what specific questions they had and asking if his parents and dog were OK following his arrest.

Kohberger finally said he would like to speak to an attorney, and police ended the interview because he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right.

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Behind bars with Kohberger

A man incarcerated at the Latah County Jail who was once housed next to Kohberger’s cell told a detective Sept. 16, 2024, that Kohberger would often question him about his past criminal offenses and why he was in the maximum security wing of the facility.

The man said Kohberger’s habits annoyed him, including how he washed his hands dozens of times each day and spent 45 minutes to an hour in the shower. He said Kohberger stayed awake almost all night and would only take a nap during the day.