Speculation: (also in the interests of changing the subject)
By June, I think we will see:
- evidence that the slider was opened by a gloved hand; evidence as to the order of the murders
- Victim DNA evidence from an obscure part of the car; I predict that not many people had been in BK's Elantra, but that will have to be sorted out; I believe this evidence will come from blood cells not epithelial cells. Car will also show various signs of repeated cleaning.
- Internet searches of many kinds (maps, shopping, how-to videos, perhaps even training videos). These may have been deleted from BK's various devices, but the search engine owners will have complied with the sealed warrants
- GPS data. This is crucial. It will either back up the cell tower pinging or it won't. If it doesn't, then I am not sure this will go on to trial. But I do believe it will show an even more extensive and detailed account of BK's whereabouts for quite a period of time, including that of the murder run. I also believe it will show that he was frequently on the U of I campus on weekends perhaps even showing he had attended parties near the University
- More cell tower data (from secondary masts around Moscow)
- More video data, from neighbors' cams but also business cams around the area, most of it about the Elantra
- Footprints from outside the house matching the ones inside
- Car track analysis (likely weak but will be presented)
- Fiber analysis showing at least a few fibers from BK's car inside 1122.
- Possible hair analysis showing a hair of victim or Murphy at BK's Steptoe apartment
- A record of what BK purchased at Albertson's
- A record of BK using multiple Tinder accounts to try and find women, also showing a pattern of preferring college women who are blonde
- A record of BK reaching out (perhaps both anonymously and also with his own name) to three of the victims, via attempts to "friend" on Insta, Insta messages and possibly also Tinder messages
- A record of BK downloading pictures of one or more of the victims from Instagram
- Very little data that BK ever did much research on digital forensics (esp. of apps and phones) before the crime
- Evidence of more than one stop on his first trip leaving Moscow and of the terrain where he stopped
- Receipts for various items related to the crime
- Possible forensic radiology evidence pointing to a Ka-Bar knife along with autopsy evidence showing that the murder weapon was the size of knife that fits in that sheath
- Forensic examination of BK's skin on hands and arms (whether exculpatory or not)
- More evidence from the sheath
- Very little BK DNA inside the house, possibly only the sheath (showing great care to leave no trace)
- Analysis of both bloody and latent footprints showing that the killer got very little blood on himself on the third floor, but got at least one foot bloody during Xana's struggle with him
- Footprints showing that BK has the same size shoe as the killer, but also the same overall length of toes, height of arch, size of heel bone, etc. The toe pattern will be one that's shared by less than 1% of the population because yes, toe patterns vary a great deal. Vans have such a flexible sole that I'm optimistic about this data.
- All the more obvious stuff (BK had nitrile gloves; BK had the proper wardrobe items; BK had some boxing/kickboxing training; BK was active at night; his phone and car return to the scene of the crime, etc.)
This will be summarized by the prosecution as pointing to a masked man wearing gloves, dressed in coveralls, wielding a Ka-Bar knife, entering the house at 1122 King Road at the same time period that BK's car was parked right outside.
There may be witness testimony, for example, that one of the women had noticed a "weird dude" staring at her in more than one context. The boyfriends of two of the women might have interesting things to say. There may be multiple strands of evidence that 1-2 of the young women (or more) were worried about some stranger who matched BK's general appearance - that would be huge. It's also possible they will bring in the matter of BK's issues as WSU and his suspension from his T.A. job, although I would think that could wait until trial.
What we won't hear at the Prelim is anything from Kohberger and I do wonder how his attorneys will try to counter the evidence. Yep, I'm guessing/speculating on a few things, and I am sure there are some I've forgotten. I do wonder if they'll use KB's own self-descriptions from any of his online musings and postings. I doubt they will, at this stage (maybe not ever). I don't think he has an alibi. I keep wracking my brain thinking what advice I'd give to the defense in this case.
I think he'll be bound over on the DNA evidence (as its existence is a matter of fact and therefore is something that should go to a jury). I think the footprint analysis may be important, combined with the car and phone travel pattern (there will be way more evidence on this by June). And I do believe there's going to be at least one true bombshell (such as a successful use of a drain swab at BK's apartment or the location of a BK hair or some DNA at 1122, perhaps from the forensic vacuum technique). I am not very optimistic about this last thing, though.
=====
End speculation.
I decided that I can't stay away. But instead of debating I'll just contribute where I can. This is all MOO.
I agree with everything but the GPS data being a hindrance for trial. The cell tower data is much much stronger than lack of GPS data is.
For one, the only reliable place to retrieve historical GPS data in a Android device is the Google Maps Timeline feature. As it comes installed and turned on by default on the majority of Android devices. If BK had the Timeline feature turned off (as many privacy focused people do) or uninstalled Google Maps before the crimes LE not finding GPS data would not be very surprising. As the only other way to have GPS data in there would be to Ask an App like Waze for Directions to the Crime Scene. I could be wrong but I don't think Android's default settings allows any other apps to passively collect location data. But if I am wrong then this makes BKs predicament only worse.
We also know (via the video from the Indiana stops) that his Elantra was equipped with the base infotainment system option that contains absolutely no GPS hardware whatsoever.
Secondly, GPS data is extremely easy to spoof on Android devices. Either on the device via easily accessible apps (you can literally download them in a minute or two) or via a desktop emulator. You could essentially create an entire trail of breadcrumbs. Though most of the uses I've seen have nothing to do with quadruple murders.....cheating on Pokemon Go, cheating on a spouse, making Netflix think you totally should have access to that spanish novella.
Cell towers on the other hand are pretty much IMPOSSIBLE to lie to. This is by design. They to rely on a few things. I'll talk about two of them. Unlike GPS....IMEI which is unique to each and every cellular device is extremely hard to spoof. And the fact that spoofing those identifiers will get you thrown in jail (read: illegal) makes it a lot more difficult to find apps or anyone openly creating tools to do it. IMEI (and the other standard I'm going to mention) have been designed with global crime fighting in mind.
Let's say that you managed to successfully spoof IMEI. It would essentially be a gigantic waste of time because the IMSI encrypted on your SIM card is going to get you caught. And the encryption utilized on the latest version of IMSI has all prevented people from cloning them. If anyone wants to read anymore about this look up LE's use of Man in the middle attacks, specifically Stingray's, Cell Site Spoofing and privacy advocates and the criminal world seeking to stop them.
Just another quick comment about smartphones.
If BK more recently deleted anything on his phone LE will likely be able to recover all of it in a unstructured state, fragments of it or references to it. The only way to really avoid this is to use specialized tools/apps or to override every single bit of available hard drive space multiple times over with new data. Effectively wiping out anything that might have been stored on a sector somewhere by the operating system.
Here goes such a tool
BitRaser Wipes Data Securely Using DoD Standard & Helps Achieve Complaince with Laws & Regulations like EU-GDPR & CCPA.
www.bitraser.com
I'm sure the cell phone equivalent is out there somewhere but keep in mind that this is only the first step in destroying a hard drive. After they are confident that a tool like Bitraser has wiped the drive they usually drill it full of holes, shred it in a hard drive shredder, and might even melt it. There's a reason they go through these lengths....
Again, MOO and only mine.
IMO if BK did do it and is successful in wiping out all remnants of any sinister data then LE could look at the places collecting crazy amount of user information often unbeknownst to said user.
First, Go ahead and Copy and Paste this link into your browser...(this link is showing a preview but it's Google's GPS timeline and will likely only work for people clicking on this link from an Android device or if you're a Google Maps on iPhone user)
Code:
https://timeline.google.com/maps/timeline
Then copy and paste this one here.....should work for all Google account holders...even if you don't have an Android device. Unless you've explicitly turned this feature off.....
Code:
https://myactivity.google.com
If you have a Google account and nothing appears under either of those links...CONGRATULATIONS!
2 months left! Then we'll know more!
Edit/Update: I don't want to edit this into the stuff I wrote above because I don't have the time to go over it. But if BK was a frequent user of Google Maps in the area (Maps would recognize this and maintain the area in it's cache for quicker access) or explicitly downloaded the map to his cellular device (option on Android). He could use Google Maps to navigate without needing to have cellular turned on. GPS is independent of cellular and is a phone to satellite / satellite to phone connection. Even turn by turn directions would still work, it just wouldn't utilize live traffic data. The cellular network is only involved to enhance GPS data (surrounding POIs, time you leave for work, traffic etc).