ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Bryan Kohberger Arrested - Moscow # 43

[watson1]

Would love to know how that conversation went. Car trouble so he wanted to bring it home to sell it? Why not just sell it in WA? Needed it to be fixed? Just wanted a road trip with dear old dad?

What date did LE first announce they were looking for a white elantra?

December 7. MOO- police knew before December 6 that BK was the POI/suspect-JMO...

 

[otto]

I’ve thought a lot about this. PHD candidates aren’t a massive group on campus, regardless of field. The criminal justice candidates would be familiar with each other, even after one semester. They’d have similar schedules and likely cross paths walking in and out of the same buildings. Someone in his peer group knew he drove a white Elantra. Everyone within 100 miles driving one should have expected to be interviewed. Given the steady drip of comments regarding his behavior, I’d be stunned if LE had NOT been contacted by someone in his PHD circle. Would be interesting to know exactly if and when the alleged class discussion regarding the murders took place… did LE already have an eye on him? Could they have recordings? Interested to know how much the university knew/when they knew it and if there was any cooperation on their part.

PhD degrees have a couple of required courses that students must complete prior to candidacy exams. Depending on their prior studies and related work experience, they must also complete a few electives that are specifically related to their research proposal (thesis topic). They begin their research after success in candidacy exam.

In the first semester, the first year PhD cohort will be in a couple of courses together as a group (maybe 12 students). The courses will be seminar style where they complete an analysis on weekly assigned reading, then share and discuss views in class. The first thing they will most likely do on the first day of classes is create a social media group using something like whatsapp or slack.

I doubt his classmates would know anything about his vehicle unless he specifically mentioned it.

I doubt that any of his classmates were contacted by police prior to the arrest, as the first thing students would do is post something on their private discussion - if only to express disbelief.

Recording classes on campus requires ethics approval and consent from every person who will be recorded, so I do not believe class discussions were recorded without the knowledge of all class participants.

I have read that during class discussions, the Moscow murders were discussed. That's not surprising, as it is a current, relevant topic. Apparently the suspect did not participate in the discussion about the Moscow murders - listened instead.

Course Requirements | Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology | Washington State University

crmj.wsu.edu

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

Would love to know how that conversation went. Car trouble so he wanted to bring it home to sell it? Why not just sell it in WA? Needed it to be fixed? Just wanted a road trip with dear old dad?

What date did LE first announce they were looking for a white elantra?

I believe it was Dec. 6th. Last day of instruction at WSU was Dec 9th.

 

[Alethea]

Dec 7th (source)

If he was driving back mid-December sounds like they identified him pretty quickly. Very impressive work given 22,000 cars mentioned!

Thank you! So it was announced and public for almost a week that LE was looking for a white not-new elantra before BK's dad flew to WA to drive a white elantra home to PA.

I wonder if by the 17th BK thought he was in the clear if they didn't contact him yet.

I'll say that's a long drive. He's 28 years old, not a college student. I think at that age I would have had to give my parents a really good reason why they should do that for me.

 

[schooling]

And if he was really smart he would have damaged his steering column the way car thieves do and claim someone took his car for a joy ride the night of the killings and he wasn't in it.

Ignition design makes Hyundais and Kias easy to steal with USB cords | I-Team

Automakers have known about the defect and the trend of thefts for at least a year.

www.ksdk.com

His Elantra is not affected by that exploit. I believe it's only 2015 KIAs and most Hyundai models are affected later (2016 or 2017), whenever they adopted the tech.

I do know someone who had a 2013 Hyundai Elantra in the same color and do recall their physical key being chipped. Not sure how easily bypassed that old tech is though.

 

[carlyweese68]

I am intrigued with your 10 degrees of separation theory, which changes the victimology on this case quite a bit and actually adds to the strangeness of this crime. I was thinking more like 3-4 degrees at most, when I wrote my profile of him the day before he was captured. But you may well be right. It makes all kinds of sense. He was thinking that would add a lot to his "I don't want to be caught" pile. Chilling to think he intended to go ahead and collect his Ph.D. and then - what? Work for the FBI? Work at a university teaching criminology? Yikes.

I don't think he'll get away with an insanity plea, but you're right - he may try one. He's certain to be seen by a psychiatrist as part of his booking process in Moscow, but it may evolve into a situation where the court orders him to be observed psychiatrically.

It's amazing how he has morphed physically over the years. To my way of thinking, he turned himself into a scary looking person. Appears to have no close friends, no mention of a girlfriend at all by anyone so far.


I'll add to the list of factors that he had on his checklist of "not getting caught" that he killed outside his residential jurisdiction and then fled to yet another jurisdiction. I believe he had no pre-murder accomplices whatsoever. He had every reason to be talking about crime to others, and he may have sought advice in that matter or vetted his theories with other students, under the guise of discussing a particular case. He may have been involved in online forums regarding crime (in fact, I would assume he was).

What grandiosity this dum-dum had. I do wonder what his thought processes were like as he realized, from across the nation, that MPD and the FBI were onto him, major league, big time onto him.

I love that the FBI and PA LE got a warrant, broke a window in a door, and entered the house at 3 am.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1608989007387688966

(Brian Entin reports that).

Good news - apparently you can’t use insanity plea in Idaho!

 

[Smelly Squirrel]

He drove 2000 miles to murder people

Going to school in another state does not equal driving there to murder anyone.

He's been arrested within a month-and-a-half because he drove most of the way across the country to a place his car and ID would almost certainly have stood out for the out-of-state aspect and the distance.

He was found through DNA. And there is nothing suspicious about out of state travelers, especially on the holidays.

 

[SophieRose]

Details emerge about Monroe County suspect in Idaho killings

Dec. 31—As a student at DeSales University, Bryan Christopher Kohberger assisted with a research project into how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. On Friday, his participation in that study became a chilling footnote. State troopers and members...

sports.yahoo.com

On Friday inside Indian Mountain Lake, neighbors said they were shocked to wake up to law enforcement vehicles outside the Kohberger home after the 3 a.m. raid.

Eileen Cesaretti, who lives across street, said she loves Kohberger's parents and is fond of their son. She said he helped her and her husband around their house when he was home from school.

"I don't think he's capable of doing something like this. I pray to God he's innocent," Cesaretti said.

Snip

Those inside the private development passed by the Kohberger home to snap photos and take video.

The front screen door of the home appeared to have been ripped off its hinges and the front door window was smashed, covered with duct tape. The door and smashed glass were discarded behind the home.

No one answered the door at the home, but dogs could be heard barking inside.

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

December 7. MOO- police knew before December 6 that BK was the POI/suspect-JMO...

But then they came out and said they would be looking at 22000 whit elantras in washington and idaho. If he was the POI at that time, why come out and say you're looking at 22000 cars?

 

[Sassafrass]

I think the profilers and internet speculators are missing the mark here on this guy. I think there’s something that separates him from your usual suspects that will make this a relatively quiet conclusion. Feel free to skip down to my TLDR for my quick summary take.

Like other killers BK likely put time into physical preparation and planning. Enhanced by all that he knew about the criminal justice system. Likely surveilling and watching. Noticing surroundings, lighting. Shaving body. Carefully selecting clothing. Having disposal means and location of clothing and weapon. Wrapped his feet etc. Knowing that the use of a knife would point to someone in the inner circle. Likely left red herrings behind.

But BK recognized something else that most other killers don’t recognize. The importance of mental preparation and conditioning. And I think it’s likely he thought this would give him an advantage.

He recognized that as soon as he walked through that sliding door he would lose control. And that no matter how much work he did to prepare…there was no way he could anticipate what would happen in that house. So he did his homework and prepared mentally. He recognized that killers make mistakes in the moment because of unanticipated feelings, thoughts, reactions to unanticipated victim behavior…and he tried to account for all of that with the survey. I’m not sure I’ve read about anything like this before with any other killers. This level of mental work. And I bet he thought this would be what would separate him from other killers who were caught.

By all indicators he had been preparing for that moment for years. Laid out what he thought was the perfect plan. A plan informed by his studies, studies that would surely propel him to the highest academic achievement you can receive in his chosen field.

This is a person who seemed to beat addiction by becoming ruthlessly disciplined. Focused all of his energy into his studies (and as a result this crime). There are not many indications that he was operating by instinct like other killers people here keep comparing him to.

All of that just for me to say that he flipped the 50/50 murder coin and failed. He acknowledged and accounted for the unanticipated moments where others didnt. He was a few years from being at the academic pinnacle in his field. and he FAILED.

If this was a Dunning Kruger suffering narcissist who operated most out of instinct and his likely above average (but overestimated on his part) intelligence I’d agree and say …”ya, this guy is going to make a big spectacle at trial on in some grandiose confession” but I don’t think this is that guy.

I think BK is ashamed, confused, embarrassed and likely doesn’t want to relive or face the reality of any of his failed plan. If he doesn’t plead guilty to avoid the death penalty and coming to terms with his failure (and his family and friends learning first hand of it). He’ll sit there in his chair during trial and not utter a word. We’ll likely never hear his side of the story.

______

TLDR; BK invested a lot of time and energy into planning. And they still caught him. He’ll go out ashamed and with a whimper.

I think you are way over-estimating this guy. If he got caught up in all that prep [is there a source for that?], he missed a few massive points in his prep. I don't see a smooth, patient genius; I see an awkward, inept, poorly organized person*. I won't speculate on the origins or contributors to his decisions bc I think we're not supposed to do that (?), but if the early data about his social orientation/tendencies coming out is accurate, it could piece together fairly easily in a rough way.

* Similarly, being demanding/autocratic and rudely imposing your notions of purity on other people is not "ruthless discipline." It's the opposite: with discipline, you're the master; with finicky self-absorption, at best you're a slave but more likely you're just a jerk who doesn't have the strength not to need everyone else to obey in order for you to succeed.

 

[RANCH]

His Elantra is not affected by that exploit. I believe it's only 2015 KIAs and most Hyundai models are affected later (2016 or 2017), whenever they adopted the tech.

I do know someone who had a 2013 Hyundai Elantra in the same color and do recall their physical key being chipped. Not sure how easily bypassed that old tech is though.

Maybe my link is wrong. What's your source?

 

[Miriel Pastor of Vows]

I confess I have been wrapped up in real life and the holidays. Sorry if this has been discussed but do we know if any of the victims were victims of SA that night?

The current official line from police on this is no.

However, those were public communications during the first stage of investigation.

Whether they did or did not, however, does not add value to the discussion at this point in my opinion.

This is not directed at you in any way but are rather my general thoughts on this: I think the nature of the mortal injuries should not be released to the public. People will use it for vicarious fantasies or to troll the family, as has already been done on another board that I won’t mention. Since the victims don’t have consent in this case any longer, and I can’t see families wanting it to be known, those records should be sealed.

 

[Parsnip]

Interesting. Where’d you see that?

CNN article was updated:

Authorities tracked the Idaho student killings suspect cross-country to Pennsylvania, sources say | CNN

Authorities tracked the man charged in the killings of four Idaho college students all the way to Pennsylvania and surveilled him for several days before finally arresting him on Friday, sources told CNN.

www.cnn.com

LaBar later told CNN Kohberger arrived in Pennsylvania around December 17 to celebrate the holidays with his family.

“His father actually went out (to Idaho) and they drove home together,” LaBar said.

 

[Seattle1]

Agreed. Now that a trial is coming dad needs to pipe down.

Very disappointing that their lawyer (and SG) took time away from the celebration for Kaylee and Maddie to be certain to plant a cliffhanger rather than share their information (if any) directly with the detectives. It's time for this duo to step back and protect the integrity of the prosecution for all the victims. MOO

 

[kittythehare]

I confess I have been wrapped up in real life and the holidays. Sorry if this has been discussed but do we know if any of the victims were victims of SA that night?

apparently not but we don't know anything about the nature of their injuries or parts of body targeted...

 

[HopeValleyDevil]

Just out of curiosity……

Does anyone else think it’s highly likely that one of the other criminology PHD students (only 8 miles and 10-15 minute drive from the murders)…. Could have been who initially tipped off LE to BK as possible suspect?

I mean I’d hope that the professor and other criminology PHD students had a discussion in class about the horrific murders that took place just 8 miles away at neighboring university. I’d think this is something those students would discuss and that they themselves would be invested in trying to find who committed the murders.

Surely there were people that knew the person had a Hyundai Elantra?

 

[watson1]

But then they came out and said they would be looking at 22000 whit elantras in washington and idaho. If he was the POI at that time, why come out and say you're looking at 22000 cars?

To mislead the suspect, MOO. Remember, the police were hoping to locate the knife. Creating a false sense that the investigation was extremely broad/difficult might lead the POI/suspect to let down their guard, and try to dispose of evidence...meanwhile, LE was watching BK, hoping he'd lead them to that evidence. JMO...

 

[rescuemom]

JMO, BK may or may not have had connections to one or more victims or it could have been absolutely a last minute decision for these victims. I would venture to bet that the "why he did it " was because he wanted to. For an unknown reason he may have thought about it for so long that he had to do it. Once he made up his mind he may have set a time limit in his mind on how long he would wait to do it or when it needed to be done. He then for some reason reached a point that it was time to do it. He may have had all of his clothing, shoes, goggles, gloves, mask, knife ready to go so that whenever the time was right he was ready. He may have carried all of these items in the trunk of his car. For a rational person it is impossible to think like he did and he certainly couldn't discuss it with anyone else. Again, JMO

 

[Marie A]

It does appear to be his actual Instagram as it follows family members that are private (needing to approve followers). The video was shocking and so was the comment about the online serial role playing community. I believe someone on this site alluded to the suspect potentially living out his own game. It appears they may be on to something. All my opinion.

I looked again and it’s fake.
Everyone with the same last name is someone you can follow without being approved.
Some SICKO trying to dupe others set this up.
Honestly, anybody who goes to lengths to set up fake accounts to dupe others by portraying himself as the murderer is HIS OWN KIND OF SICK. Seriously sick.
Just sayin’
all IMHO

 

[x_files]

Would love to know how that conversation went. Car trouble so he wanted to bring it home to sell it? Why not just sell it in WA? Needed it to be fixed? Just wanted a road trip with dear old dad?

What date did LE first announce they were looking for a white elantra?

EXACTLY! I would have loved to overhear that conversation too.
Since LE was tailing him I wonder if they used an electronic ear to eavesdrop on them on the road and at gas stops?