ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Bryan Kohberger Arrested - Moscow # 44

[Ilex]

Why are so many obsessed with debating this guys intelligence? Most people following this case didn't even know he existed until 2 days ago. No one can say one way or the other. And honestly, it's not something that should even be contemplated without actually knowing the guy personally and frankly not important whatsoever. Either way he got himself caught and his intelligence is irrelevant now.

It's relevant. All details are relevant. It's like a chess game, the more you know about it the better you are at it. He's smart enough to know not to leave evidence behind, whereas a less intelligent person might not know that. He knows about DNA, not everyone does. I don't believe he's as smart as he thinks he is and his arrogance is why he got caught.

 

[AngTxGal]

They live in eastern Pennsyvlania. Their son was in school in the state of Washington. The murders were in Iowa. I don’t know about you, but until last week when BK was arrested, I I had no idea this guy’s university and apartment were so close to the crime scene. And as I’ve said several times, it’s not on local media in Pennsylvania and many people don’t follow true crime or watch cable news. And if they knew, why would they suspect their son, with his brand new master’s degree and an assistanceship in a Ph.D. program?

The murders were in Idaho
I agree that I’d not assume his parents would see it on the news.
I would think a CJ student would talk to his parents about such events, this quad murder is a big deal in the true crime world.
So if they did not see it on the news or didn‘t keep up with it, it seems it would have been a topic of conversation- if they had conversations.

I talked to my kids about it, because they are in college out of state- not because either are CJ majors Or are in Idaho. Mostly as a topic of interest and it relates to safety at college life.

Kids think they are immortal, sometimes they need to know they aren’t.

JMO

 

[gliving]

Disclaimer - I know nothing about any of this. But is it possible that by "genetic genealogy" they mean comparing DNA from the crime scene to BKs parents DNA like from garbage? Rather than the process used in cold cases with 23 and Me or whatever? I was under the impression that was a time consuming process. Again, I know nothing! MOO

The "source" said. hmm I'll look for more citations.

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

An FBI surveillance team tracked him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.

Genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the case tells CNN. The DNA was run through a public database to find potential family member matches, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to him as the suspect, the source said.

 

[Curious Me]

But, the coroner said they could not tell which students were killed in what order. Does that mean they didn't test the blood on the various victims' bodies? Or, does it mean the killer was able to stab them all without spreading any blood around?

MOO, it was too early in the investigation to be taken as fact. I am certainly hoping they can determine which order the victim's were stabbed in. ​

Oh boy, I have not seen that the coroner said that. Could you please provide a link? I was counting on them being able to determine the victim order by blood DNA transfer from victim to victim. The last one stabbed would have all the other three's DNA in or near the wounds. It doesn't seem wiping off the knife blade would totally clean off all the DNA. I'm reeling from this info. Please provide a link.

On November 18, 2022, the coroner said they didn't know the order in which the victims were stabbed. That was probably true at the time as it was only four days after the murders. The DNA has now been tested and I feel confident the sequence of events can NOW be determined. JMO

Coroner Reports ‘Extensive’ Wounds Found On Murdered University Of Idaho Students

The local coroner in Moscow, Idaho, said that the four University of Idaho students found murdered Sunday afternoon showed “pretty extensive” wounds. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt told NBC News that the autopsies for Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison...

www.dailywire.com

Thank You @Copper107 for providing that link. It was too early in the investigation for the coroner's statement to be taken as fact. I'm glad to see you also have confidence they will be able to determine the sequence and order of the stabbing of the victims. It may even provide info on the main targeted victim.​

 

[Ilex]

Disclaimer - I know nothing about any of this. But is it possible that by "genetic genealogy" they mean comparing DNA from the crime scene to BKs parents DNA like from garbage? Rather than the process used in cold cases with 23 and Me or whatever? I was under the impression that was a time consuming process. Again, I know nothing! MOO

It's not as time consuming as it once was. It can take a few months, but it's relatively quick. The issue with cold cases is that it can sometimes require exhuming a body or getting an okay to use the last bits of dna evidence, court orders make the process more lengthy. And it's easier today because more people have done some ancestral dna so there's more in the database these days.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

I was speaking with two friends who are both cops last night and they said a couple of interesting things:

1- they said there is very likely something that he took from the house that the police have or will find.

2- that police are going to track everything he has done over the past 2 months - video from every camera that he was on will be in there possession and they will know almost everything that he did over that time. They said they were able to see confidential files of a high profile murder in my state and that LE did exactly that -they every single place that murderer went and exactly what he did at each place through the combination of video and cc receipts.

This is very, very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

 

[GoBuckeyes]

also standout quote

' 'He was an online student in the criminal justice master's degree program and graduated in June 2022,' said Bolger.'

She only taught him online for one year. Is it possible that, due to covid, BK was wholly online 2020-22?

and is this correct: 'The total cost of the 30-hour Master's degree program is approximately $24,000.'

30-hours??

Seems thin, but some programs are 30 hours. I've been scoping out some of the online MA degrees to compare credit hours. It doesn't matter now, but I wonder how solid he was on his research design and data gathering going into his PhD?? (Maybe Masters degrees aren't what they used to be??)

 

[Ilex]

I might be the only one thinking that he did not stalk specifically either girl, and was rather hunting for a young, attractive, girl(s) in a house with easier access. He might have even thought of his acts being a certain “revenge of fate” or “an avenging sword”, e.g., one gal drank too much, the other could be mean to other girls, etc. We might even hear something like it in court, that he chose the victims for a “reason” - JMO. But IRL these “exculpatory reasons” would be invented by BK post-factum, no matter whom he killed. He’d find information to serve as “the reason” online, because, as we have seen, people posting on the deceased IGs are not always kind. IRL, he was a budding SK, a hunter for women.

From this viewpoint, it is interesting that the article writing about him being bullied at school has an interesting twist - whoever describes the bullying, mentions that schoolgirls were the bullies. It opens the door to explanation of his women-hating. Of course, the journalists write what they are told by BK’s own prior friends. But two questions arise, immediately. 1) the girls in his school were bullies, but not the boys? Odd. And, 2) someone, maybe unwittingly, uses bullying by girls to explain BK’s hatred towards women.

I personally don’t question the bullying. But BK went to kickboxing - this is not something one uses to protect oneself from girls throwing paper on one’s head. This is something one uses to protect from male, often street, bullies.

That's why I question whether he was being bullied or if he was an instigator. It's easy to rile someone up privately and then get them to defend themselves publicly so they look like a jerk and you come out smelling like a rose.

 

[Which_pancake]

The "source" said. hmm I'll look for more citations.

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

An FBI surveillance team tracked him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.

Genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the case tells CNN. The DNA was run through a public database to find potential family member matches, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to him as the suspect, the source said.

Well that does sound like the cold case style genetic genealogy process

 

[Fleabag]

Many people are not even aware of this crime, and of those who are aware, are not so glued to the details as to know about the white Hyundai. IMO

You are probably right- I was just wondering if maybe in the back of his head the dad had a nagging doubt. And I guess I could understand most people not knowing but I would think if your son was at college close to it and was in criminology field he might be more likely to have knowledge of the case. But maybe not.

 

[Choochoobella]

I, too, thought investigative geneology took a long time, but CeCe Moore, a leader in this field, said she solved her fastest case in 30 minutes. Two weeks ago, I listened to a podcast interviewing another woman who does genetic geneology (I'm sorry I can't remember her name) and she said she has solved a few cases recently within a couple of weeks.

I read about two Stanford University professors, Lawrence Wein and Mine Su Ertürk, who have created a mathematical model to speed up the probability of finding a descendant solution in the shortest time possible. They have done simulations on already solved cases and have concluded their method might make an investigation go ten times quicker.

A New Strategy to Speed Up Cold Case Investigations

www.gsb.stanford.edu

 

[GoBuckeyes]

It's not as time consuming as it once was. It can take a few months, but it's relatively quick. The issue with cold cases is that it can sometimes require exhuming a body or getting an okay to use the last bits of dna evidence, court orders make the process more lengthy. And it's easier today because more people have done some ancestral dna so there's more in the database these days.

Earlier on in this case, I shared that I had listened to a podcast recently. Once the researcher had the DNA collected from the crime scene, it took her 2 days to build the family tree and identify the perpetrator. The turn-around time is becoming less and less. There's got to be a lot of criminals out there not getting much sleep at night, let's hope anyway.

 

[Twistinginthewind]

The source is "'good friends' with one of the cops" so is close to worthless.

Understood, but it sounds plausible, IMO.

MSM should be "caveating emptor" away until official info comes out from LE/prosecutors, but that will take time, and in the mean time stuff is bound to leak out & should definitely be viewed as hyperbole.

It's not as black and white as posting links to MSM anymore. << sigh >>

 

[Copper107]

I’d want to know exactly what the coroner said, and when she said it. Until I hear that, I’m going to assume that LE could know, from the blood evidence, what order they were killed.

Coroner Reports ‘Extensive’ Wounds Found On Murdered University Of Idaho Students

The local coroner in Moscow, Idaho, said that the four University of Idaho students found murdered Sunday afternoon showed “pretty extensive” wounds. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt told NBC News that the autopsies for Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison...

www.dailywire.com

 

[GoBuckeyes]

Interesting,
National background checks may require fingerprinting, so crossing state lines is different?
All of the universities where I’ve been employed are in my home state.

JMO

Yes, I think that's probably the difference. My state requires both a state and federal check. So, that's probably why I've been fingerprinted each time.

 

[NyxNY]

Two separate thoughts/questions:

1. I wonder if he was watching the grub truck live stream the night of the murders? Are there digital records of who was watching? Could that have any link back to BK? Saw them on the video and decided this was his opportunity? So creepy to consider.

2. Does anyone recall when LE stated that the number of FBI had increased to 60? I looked through the MPD press releases but the last time I see the number stated was 12/16 when it was 46+2. I imagine the # increased when they started tracking him in other states…hence adding additional local FBI? MOO.

Answer to #2 is December 19th

Idaho murders: FBI adds agents to unsolved slayings as 10K tips flood in, police say

The FBI has assigned additional FBI personnel to investigate the unsolved, Nov. 13 murders of four students in their home near the University of Idaho campus, according to Moscow police.

www.foxnews.com

 

[ansrali]

JMO... I can imagine a situation wherein BK compulsively and repeatedly drove around Greek Row/other areas of Moscow and Pullman, fantasizing about committing the "perfect crime." He begins to notice frequent parties at the King St. house, and maybe begins watching the tenants partying in the kitchen/living room areas through the uncovered second story windows. He notices that the house is mostly filled with women--women similar to the ones who rejected him--and starts to obsess over how he would commit a crime there. He looks at Zillow, but never knows who exactly the tenants are, but it doesn't matter because his mind is made up that these are not people, but "deserving" targets. Eventually, the compulsive thoughts turn to action and he begins planning while still frequently driving by the house. On the night of the murder, he watches from somewhere somewhat removed in his car until all of the lights are out, and takes action. He didn't anticipate both rooms he entered to have two occupants, and didn't expect a man, which led to a panic, making him leave earlier than expected, which spared the downstairs roommates.

 

[happyday]

They live in eastern Pennsyvlania. Their son was in school in the state of Washington. The murders were in Iowa. I don’t know about you, but until last week when BK was arrested, I I had no idea this guy’s university and apartment were so close to the crime scene. And as I’ve said several times, it’s not on local media in Pennsylvania and many people don’t follow true crime or watch cable news. And if they knew, why would they suspect their son, with his brand new master’s degree and an assistanceship in a Ph.D. program?

Oh I agree that they probably didn’t suspect him. I don’t think they knew anything, and I will be really surprised if he told them. I think they are victims and in total shock. I just find it hard to believe that they wouldn’t have at least a little interest in the case, just because of their son’s proximity, but who knows? Maybe not. And really it doesn’t matter to me, because I don’t think they knew anything.

 

[ansrali]

I also wonder if perhaps BK knew the downstairs roommates were there, but wanted to leave them alive downstairs unknowing as some sort of sick test of his skills to commit murder undetected?

 

[Sassafrass]

Interesting,
National background checks may require fingerprinting, so crossing state lines is different?
All of the universities where I’ve been employed are in my home state.

JMO

I have only ever been printed when my position required an FBI background check. Every other criminal background check (with national/international entities) has been based on ssn/data, not prints.