ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Moscow # 41 *ARREST*

[al66pine]

Maybe he was just doing his own thing. I wished I had taken a snapshot of his intro page!

@Snoop Sister Me too. Will try to read thru the whole shebang later.

 

[Friday Fan]

CNN also confirmed that DNA was done via investigative genealogy.

 

[Kristina730]

What puzzles me the most is the timing of the survey. It was posted in May. He graduated that semester, so in May he should not have been starting any projects, he should have been finalizing projects, submitting a thesis paper, etc.

Maybe he had a summer course? But summer courses don't start in May... It's just odd to me.

Hmm, I hadn't caught that - good point.

 

[MassGuy]

This guy undoubtedly planned this for a long time, whether the targets were specific, is another question.

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/local/crime/article270608157.html

<snip>

A now-deleted Reddit post indicates that, while at DeSales, Kohberger may have solicited information from people who had committed crimes for a research project. User Criminology_Student posted on Reddit, identifying himself as DeSales student Bryan Kohberger and saying he was seeking participants in a study “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.” “In particular, 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 said. “In the event that your most recent offense was not one that led to a conviction, you may still participate.” The user said the study had been approved by the DeSales Institutional Review Board and provided real DeSales email addresses, including those of two criminal justice professors, for those with questions about the research. It then listed email addresses for the research team, which included Kohberger, identified as “student investigator,” and two principal investigators, both of whom are current faculty members. Neither responded Friday to the Idaho Statesman’s requests for comments.

<snip>

WHAT WERE THE QUESTIONS? Along with demographic questions, the survey asked participants about the actions they took and emotions they felt while committing the crime. Questions included: Did you struggle with or fight the victim? Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your home? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at this point. How did you travel to and enter the location that the crime occurred? After arriving, what steps did you take prior to locating the victim or target (i.e., person or object)? Please detail your thoughts and feelings. Why did you choose that victim or target over others? Before making your move, how did you approach the victim or target? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling. What was the first move you made in order to accomplish your goal? Please detail any thoughts and feelings at this point. How did you accomplish your goal? Please explain what you were thinking and feeling. Before leaving, is there anything else you did? How did you leave the scene? After committing the crime, what were you thinking and feeling?

 

[Zella]

What puzzles me the most is the timing of the survey. It was posted in May. He graduated that semester, so in May he should not have been starting any projects, he should have been finalizing projects, submitting a thesis paper, etc.

Maybe he had a summer course? But summer courses don't start in May... It's just odd to me.

I did find the timing really strange. There's no way he could have been using it in his thesis if he graduated in May. His research would have been the year previous. I was in a completely different field, but my master's thesis took 16 months, from when I first got the idea to when I defended. That final spring semester I was doing no research and was actually writing and editing chapters I'd already written.

My suspicion is he used it for his own personal gratification and research under the veneer of it being an academic study. MOO

My understanding is they waive your tuition and give you housing but you work for free as a TA on top of your course-load and research.

IMO it's extremely exploitive and few people who graduate from these programs get the Academic jobs they're promised. These schools are just churning out worthless PhDs for free labor. But that's for another thread.

For my graduate program, we didn't receive housing, but our tuition was waived and we got a stipend. I've personally never heard of anyone who got free housing but no stipend, but maybe there's such a program out there. MOO

 

[brm1960]

Do you mean to say his mother is twisted? She seems compassionate and caring to me.

 

[hopewell]

My understanding is they waive your tuition and give you housing but you work for free as a TA on top of your course-load and research.

IMO it's extremely exploitive and few people who graduate from these programs get the Academic jobs they're promised. These schools are just churning out worthless PhDs for free labor. But that's for another thread.

WSU Crim is a renowned program though. This dolt could've had a great life in academia had he not had a schism of some sort.

But the pressure. Oh, the pressure and doubt and loneliness of a doctorate program. If one isn't mentally well, there is little to no way to conquer the demons.

 

[d4j]

There was a cold case out of Iowa that was solved by familial DNA. When they narrowed it down to 3 brothers they followed all 3 of them around and collected DNA. The guilty brother threw a straw away at a restaurant and detectives scooped it up. Definitely not unheard of.

Yes, the case is that of18-year-old Michelle Marie Martinko.
She was murdered on Dec. 19, 1979, at the then new Westdale Mall in Cedar Rapids,Iowa.
Murderer Jerry Lynn Burns was convicted in 2020, thanks to familial DNA.
This case is discussed on Websleuths at:

GUILTY - IA - Michelle Martinko, 18, stabbed to death, Cedar Rapids, 19 Dec 1979

http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/cold-case-spotlight/cold-case-spotlight-michelle-martinko-n275866 It was at the height of the holiday shopping season in December of 1979 when high school senior Michelle Martinko was stabbed to death in the parking lot of Westdale Mall. The 18-year-old had not...

www.websleuths.com

 

[Kristina730]

I live in Pa but grew up in Massachusetts. Am a Patriots/Drew Bledsoe fan and knew he went to WSU but totally thought it was near Seattle. Didn't know that it was in a tiny town near Idaho.

And i'm glad you brought this up because even though Google Maps allows you to explore everywhere, there's nothing like a locals perspective. You know the ins and outs of the area better than anyone else. It's like somebody not yet born giving me an opinion on what life was like in the 80s. Ok they may have watched documentaries or movies or youtube videos but unless you lived during that time, you just don't know truly what it's like. A more true and honest perspective would go to somebody actually there. A local there wouldn't necessarily dismiss the idea that there could be a connection between somebody going to school in Pullman and the murders in Moscow.

Frankly, I was mostly geared towards it being somebody tied to Moscow or somebody travelling through the area. Didn't really consider Pullman, though I thought it was possible. Be that as it may, It just boggles my mind how somebody in a very high level graduate program that requires reasoning can do something so evil and unreasonable.

Ted Bundy went to grad school. Multiple of them, if I remember correctly. But yeah, it still boggles the mind.

 

[Snoop Sister]

I suppose we will know eventually if his research was legitimately approved by the school or not. If it was, just think of the theories he might have proposed in his dissertation, and the goldmine of psychological info it could give...

<snipped by me> BBM

Exacrly!

 

[Abigail]

Hope not repeated info from elsewhere. Responding to queries from previous thread about professional students and background checks. In PA for example nursing students are required to have fingerprints run and background checks.

He also apparently worked as a security guard at a school in PA (I think it might have been the school he'd gone to). That would require fingerprints

 

[Leve]

Why are people running with he has OCD? I know the aunt said he was ocd about not eating meat or eating from a pan that previously had meat in it. I don't think she meant it literally, just he was picky about it. A lot of vegans are.

Was something else said about OCD?

 

[EBW321]

His PD may have asked for the crime scene to be preserved.

I agree completely after learning more from press the last few hours.

Don't know if anyone answered, but up until the case was filed (as it has been) in Idaho, the State could not influence what the owners were doing with the property.

Now it is a part of an adjudicated case and LE/DA will require a judge's decision before anything else is touched. They may want to take Bryan to the house to see his reactions. They may want to take a JURY there, as is often done.

I believe LE has explained this, but it is lost in today's massive amount of info.

thank you! That’s very helpful and something new to learn about.

 

[10ofRods]

IMOO, agree his or the victims' eating preferences are likely not germane to his motive(s) for killing 4 innocent young people (allegedly, acknowledging an arrest is not a conviction), but I could be proven wrong, dunno, but color me skeptical...

I think he perhaps knew their (X, M & K's) neighborhood & that the house was a popular gathering place for college students & known for throwing parties & making noise at night sometimes, & it was off campus housing (hence less oversight than on campus with ever present campus security), added to which the back of the house & goings-on could be viewed from a somewhat hidden vantage point, & these were factors that drew and/or solidified his attention.

And, more importantly, IMO, there was something in the setting they lived in that drew his ire, IMO. Whether cold blooded/calculating or emotionally raging, he had to have had enough of some sort of animus towards them to want to kill them, sadly, in his own mind.

A "second degree of separation" kind of situation, where he knew of them & their living arrangements & maybe "knew" who they were through social media and/or the "college scene", but did not know them well/only knew them from afar.

Time will tell & hopefully help folks make sense of such a senseless tragedy.

Have to say again... !! KUDOS to LE !! on bringing him in, and godspeed on getting him convicted & justice & healing for their loved ones.

Oh, how I appreciate your post. It explains the "house as target" thing so well. I think it's possible he had been hanging out in the fraternity row/residential neighborhood (as well as most of U of I, it's so close to his own school - but he's not got a parking permit registered there, he isn't registered there, and he likes the resources there).

He was looking for a non-secured house, IMO, first and foremost. I hope we find out at some point what else he was looking for (if he knew). I agree that there are probably only 2-3 degrees of separation between him and the victims.

I believe he hated an entire group of people (starting, likely, with all humanity).

 

[Seattle1]

Do we know if K & M’s celebration of life still happened this evening?

It was held at 3pm today and there was no mention of the arrest. BE mentioned in a tweet that Newsnation's news director attended the service.

 

[Jealoushe]

He butchered four humans with a knife. To my knowledge no one has substantiated granola vegan beliefs with MSM here? (Will be curious if that does appear). Control play, OCD, like a kid who doesn’t want his foods to touch on a plate.

Yes I wonder if it’s a case of the family member thinking vegans are annoying or weird or something like many people do and just put that out to the media. Maybe he is vegan but not that over the top. Hard to know right now.

 

[Jinkasaurus]

WSU Journalism professor comments on the arrest of grad student from his campus:

 

[feralwriter]

I am wondering if he could have been vegan to try to corral any urges he may have had toward dead body parts. It seems that in other ways, he may have been studying things to try and give his urges an outlet, or do some good with them. Just my therapist brain at work - no sources or anything.

Ps - if it hadn't been said yet, not eating food from cookware that have been used to prepare animal products is very normal for many, if not the majority, of vegans. I have had a few vegan friends do the same.

Yes, thank you, if cookware has animal anything in it we won't eat from it, depending how strict we are. I do hope his diet doesn't give us all a bad name to some. It's simply a diet. Whatever he ate, I'm one State down from Idaho myself & tremendously relieved he (if guilty) got nailed. Can't imagine the families of these 4, how grateful they are today. And this type of scenario is why I make my DNA on GEDmatch available to LE. You never know.

 

[Snoop Sister]

What puzzles me the most is the timing of the survey. It was posted in May. He graduated that semester, so in May he should not have been starting any projects, he should have been finalizing projects, submitting a thesis paper, etc.

Maybe he had a summer course? But summer courses don't start in May... It's just odd to me.

I never thought of that! But, maybe he had an extension of sorts. But, good point, it would take some time to complete a research paper. Did you notice the year of the survey?
All I can say is……

 

[passionflower]

Question….. do students of criminology explore DNA in their studies? Could he have added his on DNA to a data base?