Last week police arrested grad student Bryan Kohberger in the killings of four Idaho college students. As you may have already heard, the four victims lived in a three story house with two other roommates, both of whom survived the attack. Today the probable cause affidavit was released and we’re learning that one of the surviving roommates slept through the entire attack but the other one was awakened and actually opened her door in time to see the killer exit the house.

Officer Brett Payne describes what he learned from interviewing the roommate known only as D.M.

D.M. and B.F. both made statements during interviews that indicated the occupants of the King Road Residence were at home by 2:00 am and asleep or at least in their rooms by approximately 4:00 a.m. This is with the exception of Kernodle, who received a DoorDash order at the residence at approximately 4:00 am (law enforcement identified the DoorDash delivery driver who reported this information).

D.M. stated she originally went to sleep in her bedroom on the southeast side of the second floor. D.M. stated she was awoken at approximately 4:00 a-m. by what she stated sounded like Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the upstairs bedrooms, which were located on the third floor. A short time later, D.M. said she heard who she thought was Goncalves say something to the effect of “there’s someone here.” A review of records obtained from a forensic download of Kernodle’s phone showed this could also have been Kernodle as her cellular phone indicated she was likely awake and using the TikTok app at approximately 4:12 a.m.

D.M. stated she looked out of her bedroom but did not see anything when she heard the comment about someone being in the house. D,M. stated she opened her door a second time when she heard what she thought was crying coming from Kernodle’s room. D.M. then said she heard a male voice say something to the effect of “it’s ok, I’m going to help you.”

At approximately 4:17 a.m., a security camera located at 1112 King Road, a residence immediately to the northwest of 1122 King Road, picked up distorted audio of what sounded like voices or a whimper followed by a loud thud. A dog can also be heard barking numerous times starting at 4:17 a-m. The security camera is less than fifty feet from the west wall of Kernodle’s bedroom.

D.M. stated she opened her door for the third time after she heard the crying and saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her. D.M. described the figure as 5′ 10″ or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows. The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a “frozen shock phase.” The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. D.M. locked herself in her room after seeing the male. D.M. did not state that she recognized the male. This leads investigators to believe that the murderer left the scene.

Investigators later found a latent shoe print in the hallway which seemed to indicate someone exiting the house as D.M. described. The affidavit goes on to explain how police located a suspect by collecting various surveillance videos from the area. Those videos showed one car that passed by the house several times that night. FBI agents identified it as a white Hyundai Elantra.

A review of footage from multiple videos obtained from the King Road Neighborhood showed multiple sightings of Suspect Vehicle I starting at 3:29 a.m. and ending at 4:20 a.m. These sightings show Suspect Vehicle I makes an initial three passes by the 1122 King Road residence and then leave via Walenta Drive. Based off of my experience as a Patrol Officer this is a residential neighborhood with a very limited number of vehicles that travel in the area during the early morning hours. Upon review of the video there are only a few cars that enter and exit this area during this time frame.

Suspect Vehicle 1 can be seen entering the area a fourth time a approximately 4:04 a.m. It can be seen driving eastbound on King Road, stopping and tuming around in front of 500 Queen Road #52 and then driving back westbound on King Road. When Suspect Vehicle I is in front of the King Road Residence, it appeared to unsuccessfully attempt to park or tum around in the road. The vehicle then continued to the intersection of Queen Road and King Road where it can be seen completing a three-point tum and then driving eastbound again down Queen Road. Suspect Vehicle I is next seen departing the area oftle King Road Residence at approximately 4:20 a.m. at a high rate of speed…

After reviewing the numerous observations of Suspect Vehicle 1, the forensic examiner initially believed that Suspect Vehicle 1 was a20ll-2013 Hyundai Elantra. Upon further review, he indicated it could also be a2011-2016 Hyundai Elantra. As a result, investigators have been reviewing information on persons in possession of a vehicle that is a 201 1-2016 white Hyundai Elantra.

Video from Washington State University in Pullman, WA showed the same car traveling toward Moscow, Idaho where the killings took place at 2:53 am. At 5:25 am the same vehicle was seen again on the WSU campus in Pullman. In response to a request from police in Moscow, a WSU police officer did a search for a white Elantra and camp up with a 2015 model belonging to Bryan Kohberger. Officer Brett Payne pulled up a photo of Kohberger and noticed something immediately.

This license indicates that Kohberger is a white male with a height of 6′ and weighs 185 pounds. Additionally, the photograph of Kohberger shows that he has bushy eyebrows. Kohberger’s physical description is consistent with the description of the male D.M. saw inside the King Road Residence on November 13th.

The affidavit then goes into a lengthy description of the movements of Kohberger’s cell phone. Police had his number because he’d been pulled over in the same white Elantra previously. Cell phone data appears to show he left his apartment late that night but then the phone was either shut off or switched to airplane mode from 2:47 am to 4:48 am. However, at 4:48 am it came back on showing he was south Moscow (not far from where the murders happened half an hour earlier) and then took a long route home that got him back to Pullman, WA around 5:30 am, exactly when the suspect vehicle was seen on campus that morning. When police searched historical records, they found that he’d been in the area of 1122 King Road on 12 occasions prior to the murder. All of those visits but one took place either late at night or early in the morning.

Finally, the other big revelation from the affidavit is that DNA was found on the sheath of a knife left behind at the scene.

I also later noticed what appeared to be a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed next to Mogen’s right side (when viewed from the door). The sheath was later processed and had “Ka-Bar” ‘USMC” and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe and anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it. The Idaho state lab later located a single source of male DNA (suspect Profile) left on the button snap of the knife sheath…

On December 27, 2022, Pennsylvania Agents recovered the trash from the Kohberger family residence located in Albrightsville, PA. That evidence was sent to the Idaho State Lab for testing. On December 28,2022, the Idaho State Lab reported that a DNA profile obtained from the trash and the DNA profile obtained from the sheath, identified a male as not being excluded as the biological father of Suspect Profile. At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father.

In short, DNA from the trash outside Kohberger’s family home was a parental match to the DNA found on the sheath at the murder scene. So Kohberger’s dad is the father of the person who killed those four students.

Everyone is innocent until proven guilty but this looks like a pretty strong case to me, one with evidence (the black clothes, the previous visits, turning off the cell phone) that strongly indicates this was planned in advance.

Correction: I accidentally wrote above that everyone is “guilty until proven innocent” instead of the other way around. That’s very much how I’m feeling about this particular case but sorry for the error.