The Moscow, Idaho Murders: All We Know About Bryan Kohberger

by C. Cortez and Erin Banks

Today, December 30, 2022, Friday, an arrest was made in what has been dubbed the Idaho Murders case which was perpetrated on November 13, 2022. The four victims, University of Idaho students, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death between ca. 3-4 A.M. at their off-campus residence, without any signs of prior or posthumous sexual assault. Two victims were found on the second, two on the third floor of the home. All victims showed multiple stab wounds that made it difficult to determine which of them had been fatal or whether the victims had died due to exsanguination. They also had defensive wounds on them, suggesting that they had attempted to ward off their attacker with their hands and arms respectively. The autopsy report has not yet been made public.
A S.W.A.T. team consisting of federal and local police arrested 28-year old Bryan Christopher Kohberger (*November 21, 1994) of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania after tracking him down in the Pocono Mountains in his home state. They had been watching him for four days in order to determine probable cause for a warrant. It appears that Kohberger’s DNA was discovered at the scene of the crime, and a vehicle of the brand and kind that he also owns was identified by at least one eyewitness.
It is undetermined whom Kohberger was staying with in Pennsylvania, how long, or for what reason. Although law enforcement stated that they “knew whom they were looking for,” it has not yet been made public how law enforcement settled on Kohberger as a suspect.
Here is an official timeline of events that was posted to one of the Facebook groups centered around the Idaho Murders case:

What is known about Bryan Kohberger at this time is that he is an undergraduate student at Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman, about 15 minutes away from Moscow, Idaho by car where the murders took place. Kohberger was pursuing his PhD in criminal justice and psychology. Prior to this, Kohberger studied at DeSales University, even searching for ex-cons and criminals who had “not been apprehended for their crimes” via a reddit thread:

With these details having come to light, media outlets were – as per usual – quick to find their favorite comparison. Ted Bundy. In this case, tough, it appears there may at least be some basic merit to the comparison, for not only did Kohberger sneak into an off-campus abode to slay four students, similar to what Bundy did when perpetrating his Chi Omega spree attack in January 1978, but just like Bundy, Kohberger studied crime and psychology. Parallel to Kohberger’s above research, Bundy marginally aided in the creation of the infamous Seattle Rape Study Pamphlet in 1972, and worked with the Washington Crime Commission. Bundy was of course neither the first nor last offender to take an interest in all things criminology and psychology. In part due to the desire to understand himself, in part in order to determine how to effectively evade law enforcement. Whether these were also factors in Kohberger’s possible perpetration of the crimes remains to be seen.
However, another case comes to mind when perusing the details of the crime – Danny Rolling’s. Rolling, whom some believe to have wanted to copy Bundy, murdered five university students in Gainesville, Florida in August 1990 and was housed in the same prison that Bundy had been executed at a mere year earlier. Of course, in Rolling’s case, a family history of schizophrenia and his own diagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder, including alleged Dissociative Personality Disorder, were pressing factors. Kohberger, from what is known of him so far, does not appear to have faced similar mental health realities and struggles with delusions or psychosis. One woman named Casey Fartz intimates on Instagram that she used to know Kohberger and that he was allegedly using heroin at some point in time, with some people adding that drug-induced psychosis could have been a factor in the murders. It is important to note that these are – still – all just unsubstantiated rumors. Should Kohberger be cleared of the charges, CrimePiper will make the necessary adjustments in order to assure the current suspect will not suffer any further damage to his reputation. In the end, we will have to wait on the results of a likely psychological assessment that conventionally takes part over the course of several weeks to months.
As always, graduates of the “University of Facebook” are quick to determine the alleged neurodiversity of the suspect by pointing out that he has “dead eyes,” or “eyes like Ted Bundy, Charles Manson” (or any other type of infamous killer) and must hence be a psychopath. While speculations based on case facts, and case-relevant comparisons may be of interest, pseudo-scientific ramblings do little to determine Kohberger’s mental state or actual involvement in the case. This will be a job for law enforcement, the courts and psychologists.
Though, certainly, some professionals have already also made what could be interpreted as hasty remarks in relation to this case, especially considering that hardly anything was known about the person of interest at the time these allegations were made. Kris Mohandie, who identifies as a forensic psychologist, was quick to suggest that “the brutal nature of the murders, combined with the appearance of the victims as popular students on campus, leads him to believe that “law enforcement should take a close look at the suspect potentially being an “incel.” […] “There’s a lot of hatred and anger that is evidenced in these crimes – the level of violence, the resolve, the obvious hostility in such a personal hands-on attack,” Mohandie told Fox News Digital. “That is a lot of intensity. So it is not inconsistent with somebody that may have that kind of motivation. There’s something hateful and rage filled about it.” [Source.]
Considering that there is absolutely nothing definitive known about Kohberger, his dating or personal life, such accusations ought to be taken with a grain of salt. And considering that plenty of murders involve a “rage-component” which yet have nothing to do with inceldom, the statement appears to be more informed by Zeitgeist, and a politically correct coolness factor.

Some of the questions that Kohberger asked on his research questionnaire as posted via reddit were:

Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your home? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at this point.
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?

Whereas these appear to be typical research questions for a criminology/psychology student, they now certainly appear in a different light, should Kohberger be determined to have been the perpetrator of the quadruple homicide, rather than just a suspect. Did he try to learn from these offenders how not to be caught? After all, he did ask people to participate who had not been caught for their crimes. Some now deem this particularly suspicious.

What we do know after law enforcement held a press conference today, is this:
Chief James Fry admitted that around 19k tips had come in ever since November 13, and police had conducted approximately 300 interviews with potential witnesses and people related to the case. Prosecutor Bill Thompson added that the arrest was not the end of the investigation but rather the beginning of it. Consequentially, he implored the public to come forth with any and all information that may aid in the investigative process, although both Fry and Thompson appeared hesitant to answer the media’s questions as to what specifically they were looking for in terms of information. Fry stated that law enforcement will determine what they’ll need and use from whatever the public will share with them. It appears likely that investigators would be most interested in any and all eyewitness testimony relating to the night of November 13, as well as Kohberger as a person, student, neighbor, and whether he may have personally known or known of the four students in question.
Police had previously been criticized for withholding information from the press and public, but Fry firmly defended this decision, saying that they had been cautious due to not wanting to tip off Kohberger prior to his arrest. The implication of losing sight of the suspect in case he would have fled became clear from these words, some say. In fact, Kohberger is suspected of having followed the investigation quite avidly, and not only in the news media. CrimePiper writers witnessed this terse interaction in one of the relevant Facebook groups, with some people immediately speculating that Kohberger had “infiltrated” the group under a sock account (fake account), while others believed the commenter – who failed to respond again after Kohberger’s apprehension – was merely a social media “troll.”

As so often, there are now numerous people who claim to have known, grown up with, dated or seen Kohberger do suspicious things long before the murders took place. Some of them may very well be true, although social media interactions, claims to fame and trolling have made it more difficult to determine the veracity of such statements. Some believe that Kohberger even called into a radio show online:

All speculations and sensationalism aside, Kohberger is facing extradition to Idaho on both burglary and murder charges, although the arrest affidavit remains sealed until it was presented to Kohberger once he was presented with it. Kohberger’s next court appointment will be on Tuesday, January 3, 2023. Both Chief Fry and Prosecutor Thompson were evasive when faced with questions regarding what led them to Kohberger as a suspect or how many tips mentioned Kohberger specifically and for which reasons, and only confirmed that they were confident they had the right man. They still asked the public to be “vigilant and aware of their surroundings.”
Law enforcement have allegedly spoken with and kept in touch the victims’ families on a daily basis, updating them on the course of the investigation as much as legally permitted. Whether police have also spoken to Kohberger’s family or friends remains unclear. As well, police remained more than vague regarding whether they interviewed university staff about Kohberger thus far.
The murder weapon – likely a knife – has not been found and Kohberger appears not to have made any statements as to its whereabouts, possibly because he has not yet confessed to the crime. Police were also unwilling to provide the media with the license plate of the white Hyundai Elantra (2011-2013) they discovered, but briefly explained that the “house cleanup” was halted due to a legal request from the court, although no further reasoning or background information was given.
Another question asked by media was whether those who had engaged in libel and slander towards others they accused of the crime would face any charges, or whether there would be any consequences. Unsurprisingly, this was met with a political answer: Incoherent word salad. It may hence be suspected police is not interested in pursuing this issue any further.