A combination of DNA evidence, cell phone records, surveillance footage and eyewitnesses who said they saw him leave the scene of the crime led investigators to identify four people at the University of Idaho, according to newly released court documents. We were able to identify a suspect in the murder of a student in…
according to Affidavit opened Thursdayidentified authorities Brian Coberger, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, on November 13, Cary Gonsalves, 21, Madison Morgen, 21, Zana Carnold, 20, and He was the sole suspect in the stabbing of Ethan Chapin, 20. We used a combination of cell data, surveillance video, and genetic evidence left at the scene in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
A surviving roommate told authorities that on the night of the murder, he heard crying, opened the door, and saw a man dressed in black and wearing a mask walk past the front of the house.
A roommate, identified as the DM in an affidavit, said she did not recognize the man who walked toward the back sliding glass door in a “frozen” and “shocked” state.
She described the intruder as over 5 feet 10 meters tall and “not very muscular, but well built with bushy eyebrows”. Law enforcement later determined that Coberger matched the description provided by the surviving witness.
According to the affidavit, police also found a “tan leather knife sheath” lying next to Morgen’s bed.
The sheath is stamped with the U.S. Marine Corps insignia and processed by Idaho State Laboratories to “identify a single source of male DNA” left on the button snap.
On December 27, Pennsylvania FBI agents “collected trash from the Koberger family residence” in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, and sent it to a laboratory in Idaho. sheath.
Coberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on December 30. Abandoned extradition to Idahohe was charged with murder.
Investigators were able to identify Coberger’s car, a white Hyundai Elantra, from surveillance footage taken near the scene and track it to the WSU campus in Pullman, Washington, about a 15-minute drive from Moscow.
Police also used data from Coberger’s cell phone and data from license plate readers to track his movements before and after the killing.
Coberger and his father drove from Idaho to Pennsylvania for vacation, arriving in the state on December 17th. Police stopped him twice in Indiana.According to multiple reportthe FBI requested that Indiana police pull over the car so investigators could get a clearer picture of Coberger’s hand.
Authorities have not publicly identified a motive for the killing.
According to an unsealed affidavit, data from Coberger’s cell phone suggests he was in the victim’s residential area at least a dozen times prior to the night of the killing.
The affidavit also states that a Reddit study that Kohberger posted as an undergraduate called participants in a research project to “understand how emotional and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.” said he asked for it.