On December 30, Pennsylvania State Police arrested Bryan Kohberger on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary after he stabbed four University of Idaho students to death. The slaying took place in the early hours of November 13 inside their off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho.
On February 28, nearly three months after the horrific act, Pennsylvania courts officially unsealed the search warrant that led to his arrest, releasing the warrant to the public. The warrant gives insight into the various items taken from his parent’s house in Chestnuthill Township, PA – where he was arrested.
According to the search warrant, police officers seized a silver flashlight, four medical-style gloves, a white Arizona Jean Co. large t-shirt, a Champion WSH Cougars black sweatshirt, a pair of white and black Nike shoes, a pair of black Under Armour socks, shorts, and boxers, and a buccal swab.
The search warrant also gives insight into the events that led to his arrest – including the surveillance of Bryan Kohberger in the days prior to his arrest. Investigators had observed Kohberger walking near his residence. At that time, they had reason to believe that the items listed above were in his possession.
“Based upon the serious and violent nature of these crimes, including the risk of general public safety, your Affiants are requesting a night-time search warrant be issued to execute this search warrant at any time and the affidavit of probable cause be sealed,” the report read. Kohberger was arrested shortly after.
As far as what led investigators to Bryan Kohberger, they connected him to the crime after reviewing surveillance footage, phone records, and DNA samples from a knife sheath (protective covering for a knife) that was found at the crime scene. This gave investigators reasonable suspicion to search him.
When investigators entered the home where the murders occurred, they also found a black glove, numerous hair strands, a dark red spot, and a reddish-brown stain from an uncased pillow. The four University of Idaho victims were identified as Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Former Employer Opens Up About Bryan Kohberger
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, the owner of Big Brown Fish and Pay Lakes – Charles Conklin – spoke about Bryan Kohberger, who was employed as a fish cutter at the establishment for four months in 2011. According to Conklin, Kohberger was in high school when he was hired as a seasonal employee.
Conklin described Kohberger as ‘withdrawn’ and said he ‘never warmed up and got friendly,’ adding that a majority of his employees are considered family. Conklin personally trained Kohberger to cut and filet fish, so he had learned some valuable knife-cutting skills but was eventually fired for his lackluster attitude.
Fast forward more than a decade, and Kohberger was a student at Washington State, where he was also hired as a teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. He failed to meet the expectations of the gig and was unprofessional as a teacher’s assistant, which resulted in his being fired.
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As of right now, Bryan Kohberger hasn’t entered a plea and is now being held in Latah County Jail as police continue to search for a motive behind the murders. He is set to return to court on June 26 as we await more information and details of the horrific incident.
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