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The accused killer, Bryan Kohberger, had multiple images of one of his alleged female victims on his phone when police searched it.
The 28-year-old criminal justice major had ‘more than one’ photograph of one of the four slain students, with sources telling PEOPLE he was “clearly paying attention to her”.
However, they did not identify which of the girls was in the images, and the Moscow police have yet to reveal the motive for the brutal crime.
He is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13 of last year.
It is not clear if the images found on the device were photos Kohberger had taken himself or if he had downloaded them from his social networks.
The 28-year-old criminal justice major had ‘more than one’ photograph of one of the four slain students, and sources said it was ‘clear he was paying attention’
The victim was not identified in the photos, and it is not clear if the images found on the device were photos Kohberger had taken himself or if he had downloaded them from his social networks. Pictured: Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen
Investigators have kept quiet about the potential motive for the killings, but revealed in an affidavit that he had visited the area of the house in Moscow “several times.”
It is even alleged that he returned to the scene of the crime at 9 a.m. on November 13, just hours after police believed he committed the quadruple murder.
Documents say the criminal justice attorney stalked the property at least 12 times.
Officers seized his phone shortly after a SWAT team swept into his family’s Pennsylvania home, where FBI officers saw him taking out the trash while wearing surgical gloves.
Kohberger was tracked to the area of the house in the months before the deaths by his phone, but authorities have yet to confirm how he became aware of the students in the first place.
The affidavit states that police made “efforts to determine if Kohberger was harassing any of the victims” prior to the murders.
He added that they investigated whether he “surveilled King Road residents and was in contact with any of the victim’s associates before or after the alleged crime.”
However, it does not detail how the students came to be on the Washington State University doctoral student’s radar, merely that he had been stalking them for an ‘early morning and late night’ period of time.
He is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13 of last year. (L-R) Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders), Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke
Kohberger is even alleged to have returned to the scene of the crime at 9 a.m. on November 13, just hours after police believed he committed the quadruple murder.
Investigators have kept quiet about the potential motive for the killings, but revealed in an affidavit that he had visited the area of the house in Moscow “several times.”
It comes after allegations that Kohberger was fired from his teaching assistant position at WSU after “inappropriate” behavior with female students.
A report in the New York Times claims that he followed at least one student to his car, and is remembered by friends as a “creepy” loner.
Kohberger is expected to enter a guilty plea in the case on June 26, around the same time as the discovery.
He is charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing in January.
The alleged killer was arrested Dec. 30 by a SWAT team at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania as they were on their way to search his apartment at Washington State University.
He previously indicated that he believes he will be “exonerated” since his family cannot afford to have him have private representation.
A new search warrant, made public on January 17, shows police found several strands of hair, including suspected animal hair, a black glove, a computer tower, and an unnamed object with a collection of ” dark red spots.
Documents say the criminal justice attorney stalked the property at least 12 times. In the photo: Kaylee Goncalves
Kohberger is expected to enter a guilty plea in the case on June 26, around the same time evidence is filed, pictured Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen
They also took a pillow with a ‘reddish/brown stain’ and the top and bottom of a mattress cover with ‘multiple stains’.
Investigators, who raided the property in December, also collected receipts from Walmart and two receipts from Marshall, as well as the contents of his vacuum cleaner.
Authorities initially sealed the search warrant for the murder suspect’s Washington home, arguing that disclosure of the details could end the investigation “prematurely.”
However, the document has now been unsealed with the approval of Whitman County Attorney Denis Tracy, who filed the motion on January 17.
Court documents show that eight strands of hair were recovered from the apartment, as well as a “possible” animal hair.
They also recovered a Fire TV device during their search. All items are now stored at the Washington State University Police Department.
Authorities reportedly said they wanted to see if any hair had been “transferred” to Kohberger and then back to her apartment, including from Kaylee Goncalves’ dog, Murphy.
Murphy was found alive in Kaylee’s bedroom by investigators who were called to the scene and has now been returned to her ex-boyfriend.
Kohberger, 28, was arrested December 30 after weeks of exhaustive investigation by police in Moscow, Idaho and the FBI.
He is charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing in January.
The request also indicated that the house where the students were killed had a significant amount of blood from the victims, including “spatters and discarded blood.”
Investigators believe the killer likely had evidence of blood on his body or clothing, and hoped to find trace evidence in Kohberger’s apartment.
However, they did not describe the results of any of the tests in the documents and did not confirm if any hair found matched that of the victims or that of Kaylee’s dog.
They also searched his offices at Washington State University, but officers did not seize anything.
Initially, the court ruled that the order should be sealed until March 1, on the grounds that if it were made public it would be a threat to ‘public safety’.
At the time, Northington was being represented on various drug charges by Taylor, who had worked with her on several occasions, saying she was “heartbroken” to have been quietly fired. Pictured: Ethan Chapin with Xana Kernodle
Kohberger earned a degree in psychology from a community college in 2018, before studying psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University.
Authorities initially sealed the search warrant for the murder suspect’s Washington home, arguing that disclosure of the details could end the investigation “prematurely.” Pictured (L-R) Dylan Mortensen, Xana Kernodle, Bethany Funke, Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen
It comes after it was revealed that his attorney will be paid $200 an hour on his case, with additional overtime.
Kootenai County will pay Senior Public Defender Anne Taylor for her 40-hour work week, and Latah County will agree to fund Kootenai for her work.
But any overtime that accrues outside of those hours will be paid by Latah County directly to the attorney, and a second attorney supporting Taylor on the case will be paid $180 per hour.
Taylor is representing the 28-year-old criminal justice student after resigning as attorney for Cara Northington, the mother of slain 20-year-old Xana Kernodle.
She was in charge of his case until January 5, the same day Kohberger was extradited from his Pennsylvania home to Idaho.
The lawyer is also accused of a second conflict of interest in the case after it was revealed that she represented Maddie Mogen’s stepmother, Korie Hatrock, in June 2022 and oversaw a case involving her father, Benjamin, in 2020.