Idaho murders latest update: Bryan Kohberger search warrant found less evidence than expected, expert says

Police investigating the murder of four Idaho students seized a string of items from suspect Bryan Kohberger’s apartment, including possible hair strands, a disposable glove, items with red and brown stains and a computer, according to a newly unsealed search warrant.

According to the search warrant unsealed on Wednesday, these are the items seized from his apartment:

• One nitrite type black glove
• 1 Walmart receipt with one Dickiestag
• 2 Marshalls receipts
• Dust container from Bissell PowerForce” vacuum
• 8 possible hair strands
• FireTV stick with cord/plug
• 1 possible animal hair strand
• 1 possible hair
• 1 possible hair
• 1 possible hair
• 1 possible hair strand
• 1 computer tower
• 1 collection of dark red spot (collected without testing)
• 2 cuttings from uncased pillow of reddish/brown stain (larger stain tested)
• 2 top and bottom mattress covers packaged separately with multiple stains(one tested)

A report by the New York Times last week offered insight into the alleged murderer’s troubled teenage years and his struggle to feel emotion from a young age.

The Tapatalk profile behind the chilling posts from 2011 was linked to the Washington State University PhD criminology student with the help of recollections from former friends of Mr Kohberger, and a username match with an email account used by him, according to the Times.

Mr Kohberger had previously been described by high school friends as an intellectually gifted teen who often struggled to socialise and fit in. Some close to Mr Kohberger have also come forward saying he went from being awkward and bullied to developing an addiction to heroin and becoming a “bully” during his junior year of high school, according to a CBS News report.

But the posts from the online discussion forum, purportedly made when he was 16 years old, appear to reveal Mr Kohberger’s concerns about his suicidal ideation, challenges with a disorder he described as “visual snow” — a disorder that causes people to see static, and inability to connect with his relatives.

“I feel like an organic sack of meat with no self worth,” one post reads. “As I hug my family, I look into their faces, I see nothing, it is like I am looking at a video game, but less.”

In another post, the author explored feelings of self-loathing, regretting that he was no longer the “healthy blonde-haired boy with blue eyes, and in a few years, [he then had] darker hair and darker eyes, half the body weight”.

He then proceeded to say he felt “unintelligent” and as though he was experiencing “depersonalization” and felt “little to no remorse.’

“I often find myself making simple human interactions, but it is as if I am playing a role-playing game such as oblivion; I can see what is going on, I am slightly into it, but I can pause the game and focus on my real life,” the post states.

It continues: “I view everything as I would if I was playing oblivion, pointless and full of nothing, out of reality. I am moving out of my house, my last holidays were already lived, but where was I? As my family group hugs and celebrates, I am stuck in this void of nothing, feeling completely no emotion, feeling nothing.”

“I feel dirty, like there is dirt inside of my head, my mind, I am always dizzy and confused.”

Idaho murders victim Kaylee Goncalves had already moved out of the home where she and three other students were brutally murdered – but tragically returned to Moscow to visit her best friend that fateful weekend.

Goncalves’ parents told NBC’s “Dateline” that the 21-year-old had recently left the student rental property on King Road, Moscow, ahead of her upcoming graduation that December and a move to Austin, Texas, for a new job at a tech firm.

Then, on the weekend of 12 November, she decided to go back to the college town to visit her best friend Madison Mogen.

The two young women had been inseparable since meeting in the sixth grade and Goncalves wanted to show Mogen her new Range Rover that she had saved up for and bought.

Last week, Mr Kohberger’s attorney Ann Taylor filed a discovery request in the case, asking the judge to order the prosecution to hand over all discovery in the case within 14 days. Among the discovery requests were witness statements, digital media and police reports about the case. It also included a request for information about a “co-defendant”.

The Independent has the full story:

If convicted of the four murders, Mr Kohberger faces the possibility of lethal injection, should the prosecution seek the death penalty.

In the state of Idaho, the maximum sentence for first-degree murder is death and the suspect is facing four counts of this charge.

While the Latah County prosecutor has not yet confirmed whether or not he plans to seek the death penalty in the case and he is unlikely to show his hand over the coming weeks due to the gag order now in place.

Goncalves’ parents have already said that they want their daughter’s killer to be sentenced to death saying he “has to pay” for what he has done.

“If you want to play god’s role, you’re gonna have to go answer to him,” Steve told NewsNation in early January.

According to Mr Levin, in a death penalty case, the only possible plea deal would be for the suspect to be given life in prison instead.

However, he said it is “too early” to tell whether this is likely in this case.

“At this point, it is too early for the two sides to have a discussion about a plea deal,” he said.

“On a death penalty case, the only plea on the table is life in prison but both sides have too much investigating ahead of them to discuss that at this time.”

Police investigating the murder of four Idaho students seized a string of items from suspect Bryan Kohberger’s apartment, including possible hair strands, a disposable glove, items with red and brown stains and a computer, according to a newly unsealed search warrant.

According to the search warrant unsealed on Wednesday, these are the items seized from his apartment:

• One nitrite type black glove
• 1 Walmart receipt with one Dickiestag
• 2 Marshalls receipts
• Dust container from Bissell PowerForce” vacuum
• 8 possible hair strands
• FireTV stick with cord/plug
• 1 possible animal hair strand
• 1 possible hair
• 1 possible hair
• 1 possible hair
• 1 possible hair strand
• 1 computer tower
• 1 collection of dark red spot (collected without testing)
• 2 cuttings from uncased pillow of reddish/brown stain (larger stain tested)
• 2 top and bottom mattress covers packaged separately with multiple stains(one tested)

Suspected quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger appeared in court last week to waive his right to a speedy trial on charges of murdering four Idaho students.

Mr Kohberger spoke only to answer “yes” when asked if he understood his rights to a speedy preliminary hearing within the next 14 days and if he agreed to waive those rights. His public defender Anne Taylor then requested that his next court date be pushed back until June.

The entire week has been set aside for the hearing – when evidence of the case against Mr Kohberger will be laid out for the first time in court and he is likely to enter a plea on the charges.

His request for a delay before the next court appearance came after the defence asked the prosecution to hand over all discovery in the case in the next 14 days – including witness statements, digital media and police reports.

Ms Taylor told the judge that waiving the 14-day deadline would give the defence more time to review all the evidence in the case.

Now, the families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin will have to wait six more months to face their childrens’ accused killer in the court.

Until then, Mr Kohberger will be held behind bars at Latah County Jail after he was ordered to be held on no bail for a second time.

The Independent spoke to two experts – Dr Monte Miller, a former crime scene investigator and forensic expert for the Texas Department of Public Safety; and former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer – for their takes on each item in the list.

“The possible animal hair they’ll try to connect that to the dog left at the scene,” according to Dr Miller. “If there’s a root on that, if there is any skin on that hair, they could do a DNA test with that dog. If it’s just a hair that’s been shed and there is no skin, they would still be able to do a microscopical comparison and exclude most dogs but they wouldn’t be able to connect it necessarily to that dog.”

Ms Coffindaffer also explained that the suspect would have left behind evidence at the scene but also taken evidence with him before leaving. She said she was suprised by how little hair was listed on the search warrant record.

“I would expect those items to have been transferred to [the killer] and when he took off his clothing, that to then transfer to other clothing and items. So I was surprised not to see more items and more hairs,” she said.

Kaylee Goncalves and her dog Murphy, who was spared from the attack and later found unharmed at the scene

Dr Miller explained how the hairs collected indicated they were found separately.

“They may have collected eight hairs in a pillowcase, and collected one separately because they found it [in a different place],” he said. “And somebody, when they collected it, just wrote hair strand instead of hair. Sometimes you write things a little differently.”

The distinction between “hair” and “hair strand” was not necessarily meaningful, Ms Coffindaffer also said, as there could have been more than one log keeper that preferred one wording over the other.

She also noted that the overall amount of findings at the Washington state apartment was rather underwhelming.

“I would want to point out that it’s not really as interesting to me what is on the search warrant as what’s not on the search won’t return,” she told The Independent. “I just expected so much more information, so many more hairs. I expected fibres, I expected clothing to be taken. I had hope for shoes.”

Duncan Levin, the former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office and attorney at Levin & Associates who has represented clients including Harvey Weinstein and Anna Delvey, spoke exclusively to The Independent about the strength of the criminal case against the 28-year-old PhD student.

Based on the evidence outlined in the probable cause affidavit, Mr Levin said that Mr Kohberger did a poor job of “covering his tracks” and that the prosecution has a “very strong case” against him.

“In short, he should get an F in criminology class,” he said. “He did not do a good job of covering his tracks.”

The Independent Rachel Sharp has the story:

A record of evidence recovered during the apartment search was unsealed on Wednesday, revealing the seizure of 15 items including hairs, receipts, a computer tower, a disposable glove and items with peculiar stains.

The record reignited a frenzy of speculation online – despite its simplicity and lack of conjecture.

But what significance, if any, can actually be gleaned from the list? The Independent spoke to two experts – Dr Monte Miller, a former crime scene investigator and forensic expert for the Texas Department of Public Safety; and former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer – for their takes on each item.

The Independent has the story: