Investigators searching the apartment of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four Idaho college students, found a pillow with a reddish-brown blotch, stained mattress covers, several possible hair strands and a black glove, new documents show.
Police think the killer would have had blood spattered on him after returning home, and they searched for weapons, photos of the victims, and the clothes, mask and shoes they believed the killer was wearing.
They seized three receipts from Walmart and Marshalls, one of which was with a tag from the workwear brand Dickies; a computer tower; one container of vacuum dust; one possible animal hair strand; and a Fire TV stick. Investigators searched Kohberger’s Pullman, Wash., apartment and a storage closet on Dec. 30, after a search warrant was issued by a judge, and on the same day Kohberger’s arrest in the high-profile case was announced.Kohberger, a Washington State University graduate student, has been charged in the killings of four University of Idaho students: 20-year-olds Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, and 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. Through attorneys, Kohberger has maintained his innocence. The release of the search warrants in Washington state Wednesday provides the first look at what investigators found in Apartment G201 — and what they hoped may be there. Police had long searched for the knife authorities think was used in the killings, but they did not find it in Kohberger’s apartment. Investigators also searched Kohberger’s office at Washington State University but did not seize any items, according to the documents. Investigators hoped to determine, the search warrant says, whether Kohberger had blood, skin cells or hair from any of the victims or one victim’s dog on any of his belongings.The warrant did not include results of any investigation of digital devices or testing of hair and stains found in the apartment. Before investigators collected them, the stains on the pillow and one mattress cover were tested; the stains on the other mattress cover and a separate “dark red spot” found on an unidentified item were not tested, according to the documents. The searches were carried out by Moscow police and Washington State University police. The warrants had been sealed because of the “sensitive nature of the investigation at the time,” but a Whitman County, Wash., judge agreed to release them to the public Wednesday, citing the earlier release of the probable cause affidavit in the case. Police were also looking for any images of the victims, who authorities still have not publicly linked to Kohberger in any way, and sought to search Kohberger’s phone and computer for evidence that he had planned the killings. The outcome of that search was not included in the documents released Wednesday.Police were particularly interested in Kohberger’s digital trail, especially any hint that he had planned a killing or violent assault, or data showing he could have tracked the students’ residence or the victims themselves, the warrant says. “These murders appear to have been planned, rather than a crime that happened in a moment of conflict,” Sgt. Dustin Blaker, an officer with the Moscow, Idaho, police department, wrote in the search warrant. The four victims were found fatally stabbed in their off-campus home Nov. 13 in Moscow, a city a short distance from Pullman, where Kohberger was studying in the criminal justice doctoral program. The killings deeply shook the college town of Moscow. An affidavit unsealed this month portrayed a sweeping investigation in which police pieced together DNA, a witness account, cellphone records and surveillance video to accuse Kohberger in the crime. He is charged with four counts of murder and a burglary count, and his public defender in Pennsylvania has said Kohberger thinks he will be exonerated. Kohberger’s arrest Dec. 30 marked a major break in the case after almost seven weeks with authorities revealing little new information. Police took Kohberger into custody at his family’s home in northeast Pennsylvania, where he was visiting from Washington, and extradited him to Idaho to face charges.
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