Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger reportedly had multiple photos of one of his alleged victims on his phone when it was searched by cops. According to sources who spoke to PEOPLE, Kohberger, a criminal justice major, had “more than one” photograph of one of the four students who were killed, and it was “clear he was paying attention to her.”
However, police did not identify who the girl was in the photographs.’ Moscow Police also have not yet provided an explanation for the heinous murder. Kohberger, 28, is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13 last year.
Special Target
It is not clear if Kohberger took the pictures on the iPad himself or whether they were retrieved from her social media accounts, as well as whether they were taken before or after the quadruple-murders.
Authorities have remained tightlipped on the potential motive behind the killings, although they did admit in an affidavit that Kohberger had been to the area of the home in Moscow “several times” before the murders.
Investigators believe Kohberger went back to the location around 9 am on November 13 to finish the job even after committing the quadruple homicide.
The criminal justice graduate allegedly stalked the property at least 12 times, according to the documents.
His phone was taken away by police soon after a SWAT team raided his family’s Pennsylvania home, where FBI authorities spotted Kohberger putting out the trash wearing surgical gloves.
Kohberger was tracked to the vicinity of the area of his residence in the months leading up to the deaths by his phone, but authorities have not yet revealed how he initially learned about the students.
According to the affidavit, “efforts to determine if Kohberger stalked any of the victims” before the killings. The documents also mentioned that authorities looked into if Kohberger “conducted surveillance on the King Road Residents and was in contact with any of the victim’s associates before or after the alleged offence.”
Motive Still Unclear
However, the affidavit just mentions that the Ph.D. student from Washington State University stalked the kids for a while in the “early morning and late evenings,” without going into detail as to how they got to be on his radar.
This comes after allegations that Kohberger was let go from his job as a teaching assistant at WSU due to “inappropriate” behavior with female students. According to a New York Times investigation, friends described him as a “creepy” loner who followed at least one student to her car.
Kohberger is expected to enter a plea in the case on June 26, right before the evidence is presented. He is accused of four charges of murder and one count of criminal burglary and waived his right to an expedited preliminary hearing in January.
He has previously indicated that he believes he will ‘be exonerated’, with his family unable to pay for him to have private representation.
A new search warrant, made public on January 17, shows that police found several hair strands, including one suspected animal hair, a black glove, a computer tower and one unnamed item with a collection of “dark red spots.”
On December 30, a SWAT team moved to raid the suspect’s Washington State University residence and made an arrest at his parents’ Pennsylvania house.
According to court records, eight hair strands and a “possible” animal hair were found in the apartment. During their search, a Fire TV stick was also found. All of the things are currently being stored, at the Washington State University Police Department.
