Idaho murders: Police address Bryan Kohberger’s ties to woman’s death as parents testify
Bryan Kohberger’s parents were ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating the disappearance and death of Dana Smithers
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Police in Pennsylvania have spoken out about the possible connection between Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger and the death of a woman whose body was found almost a year after her disappearance.
It emerged this week that Mr Kohberger’s parents had been ordered to testify before a grand jury investigating the disappearance and death of Dana Smithers, 45.
Smithers vanished without a trace in May 2022 from Monroe County, Pennsylvania – where Mr Kohberger was living at the time. Her remains were found last month in a wooded area, her cause of death still unknown.
A source told CNN that the accused killer’s mother had already given evidence to the grand jury while his father was appearing to testify on Thursday.
Stroud Area Regional Police Department has now issued a statement insisting there is “NO EVIDENCE that Dana Smither’s disappearance, is in ANY WAY tied to Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger”.
The development comes days after Mr Kohberger was arraigned on four counts of murder and one count of burglary in Moscow, Idaho.
Mr Kohberger is accused of killing Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on 13 November.
She vanished months before the Idaho murders. Why has her death been linked to Bryan Kohberger?
Who is Bryan Kohberger? The criminology graduate being arraigned over the Idaho college murders
Four students stabbed to death, a weeks-long manhunt and still no motive: What we know about the Idaho murders
Accused Idaho college killer Bryan Kohberger’s belongings test positive for blood
At least two items seized from the home of accused killer Bryan Kohberger tested positive for blood.
Court documents, released by Washington authorities earlier this month, show that multiple items taken from the 28-year-old Washington State University criminology PhD student’s apartment in Pullman had been tested for the presence of blood.
While most items came back negative, two items were positive.
Those items were a mattress cover on the bed and an uncased pillow, both of which were described as having visible “reddish brown stains”. The documents do not reveal who the blood belongs to.
The items were all seized when police executed a search warrant at Mr Kohberger’s address on 30 December – the day that he was arrested for the murders of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
When were Dana Smithers’ remains found?
Almost one year after she was last seen alive, on 27 April Smithers’ remains were found in a wooded area in Stroudsburg.
Stroud Area Regional Police said that a Borough employee had discovered decomposing human remains in a wooded area close to Park Avenue in the Borough of Stroudsburg.
Due to extensive decomposition, the gender and identity of the individual was unclear at the time.
Using dental records, the remains were later identified as belonging to Smithers.
Her cause and manner of death is not yet known.
Pennsylvania police speak out over Bryan Kohberger’s connection to Dana Smithers’ case
Kaylee Goncalves’ father thanks roommates who survived Idaho murders for helping in Bryan Kohberger case
The father of slain University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves has expressed his support for the young women who survived the attack in which his daughter was killed.
Dylan Mortensen and Brittany Funke were inside their off-campus home in Moscow when roommates Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in the early morning hours of 13 November.
According to an affidavit released earlier this year, Ms Mortensen told investigators that on the night of the murders, she saw “a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her”.
Ms Mortensen and Ms Funke faced online harassment as speculation grew and questions were raised over the eight hours that passed between the attack and the time police were called. They were never considered suspects and authorities have described them as survivors since the early stages of the probe.
In an interview with NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield aired last week, Goncalves’ father Steve Goncalves thanked Ms Funke and Ms Mortensen for their cooperation with the investigation, which he called critical to build a strong case against suspect Bryan Kohberger.
“They’re going through a lot; I appreciate what they’ve done for the case and all the information that they’ve provided,” Mr Goncalves said. “I wish they wouldn’t have to go through it but it’s critical, it’s absolutely going to make the case so I commend them for their courage and to go through this and to know I can’t fix it for them.”
Bryan Kohberger bought Ka-Bar knife from Amazon months before deadly stabbings of Idaho students
Bryan Kohberger bought a Ka-Bar knife and knife sheath from Amazon seven months before he allegedly stabbed four University of Idaho students to death in a brutal attack that sent shockwaves across America, it has been revealed.
NBC’s Dateline special “The Killings on King Road” reported that the 28-year-old accused killer shopped online for the military-style knife in April 2022.
At the time, he was still studying for his master’s degree in criminology at DeSales University in Pennsylvania.
He graduated from the university that June and then relocated across the country to Pullman, Washington, where he began a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University.
The report indicates that Mr Kohberger took the knife with him when he moved.
There was a glaring mistake at the Idaho murders hearing
The grieving family of slain University of Idaho Kaylee Goncalves complained to the court after the judge presiding over their daughter’s murder case mispronounced her name.
Bryan Kohberger, accused of the 13 November stabbings of Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, appeared in Latah County Court in Moscow to enter a plea on Monday (22 May).
During the brief hearing, Judge John Judge informed Mr Kohberger of his rights, the charges against him and the penalties – including the death penalty – if he is convicted.
But while reading out the charges, the judge mispronounced two of the victims’ names. First, he appeared to call Goncalves “Kayla” and then struggled to pronounce Kernodle’s first name, ultimately saying “Zana.”
“This is hard, I’m sorry,” the judge told the court.
According to reporters present during the hearing, Goncalves’ sister Alivea Goncalves was seen shaking her head in disapproval. Ms Goncalves later complained to the victim assistance coordinator, COURTV reported.
Before the hearing kicked off on Monday, the grieving sister was seen arriving in court with her parents and newborn baby, who she named in part after Goncalves and Mogen.
Brutal stabbings, a white Hyundai Elantra and a criminology student
Bryan Kohberger has refused to enter a plea on four murder charges, prompting the judge to make one on his behalf and effectively moving the case to trial.
The Independent’s Io Dodds reports:
Idaho murders case timeline
Bryan Kohberger has refused to enter a plea on four murder charges, prompting the judge to make one on his behalf and effectively moving the case to trial. Io Dodds reports
Bryan Kohberger’s sister searched his car for evidence before police swooped in
Sources told NBC’s Dateline that one of the accused killer’s older siblings grew increasingly suspicious of her brother and his behaviour when the family gathered to spend the holidays together.
Her suspicions were so great that – at one point – several family members searched Mr Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra for possible evidence of the crime, they said.
In mid-December, Mr Kohberger – a 28-year-old criminology PhD student at Washington State University (WSU) – embarked on a cross-country trip with his father from his student rental home in Pullman, Washington, back to the family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, to spend the holidays together.
But, during his time at home, his family members noticed that he was behaving somewhat bizarrely.
The source said that Mr Kohberger was constantly wearing latex gloves, including inside their own home.
One of his two older sisters began to wonder if he could have played a part in the murders – and, at one point, she raised her concerns with her other family members.
She “loudly pointed out” that, at the time of the murders, her brother was living just a few miles from the crime scene and that he drove a white Hyundai Elantra – the make and colour of vehicle at the centre of the investigation.
Along with his bizarre tendency to wear latex gloves at all time, she believed that the family should consider that Mr Kohberger might have killed the four victims, the source said.
Idaho murders suspect allegedly broke into female student’s home and spied on her months before Idaho murders
Bryan Kohberger is believed to have broken into the home of a female student and then installed security cameras to spy on her in the months before he allegedly killed four other students in a horror attack in Moscow, Idaho.
The 28-year-old criminology PhD student had befriended the woman after he moved to Pullman, Washington state, to begin a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University (WSU), according to a source.
One day, the woman returned to her apartment and found that someone had broken in and moved items around the home – but that nothing was missing.
Since nothing was taken, the woman decided not to call the police but instead called her new friend Mr Kohberger and asked him to come over.
Mr Kohberger allegedly offered to install a video security system inside her home and the woman agreed.
Following its installation, investigators believe Mr Kohberger used the security cameras to spy on the woman as – knowing her wifi password – he was able to tap into the cameras when within close proximity to the apartment.
The bombshell allegation was revealed in an NBC Dateline episode titled “The Killings on King Road”, which reported that Mr Kohberger is now a strong suspect in the initial break-in. NewsNation originally reported the claims last month.
Who is Bryan Kohberger? The criminology graduate being arraigned over the Idaho college murders
Speculation and rumour have swirled in the months following Bryan Kohberger’s arrest, as conspiracists and armchair detectives paint all manner of pictures of the accused killer. But who really is the former PhD student?
The Independent’s Sheila Flynn reports:
Who is Bryan Kohberger?
Speculation and rumour have swirled in the months following Bryan Kohberger’s arrest, as conspiracists and armchair detectives paint all manner of pictures of the accused killer. But who really is the former PhD student? Sheila Flynn reports
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.