Bryan Kohberger will spend the rest of his life in prison for the grisly murders of four young University of Idaho students.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were killed on Nov. 13, 2022, at their shared home in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger, 30, was not taken into custody on suspicion of their murders until Dec. 30.
As police investigated the horrific crimes in the weeks leading up to his arrest, Kohberger exhibited “very strong changes” to his everyday behavior, according to Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson.
“He stops using his debit card, his credit cards. He starts only using cash,” Gilbertson explained, per CNN. “[In] video and surveillance that we would collect and pick up after that, he’s often wearing gloves.”
Kohberger had also reportedly been erasing data on his electronics. No evidence of a connection to the four victims or their roommates was ever found on his phone or other devices.
“No pictures, no texts,” Gilbertson added.
This comes after details of Kohberger’s post-arrest conversation with police were publicly released. Much of the interview was casual “small talk,” as Kohberger spoke about his interest in criminal justice and his time at Washington State University.
According to Corporal Brett Payne, who was the lead detective on the case, the 30-year-old said he’d once “thought about being a police officer but did not want to make that commitment unless he was absolutely sure” in newly released police documents.
Kohberger also spoke of the “beauty of the environment” in Washington and “its relationship to God and a higher power.”
“We spoke about this for some time and Kohberger said he was raised Christian but was always a skeptic except when confronted with the beauty of the natural world,” Payne wrote in the report.
After some time, Kohberger said he would “appreciate it” if it was “explained to him” why they had taken him in. Police asked if he was aware of the recent murders in Idaho and questioned if he “wanted to discuss the incident.”
In the report, Payne recalled that Kohberger “sat back and said he had the utmost respect for law enforcement but stated it was a constitutional right to speak to an attorney.”
The interview ended shortly after he invoked his Fifth Amendment Rights.
More than two years after the murders, Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing Chapin, Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves as a part of a plea agreement. On July 23, the judge ordered him to serve four life sentences without the possibility of parole, as well as an additional 10 years for a felony burglary charge.
Kohberger declined to speak on the murders at the hearing and little is known of his true motivations behind the attacks.
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