Bryan Kohberger Was Investigated in Home Invasion Case a Year Before Idaho Murders
Bodycam footage from 2021 shows a woman telling police about an alleged break-in at her home by a masked intruder
Ted S. Warren/AP
Bryan KohbergerAccording to an ABC News report, Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, was earlier investigated regarding an alleged home invasion in Washington state that occurred a year before the Idaho killings
Authorities told the news outlet that Kohberger is no longer considered a person of interest in that case
Kohberger's trial for the Idaho killings is scheduled for August 2025
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, was previously investigated in connection to a home invasion in Washington state — a year before the killings in Moscow, Idaho.
According to bodycam footage shared by ABC News, police in Pullman, Washington, responded to an alleged home invasion in 2021 — less than 10 miles from the off-campus residence where the four University of Idaho students — Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 — were fatally stabbed.
As reported by ABC News, the female resident in the bodycam footage tells police that a masked intruder broke into her Pullman home at approximately 3:30 a.m. and held a knife.
“I heard my door open,” the woman says, per the bodycam footage, “and I looked over and someone was wearing a ski mask and had a knife. And so I kicked the [expletive] out of their stomach and screamed super loud, and they like flew back into my closet then ran out my door and up the stairs.”
In a Pullman Police Department report, added ABC News, the suspect was silent during the incident. Authorities were not able to find a suspect or evidence after one of the roommates immediately contacted police.
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On Dec. 30, 2022, Moscow Police said that Bryan Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, murders of Chapin, Kernodle, Mogen, and Goncalves in Idaho. According to a probable cause affidavit seen by PEOPLE, authorities believe the fatal stabbings took place between 4 and 4:25 a.m. It also added that a sheath of the knife used in the killings was left at the scene in the bed where Mogen and Goncalves were found dead.
The affidavit stated that one of the surviving roommates said they saw the killer, described in the document as "a figure clad in black clothing and a mask," who walked past her as he left the crime scene.
ABC News reported that 13 days after the arrest, Kohberger was named by authorities as a person of interest in the Pullman, Washington incident.
Related: The Cause of Death of the 4 Murdered Idaho College Students Confirmed by Coroner
However, according to the police report, the female resident described the suspect as between 5-feet 3-inches and 5-feet 5 inches tall, while Kohberger is 6 feet tall.
Authorities also said that Kohberger, a Pennsylvania resident, had not yet enrolled in Washington State University or visited the institution as a prospective student, ABC News reported.
The Pullman Police Department also told the news outlet that Kohberger is no longer a person of interest in the alleged Pullman home invasion, saying: “We have no reason or evidence to believe he was involved in this burglary at this time…” The unsolved case has now been closed, reported ABC News.
In May 2023, a grand jury indicted Kohberger for the Idaho murders. A judge entered a “not guilty” plea on behalf of Kohberger when the suspect was silent when asked for his plea.
Brian Buckmire, a legal analyst for ABC News, told the outlet that Kohberger’s defense may try to use the alleged 2021 break-in at the Pullman, Washington, residence to raise reasonable doubt at the suspect’s murder trial, slated for August 2025.
Read the original article on People
