Accused murderer Bryan Kohberger had multiple images of one of his alleged female victims on his phone when it was searched by cops, it is claimed.
The criminal justice major, 28, had ‘more than one’ photograph of one of the four murdered students, with sources telling PEOPLE it was ‘clear he was paying attention to her’.
However, they did not identify which of the girls was in the pictures, and Moscow Police have not yet revealed a motive for the brutal crime.
He is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13 last year.
It is not clear if the images found on the device were photos that Kohberger had taken himself or if they were downloaded from her social media.
The criminal justice major, 28, had ‘more than one’ photograph of one of the four murdered students, with sources saying it was ‘clear he was paying attention to her’
The victim in the photos was not identified, and it is not clear if the images found on the device were photos that Kohberger had taken himself or if they were downloaded from her social media. PIctured: Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen
Investigators have remained tight-lipped over the potential motive in the slayings, but revealed in an affidavit that he had visited the area of the home in Moscow ‘several times’.
He is even alleged to have returned to the scene of the crime at 9am on November 13 – just hours after police believe he committed the quadruple murder.
The documents say that the criminal justice graduate stalked the property at least 12 times.
His phone was taken by officers shortly after a SWAT team swooped on his family home in Pennsylvania, where FBI officials saw him taking out the trash wearing surgical gloves.
Kohberger was tracked to the area of the home in the months leading up to the deaths by his phone, but officials have yet to confirm how he became aware of the students in the first place.
The affidavit states that police made ‘efforts to determine if Kohberger stalked any of the victims’ before the killings.
It added that they looked into if he ‘conducted surveillance on the King Road Residents and was in contact with any of the victim’s associates before or after the alleged offence.’
However, it does not elaborate how the students came to be on the radar of the Washington State University PhD student – simply that he had stalked them for a period of time in the ‘early morning and late evenings’.
He is accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13 last year. (L-R) Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders), Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke
Kohberger is even alleged to have returned to the scene of the crime at 9am on November 13 – just hours after police believe he committed the quadruple murder.
Investigators have remained tight-lipped over the potential motive in the slayings, but revealed in an affidavit that he had visited the area of the home in Moscow ‘several times’
It comes after allegations that Kohberger was fired from his teaching assistant position at WSU after ‘inappropriate’ behavior with female students.
A report in the New York Times claims that he followed at least one student to her car, with pals remembering him as a ‘creepy’ loner.
Kohberger is expected to enter a plea in the case on June 26, around the same time as the presentation of evidence.
He is charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing in January.
The alleged killer was arrested on December 30 by a SWAT team at his parents home in Pennsylvania as they moved to search his apartment at Washington State University.
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’.
The documents say that the criminal justice graduate stalked the property at least 12 times. Pictured: Kaylee Goncalves
Kohberger is expected to enter a plea in the case on June 26, around the same time as the presentation of evidence, Pictured Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen
They also hauled away a pillow with a ‘reddish/brown stain’ on it and the top and bottom of a mattress cover with ‘multiple stains’.
Investigators, who raided the property back in December, also picked up receipts from Walmart and two Marshall’s receipts, as well as collecting the contents of his vacuum cleaner.
Authorities initially sealed the search warrant for the murder suspect’s Washington home – arguing that releasing the details could ‘prematurely’ end the investigation.
However, the document has now been unsealed with the approval of Whitman County Prosecutor Denis Tracy, who filed the motion on January 17.
Court documents show that eight strands of hair were recovered from the apartment, as well as a ‘possible’ animal hair.
They also recovered a Fire TV stick during their search. All the items are now being stored at the Washington State University Police department.
Authorities reportedly said they wanted to see if any hair had been ‘transferred’ onto Kohberger and then back to his apartment – including that of Kaylee Goncalves’ dog Murphy.
Murphy was found alive in Kaylee’s room by investigators who were called to the scene, and has now been returned to her ex-boyfriend.
Kohberger, 28, was arrested on December 30 after weeks of thorough investigation by police in Moscow, Idaho, and the FBI
He is charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing in January
The application also stated that the home where the students were murdered had a significant amount of blood from the victims – including ‘spatter and castoff blood’.
Investigators believe that it was likely that the killer would have had blood evidence on their body or clothing, and hoped to find trace evidence in Kohberger’s apartment.
However, they did not describe the results of any of the testing in the documents and did not confirm if any hairs found matched the victims or Kaylee’s dog.
His offices at Washington State University were also searched, but nothing was seized by officers.
Initially, the court ruled that the warrant should be sealed until March 1, claiming that if it were made public there would be a threat to ‘public safety’.
Northington was at the time being represented for various drug charges by Taylor, who had worked with her on several occasions – saying she was ‘heartbroken’ to be silently dropped. PIctured: Ethan Chapin with Xana Kernodle
Kohberger earned a psychology degree at community college in 2018, before studying psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University
Authorities initially sealed the search warrant for the murder suspect’s Washington home – arguing that releasing the details could ‘prematurely’ end the investigation. Pictured (L-R) Dylan Mortensen, Xana Kernodle, Bethany Funke, Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen
It comes after it was revealed that his lawyer will be paid $200 an hour in his case – with any additional overtime.
Chief Public defender Anne Taylor will be paid by Kootenai County for her 40-hour work week, with Latah County agreeing to give the funds to Kootenai for her work.
But any overtime that she accrues outside of those hours will be paid by Latah County directly to the attorney, with a second lawyer supporting Taylor in the case being paid $180 an hour.
Taylor is representing the 28-year-old criminal justice major after stepping down as the lawyer for Cara Northington – the mother of murdered Xana Kernodle, 20.
She was in charge of her case until January 5, the same day that Kohberger was extradited from his home in Pennsylvania to Idaho.
The lawyer is also accused of a second conflict of interest in the case after it was revealed that she represented Maddie Mogen’s stepmother, Korie Hatrock, in June 2022 and oversaw a case involving her father, Benjamin in 2020.
