The DNA of the man accused of murdering four Idaho college students was found at the crime scene, according to details in court documents recently released by authorities.
The suspect, by name Bryan Kohberger28, was arrested last week in Pennsylvania.
He has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and felony robbery in connection with the crime.
An attorney representing Kohberger previously said the young man is eager to be exonerated.
Kohberger pleaded no guilty at a court appearance in Idaho on Thursday.
The man responded in the affirmative to questions from the Latah County Magistrate Judge about whether he understood his rights and the charges against him, and was denied bail.
What the documents say
The documents, unsealed shortly before his court appearance, provide the latest details on the arrest of the criminology graduate student, as well as the murders that rocked the small Idaho college town of Moscow.
The probable cause affidavit indicates that Kohberger’s DNA matched a sample found on a knife sheath in the apartment where the University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen They were assassinated in November.
At the crime scene, the police was able to collect a male DNA sample of a brown leather cover found on the bed next to Mogen’s body, according to the affidavit written by police officer Brett Payne.
Authorities later compared this sample to a DNA profile taken from the trash at the Kohberger family home in Pennsylvania.
witnesses
Two other roommates were present in the house at the time of the murders, but were unharmed in the attack.
The affidavit, which summarizes the evidence and circumstances of the arrest, also alleges that aa of isthe two people he saw a masked man dressed in black in the house the morning of the events.
One of the roommates, identified by the initials “DM”, said she woke up at 04:00 am local time to hear what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the rooms upstairs.
When she opened the door, she thought she heard crying coming from Kernodle’s room and heard a male voice say, “Okay, I’ll help you.”
The third time the roommate opened the door she said she saw a figure dressed in black.
There is also new information about a white sedan, a Hyundai Elantraseen near the crime scene, which was a breakthrough in an investigation that had found no suspect or murder weapon six weeks after the crime.
Authorities were able to locate a car matching that description at Washington State University, where Kohberger was a student. The vehicle was registered in his name.
The document indicates that although the cell phone of the suspect was not registered in the Moscow telephone towers during the hours in which the crime occurred, it did happen at around 4:48 am on a highway south of the city and in in the direction of Pullman, where the college campus where the suspect is a graduate student and where the car was located is located.
Police say the murder weapon, described as a “fixed blade knife,” has yet to be found.
Investigators did not share a motive for the killings or say whether the suspect knew the victims.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on December 30.
He was transferred to Idaho on Wednesday after agreeing to be extradited to face murder charges.
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