Man accused in Idaho college murders also investigated for another home invasion: officials

ByDiane Macedo ABCNews logo
Tuesday, December 24, 2024 1:57PM
Idaho College Murders
Officials now say the Idaho college murders suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was investigated in connection with an earlier home invasion.

There is a new twist in the Idaho college murders case. Officials now say the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was investigated in connection with an earlier home invasion.

Body camera footage obtained by ABC News shows police responding to an alleged home invasion one year before the murders, less than 10 miles from the off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death.

The woman in the bodycam video tells police it was about 3:30 in the morning when a masked intruder entered her bedroom in Pullman, Washington, holding a knife.

"I heard my door open and I looked over, and someone was wearing a ski mask and had a knife," the woman said. "And I like kicked the (expletive) out of their stomach. They flew into my closet then ran out the door and went up the stairs ."

According to the police report, she said the suspect was silent the whole time, and while one of her roommates quickly called police, officers found no suspect or evidence.

RELATED: Idaho college killings: Prosecutors push back against Kohberger requests to exclude key evidence

Months later, Kohberger was arrested for the stabbing deaths of Kayle Goncalves, Madison Mogen Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, in Moscow Idaho. In that incident, the killer also allegedly had a knife, wore a mask, entered the home in the early morning hours and was silent as he left.

Then, 13 days later, Kohberger - who is from the Pennsylvania Poconos -- was named a person of interest in the Pullman case.

"When you look at the Idaho murders, one of the things detectives and agents did almost immediately is, are there other cases in the area that might have some similarities. For example, fingerprints, DNA, hair samples -- anything that you could either biologically or genetically or fingerprint wise, link this suspect to that particular burglary," said Brad Garrett, an ABC News crime & terrorism analyst.

But according to the report, the woman described the Pullman suspect as 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-5. However, Kohberger is six feet tall.

The report also reveals the Pennsylvania resident was not yet enrolled at Washington State University, nor was he visiting the campus as a prospective graduate student.

RELATED: Idaho college killings to remain a death penalty case, judge rules

Pullman police tell ABC News that Kohberger is no longer a person of interest in the break-in, adding "We have no reason or evidence to believe he was involved in this burglary at this time." That case is now closed but remains unsolved.

Now, questions are growing about whether the defense will try to use that to raise doubt in Kohberger's murder trial.

"Without a doubt, Bryan Kohberger's defense team is going to try to raise reasonable doubt by pointing to an alternative suspect in using this alleged burglary the question becomes, why would a judge admit this evidence where nothing about this case tends to prove that Bryan Kohberger was not the murderer," said Brian Buckmire, a ABC News legal contributor.

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