A criminal investigation concerning leaks that breached a gag order in Bryan Kohberger’s murder case is currently underway, following a referral to law enforcement, as reported by recent sources.
The investigation is honing in on identifying the potential source of an alleged leak to NBC’s “Dateline.” This program released an episode about the murders containing information previously unknown to the public, according to insiders speaking to the Idaho Statesman. An investigator from the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the inquiry, has requested interviews with individuals who had access to digital files featured in a May 2025 episode about the crimes.
Forensic scientist Brent Turvey, who collaborated with Kohberger’s defense team, revealed to Fox News Digital that investigators have reached out to him twice for an interview.
“I was contacted twice by a detective from the Ada County Sheriff’s Office, who said he was assigned to investigate the NBC leak. Anne Taylor granted me permission via email to communicate with law enforcement, a little over a month after they first approached me by phone and email,” Turvey explained. “Therefore, yes, they are probing her office for possible criminal charges related to the leak.”
Bryan Kohberger was seen at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on July 23, 2025, for the sentencing linked to the University of Idaho murders case. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
Additionally, Sy Ray, a digital forensics expert and former police officer who was part of Kohberger’s defense team, confirmed to the Statesman that he has engaged with investigators multiple times regarding the alleged leak.
“It’s probably the most expensive misdemeanor case in the history of Ada County,” Ray said. “Trying to investigate this was probably tough.”
One Sheriff’s Office investigator reached out in April to an attorney for two of the victims’ families, according to the Statesman.
An administrative investigation by the court into the leaks was conducted last summer.
University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates pose in the final photo shared by Goncalves on Instagram before four students were fatally stabbed in November 2022. (Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram)
Timeline of Nov. 13, 2022:
- 4 a.m.: Suspect arrives at house
- Between 4 and 4:17: Time of murders
- 4:19: Roommate calls three victims; no one answers
- 4:22 to 4:24: Surviving roommates text each other from inside house
- 4:27: Roommate calls victims again; no one answers
- 4:32: Roommate texts Kaylee Goncalves, “Pls answer”
- 10:23: Surviving roommate texts victims; no one answers
- 11:39: Roommate calls her father
- 12 p.m.: 911 call placed from roommate’s phone
The May 2025 “Dateline” episode included surveillance video from near the home where four University of Idaho students were killed, pictures from Kohberger’s phone and specifics about the crime.
FBI cellphone tower data obtained by “Dateline” allegedly showed that Kohberger’s cellphone pinged nearly a dozen times to a tower that provides coverage to an area within 100 feet of 1122 King Road, where the four University of Idaho students were killed. The alleged late-night drives took place starting in July 2022 and continued through mid-August 2022.
Public defender Anne Taylor enters a courtroom for Bryan Kohberger’s arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho, on May 22, 2023. (Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News)
The “Dateline” special also reported that a white Hyundai Elantra resembling Kohberger’s was seen turning onto King Road several times in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, when the murders occurred.
Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves in a July 2, 2025, in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. The four University of Idaho students were found dead Nov. 13, 2022, at their house in Moscow, Idaho, located near campus.
Bryan Kohberger shakes hands with defense attorney Elisa Massoth after his sentencing hearing at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on July 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, said the “Dateline” leaks helped the move toward a plea deal, which he was against, and supports the criminal investigation.
“They’re working on figuring this out, and hopefully they have more than they’re letting on,” he told the Statesman. “I think it did cost us. It definitely took the focus off the trial and seating a jury.”
Fox News Digital reached out to Taylor, the Ada County Sheriff’s Office and the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office for comment.
