BRYAN Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students, was previously investigated for a similar crime a year earlier, as revealed by new documents.
New details on the Idaho killings, alongside the other intruder investigation, were revealed in documents released by law enforcement.
In 2021, just a year prior to the four murders, a person with a knife and ski mask broke into a home in Pullman, Washington.
The documents said that the victim was sleeping in her bedroom when she awoke to her door opening.
A person with a ski mask and knife entered the room and walked to the edge of her bed.
The victim then kicked the suspect in the stomach, according to documents, and the person ran out. The suspect fled, and was never caught.
Less than a year after the frightening break-in, Kohberger moved to the same area to attend school.
The Idaho killings
In 2022, these four university students were murdered in their residence in Moscow, Idaho, garnering nationwide attention as authorities launched an extensive manhunt for the perpetrator.
The victims, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were viciously stabbed, leaving investigators with more questions than answers, particularly concerning the motive behind the crime.
A statement from one of the surviving roommates from the Idaho murders described how she “peeked out of her bedroom” after hearing noises and saw a man wearing a black ski mask.
Kohberger pleaded guilty to the charges this summer, avoiding an upcoming trial and angering family members of the victims.
“The introduction of this plea deal, just weeks before the scheduled trial, is both shocking and cruel,” wrote Aubrie Goncalves, 18, the sister of one of the victims.
“Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world.”
“Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever. That reality stings more deeply when it feels like the system is protecting his future more than honoring the victims’ pasts.”
He will now serve life in prison without parole, avoiding the death penalty.
At his plea, the judge asked: “Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?
Bryan Kohberger’s eerie confession
On July 2, Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students during a chilling and emotionless courtroom appearance. With one-word answers, he confessed to the disturbing crime:
Judge Steven Hippler: Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?
Bryan Kohberger: Yes
Judge Hippler: Did you on November 13, 2022 enter the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder?
Kohberger: Yes
Judge Hippler: Did you on November 13, 2022 in Latah County in the state of Idaho kill and murder Madison Mogen, a human being?
Kohberger: Yes
Judge Hippler: And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation, and with malice of forethought?
Kohberger: Yes
Judge Hippler: Did you on or about the same date in Moscow, Idaho, kill and murder Kaylee Goncalves, a human being?
Kohberger: Yes
Judge Hippler: And did you on that same date in Moscow, Idaho, kill and murder Xana Kernodle, a human being?
Kohberger: Yes
Judge Hippler: And then on or about November 13, 2022, again in Latah County, Idaho, did you kill and murder Ethan Chapin, a human being?
Kohberger: Yes
Later in the hearing, Kohberger officially changed his plea, one count at a time, with the same emotionless tone that belied the horrific nature of his murders.
Judge Hippler: With respect to count one, burglary felony, how do you plead Mr. Kohberger?
Kohberger: Guilty
Judge Hippler: As to count two, murder in the first degree as it relates to the murder of Madison Mogen, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger: Guilty
Judge Hippler: As to count three, as it relates to murder in the first degree to the murder of Kaylee Goncalves, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger: Guilty
Judge Hippler: As to count four, the first degree murder of Xana Kernodle, a human being, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger: Guilty
Judge Hippler: As to count five, first degree murder of Ethan Chapin, a human being, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger: Guilty
Photo: AP
Kohberger, 30, responded with a simple “yes.”
The newly revealed files say that one of the victims, Goncalves, was left unrecognizable when they were found by officers the morning after the cruel killings.
Kernodle was then stabbed more than 50 times, according to the documents.
“I was unable to comprehend exactly what I was looking at while trying to discern the nature of the injuries,” one of the investigators said.
When asked if he wanted to make a statement in court, he sat emotionless and declined to answer.
After Kohberger was arrested for the Idaho murders, police revisited the first case to see if he could have been a possible suspect.
But after an investigation, police ruled that he was not related to the crime, and marked the case as inactive as he seemingly had no reason to be in the area at the time.
The released files into the 2021 crime also identified the person’s height between 5 feet, 3 inches tall to 5 feet, 5 inches tall.
In the Idaho case, a victim described him as 5 feet, 10 inches tall.
