Well, so much for those little hints of hope for Bryan Kohberger‘s defense.
Up until last week, the case of the University of Idaho murders seemed pretty open-and-shut. But then back to back two potential holes appeared that defense lawyers might poke at. First, the prosecution noted that an officer involved in the murder case had been the subject of a “confidential internal affairs investigation.” About what? Even a hint of impropriety could be devastating for the DA’s case.
Second was a big one. The first DNA test on the knife sheath did NOT find a link to Bryan Kohberger. When Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were killed in their off-campus house in Moscow, the sheath of a fixed-blade combat knife was found on the scene, in the room where besties Maddie and Kaylee had been sleeping together. DNA traces on that sheath were linked by a genealogy lab in Texas to Bryan Kohberger through his father. But the revelation that was a second test on the knife sheath suddenly made that smoking gun evidence just a little less solid.
But like we’ve said before, we’re likely to learn about more and more evidence as we get closer to trial. There may be a gag order on law enforcement, but things slip out here and there… And the latest leak is a doozy!
Back in March we learned the results of searches of Kohberger’s office and residence — the headline there being blood and hairs, which still may prove to be hugely important. Last month search warrants were unsealed which showed a long list of items law enforcement seized from Kohberger’s person, parents’ home, and car after his arrest last December. A gun and medical gloves got most of the attention. But there was something else among these searches we didn’t even notice! Something BIG!
According to a bombshell report from NewsNation on Thursday evening, one of the documents found throughout these searches, never specified in the unsealed warrants, was an ID — an ID belonging to someone at the victims’ residence in Moscow!
If NewsNation‘s new source knows whose, they aren’t saying, just that it’s connected to one of the victims or survivors. In either case, his possession of the ID places him at the scene — and may even imply to a jury he was taking a trophy from the murder house!
Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer explained to Chris Cuomo how important this was:
“It’s a big deal. That is a smoking license. Just like the sheath was a smoking sheath found next to Maddie with his DNA on that clasp, it’s the same thing in this situation. Why would he have an ID related to one of those people from that house?”
It’s a reasonable question — one of many which the defense are going to find very difficult to answer in the trial.
Speaking of which, another newish bit of info from NewsNation‘s source? They think they can link Kohberger to straight-up cyberstalking of one of the victims!
That’s not completely new, of course. We heard long ago that Kohberger followed all three female victims on Instagram – and that he’d repeatedly messaged one in particular. Now we never did learn which one, but according to earlier sources for the network, it was Maddie Mogen who seemed to be his primary fixation based on IG usage. He apparently “liked” all of her pics. Now that on its own doesn’t constitute cyberstalking — otherwise we’re cyberstalking Chris Evans. So whatever the cops have, it must be a lot more substantial. Is it still all about Maddie? Was she the intended target all along?
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