Bryan Kohberger, now accused in the November deaths of four University of Idaho students, is shown on police video chatting with an officer during a traffic check in Washington state a month before the slayings.
A traffic check conducted by an officer at Washington State University, which Kohberger attended and is located near the Idaho institution, was noted in a probable cause affidavit for Kohberger’s December arrest since WSU authorities’ knowledge of his car would play a part in his identification as a suspect.
Through a public records request, CNN received the footage from WSU.
In the WSU officer’s body camera footage dated October 14, 2022, the officer informs Kohberger, who is sitting in his car, that she pulled him over because he ran a red light after incorrectly stopping at an intersection.
According to the video, Kohberger discusses the specifics of his turn through the junction with the officer and reveals his license and registration. The officer advises him on the best course of action to take in the future.
According to the video, Kohberger tells the officer that the region of Pennsylvania he’s from, which he subsequently identifies as rural, doesn’t have crosswalks and that he’s not accustomed to worrying about obstructing them.
According to the video, the officer goes to her patrol car to verify information on Kohberger and his vehicle, then returns and delivers details about the law.
She informs him that she will not write a ticket for the incident, and he apologizes for misinterpreting his discussion of distinctions between Washington and Pennsylvania law as disagreement.
“I apologize if I was asking you too many legal questions.” “I wasn’t trying to disagree with you,” Kohberger clarifies. They split ways after the officer said she understood his queries.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed in a residence near the University of Idaho’s main campus in Moscow in November. Kohberger, 28, is charged with first-degree murder.
The discovery of the grisly murder scene on November 13 rocked the Idaho college town and stressed the emotions of students and neighbors while a suspect was sought.
Kohberger has yet to enter a plea and is being detained in the Latah County Jail in Idaho without bond. A court order forbids any parties from making any comments other than referring to the case’s public documents.
What role did the car play in the search for a suspect?
Kohberger was a graduate student at Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and resided in Pullman, Washington when he was arrested in December at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania.
Pullman, WSU’s hometown, is just about 10 miles west of the University of Idaho.
According to a probable cause affidavit published in January, detectives focused on a white Hyundai Elantra observed on a surveillance film near the murder site after the Idaho homicides were found.
The affidavit said that by November 25, local law enforcement had been warned to be on the lookout for such an Elantra. Days later, WSU police discovered a white Elantra that was registered to Kohberger, according to the affidavit.
When police checked for his driver’s license information, they discovered it was compatible with a description of a guy clothed in black supplied by a surviving roommate of the victims, notably noting his height, weight, and bushy eyebrows, according to the affidavit.
According to the affidavit, investigators subsequently connected Kohberger to the murder scene when DNA on a brown leather knife sheath discovered laying near one of the victims was matched to DNA on garbage retrieved from Kohberger’s family home.
Kohberger is facing four charges of first-degree murder. He might face the death sentence if proven guilty.
