The day before his arrest, accused killer Bryan Kohberger was reportedly scrubbing every inch of his white Hyundai Elantra—inside and out—as if trying to erase any trace of the November murders that shook the University of Idaho campus.
According to a law enforcement source who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity, the 28-year-old PhD student didn’t miss a single spot while cleaning his car during the four days he was under surveillance at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. The source also noted that Kohberger was seen wearing surgical gloves multiple times before his Dec. 30 arrest.
In the early morning hours of Dec. 27, investigators observed Kohberger leaving his parents’ house around 4 a. m.
and placing bags into a neighbor’s garbage bins. Later that day, agents recovered items from both the Kohberger family’s bins and the neighbor’s bins, sending them to the Idaho Crime Lab for analysis.
The next day, DNA testing reportedly linked the garbage to the knife sheath found at the crime scene, leading authorities to request an arrest warrant. A Pennsylvania State Police SWAT team executed a “dynamic entry” on Dec. 30, breaking down doors and windows to take Kohberger into custody.
Kohberger now faces first-degree murder and burglary charges in the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20—all stabbed to death on Nov. 13 in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. He made his initial court appearance in Idaho on Thursday after being extradited from Pennsylvania.
A 19-page probable cause affidavit has since been released, offering a glimpse into the seven-week investigation that some feared was going cold. What exactly did authorities find in those garbage bags, and how much more evidence is still being uncovered?
