MOSCOW, Idaho – The alleged University of Idaho murder suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was unknown to the victims, according to a lawyer for one of their families.
The 28-year-old criminology graduate student is accused of breaking into the home of a group of sleeping University of Idaho students on November 13 and stabbing four of them, according to police in Moscow, Idaho.
The ambush claimed the lives of Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, 21-year-old best friends, their roommate Xana Kernodle, 20, and boyfriend Ethan Chapin, also 20, who was staying the night.
Shanon Gray, Goncalves’ parents’ attorney, said “nobody” knew anything about Kohberger before the murders.
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Bryan Kohberger arrives at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania for his extradition hearing.
(The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
“Any information the families gather about links to any of the victims will be forwarded to the Moscow Police Department,” he told Fox News Digital.
Police documents show that Kohberger, a student at neighboring Washington State University, just 7 miles away, searched the victims’ homes at least 12 times before the killings. Then, just hours after the attack, police say they traced Kohberger’s phone to the scene of the crime.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the other two women’s roommates, shared in Kaylee Goncalves’ recent Instagram post the day before the murders.
(@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne wrote in a probable cause affidavit filed Dec. 29 that he obtained a search warrant on Kohberger’s phone records to determine if he was “stalking any of the victims,” contacting her associates, or the home on King spied on Road.
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Police vehicles at the scene of the quadruple homicide in Idaho.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“Records for the 8458 phone (Kohberger’s phone) show that prior to November 13, 2022, the 8458 phone utilized cellular resources covering the 1122 King Road area on at least twelve occasions,” he wrote. “All but one of these events occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days.”
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The Goncalves family, led by attorney Shanon Gray, exits the Latah County courthouse Jan. 5, 2023 after Bryan Kohberger made his first appearance before an Idaho judge.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and another count of burglary for allegedly entering the home with intent to kill.
Some experts have speculated that the burglary report could be an indication that Kohberger did not know the victims – but they note that a burglary report can still be filed if the intruder is not a stranger.
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“The burglary charge allows prosecutors to present evidence of unlawful entry into the home,” Neama Rahmani, a Los Angeles-based attorney and former federal prosecutor, told Fox News Digital. “There is no conclusive evidence of motive, or at least not yet, so the state wants to show that Kohberger was not there lawfully and there is no reason his DNA is there.”
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Gray didn’t immediately respond to additional questions from Fox News Digital, but in a previous interview with Business Insider, he said the victims didn’t say they were being watched.
Fox News’ Lawrence Richard contributed to this report.
