BOISE, ID – Suspected killer Bryan Kohberger was not on the radar of police in Moscow, Idaho when he was twice stopped for traffic violations on a freeway in Indiana.
Kohberger was traveling by car from Moscow to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania. He was pulled over once for speeding and once for tailgating.
That had many speculating if police suspected Kohberger at the time and had him pulled over to keep an eye on him.
A newly released transcript of a court hearing in preparation for his trial indicates that Moscow Police, at least, did not suspect Kohberger.
In the hearing, a Moscow Police detective revealed that the first time he heard Kohberger’s name was on December 19, 2022. That was just over a month after the murders and four days after the traffic stops in Indiana.
In the court hearing, which was closed to media and the public, Detective Cpl Brett Payne said he first heard Kohberger’s name when the FBI called regarding the investigative genetic genealogy that was being conducted.
Investigators were trying to determine who left DNA on a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
Det Payne said all the FBI conveyed to Moscow Police at that time was Kohberger’s name.
“Once we received his name, we set about basically an independent verification of whether or not he was involved in this crime,” Payne told the court.
In a meeting the next day, Payne said investigators met with the FBI over Teams and further discussed a family tree and how that played into the Kohberger identification.
“They essentially worked their way through the family tree and arrived at a conclusion that Bryan Kohberger was a person we should look into as a tip,” Payne told the court.
Other DNA at the scene
Payne was also questioned about other evidence found at the crime scene, including a sample they call “Unknown Male B.”
That came from a blood spot on the handrail between the first and second floors of the home.
Payne said that because they already had a possible match on the DNA on the knife sheath, they held off on testing Unknown Male B until “a later time.”
The defense also questioned Payne about “Unknown Male D” which was blood found on some gloves outside the home.
It’s not entirely clear if those samples were submitted to the lab.
The Kohberger investigation
After police learned of the possible Kohberger connection on the knife sheath, they determined Kohberger had been previously pulled over by WSU Police.
That proved to investigators that Kohberger drove a white Hyundai Elantra, which is the vehicle make and model captured on video leaving the neighborhood of the crime scene.
The hearing from which this transcript was made was a defense motion to have crucial evidence thrown out, including the investigative genetic genealogy.
Weeks later, the judge denied those motions and the case is moving forward towards a trial later this summer.
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