MOSCOW, Idaho – A new batch up investigation documents just released in the University of Idaho murder case reveals for the first time the actual knife sheath that linked Bryan Kohberger to the crime.
Idaho State Police released thousands of new pages of public records Friday, mostly related to DNA and fingerprint evidence found at the King Road home in 2022.
That’s where Bryan Kohberger killed Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
Since Kohberger’s guilty plea, the investigating agencies have released public records in waves.
The latest batch shows the ka-bar knife sheath found in the bed where Mogen and Goncalves were murdered.
The new documents show investigators hoped to lift fingerprints from the sheath, but none were found.
Investigators ultimately used genetic genealogy to link Kohberger to the crime scene, confirming that link with samples Kohberger gave after his arrest.
The new documents show how many pieces of potential evidence investigators sent to the Idaho State Crime Lab, including blood stained items, fingerprints and even nail clippings from the victims, taken during their autopsies.
The evidence inventory shows investigators also sent in cigarette butts from outside of the crime scene, hoping they would provide a clue that would lead them to the killer.
Also in the inventory: items the FBI took from the Kohbergers’ trash in Pennsylvania.
That included used napkins, flossers, a straw, lollipop sticks, water bottles, q-tips and more that eventually were part of the DNA connection to the crime scene in Moscow.
The lab report shows the DNA collected from some of the trash was likely the male parent of the person whose DNA was on the knife sheath left at the crime scene.
The evidence log also details shows items taken out of Kohberger’s car, as investigators looked for even more connections to the murders.
That included seats, floor mats, the gear shift and even the turn signal assembly from the white Hyundai Elantra.
Lab reports on the DNA mapping and matching are also included in the new release, but those reports are heavily redacted.
Idaho State Police also released the search warrants used to access the crime scene.
The first responding officer confused Kaylee and Xana, initially saying Kaylee was found on the floor in the same room as Ethan and that Xana was in bed with Maddie.
He described one young woman, later revealed to be Kaylee, as having “apparent traumatic injury to her face due to the basic facial structure being unrecognizable.”
Investigating agencies and two courts will continue to release public records and documents related to the case, though a court order prevents any pictures of the crime scenes that show the victims from being released.
Kohberger is serving life without parole at the Idaho State Maximum Security Institute near Boise.
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