Pennsylvania authorities are probing Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger’s potential involvement in other killings, according to a vague new report.
Investigators are sifting through unsolved crime files in search of any potential links to Mr Kohberger, NewsNation reported Wednesday, citing unspecified law enforcement sources. Mr Kohberger was arrested on 30 December at his family home in the Keystone State for allegedly murdering University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin weeks earlier.
The former PhD criminology student at Washington State University, who is currently jailed in Idaho, is set to appear in court on 26 June for a preliminary hearing. He has not entered a plea but said through a public defender before his extradition that he “was eager to be exonerated.”
Meanwhile, authorities back in Pennsylvania have reportedly been ramping up efforts to link him to cases there.
“Tonight I can report to you exclusively that authorities in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, are investigating potential involvement in other outstanding homicides,” Chris Cuomo said during his NewsNation segment Wednesday night.
It is unclear which law enforcement agencies may be involved. NewsNation also did not expand on any details about potential cases linked to Mr Kohberger or the source of their report.
Prosecutors in Northampton County and Lehigh County, where Mr Kohberger lived before he moved to the Northwest, previously announced in February that they were looking for links between unsolved cases and Mr Kohberger after his arrest.
Mr Kohberger, originally from Pennsylvania, was a student at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem before he went on to spend four years studying criminology at DeSales University in Lehigh County.
At the time of the February announcement, authorities in the two counties said no developments had emerged.
“Your natural question is to start wondering, ‘Is this guy wanted?’” Northampton County District Attorney Terence Houck told King5. “Is his name out there? Did he do anything here in [my] county?”
Mr Houck said his department had used Mr Kohberger’s height, weight and the alleged Idaho killer’s method of operation to compare with old cases - to no avail so far.
In March, authorities investigating the 12 November quadruple murders disclosed the existence of a Giglio/Brady list related to one of the officers involved in the case.
Under Brady law, investigators are responsible for disclosing exculpatory information to defence counsel. Meanwhile, Giglio material conveys information that could potentially indicate that a witness is not credible, according to the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement.
The scope of the list and the role of the officer in the murder investigation were not immediately clear. The evidence mentioned in the recent filing was submitted in camera to the court on 24 March, but its content remains sealed at the request of prosecutors.
According to AirMail journalist Howard Blum, who is writing a book about the Moscow killings, investigators in Idaho initially couldn’t link Mr Kohberger’s DNA to the traces found in a knife sheath at the scene.
Mr Blum told NewsNation that the knife sheath was then sent to a “very respectable” lab in Texas that specialises in DNA kinship. It is unclear how Mr Blum gained knowledge of that investigative decision.
“[It] specializes in proprietary devices that made what is called kinship DNA,” Mr Blum said last week. “You could figure out a relative of the DNA that you already had, and this lab was set up to investigate unsolved murders.”
Two warrants made public last month and obtained by The Independent show that investigators collected a Glock .40 calibre gun, empty gun magazines, a knife, a pocket knife, black face masks, black gloves, electronic devices, and more clothing items from the home of Mr Kohberger’s parents in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.
Mr Kohberger’s family home was raided on the same day as another search at his apartment in Pullman, Washington, which was a 15-minute drive from the crime scene in Moscow.
The warrant from the Washington search was made public in January, revealing investigators seized a “collection of dark red” spotting and a pillow with a “reddish/brown stain” at Mr Kohberger’s Pullman apartment. A Fire TV stick and possible animal hair strands were also taken by law enforcement.
