The owner of a restaurant where two of the four University of Idaho victims worked has denied a report that suspect Bryan Kohberger ate at the business.
Jackie Fischer, owner of the Mad Greek — where slain students Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle were servers — spoke out in a strongly-worded Facebook post on Friday after an anonymous former staff member claimed to People that Mr Kohberger had visited the eatery in the weeks before the killings.
Mogen, Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin were all killed in a violent stabbing attack on 13 November in Moscow. Mr Kohberger, a Washington State University PhD criminology student who lived 15 minutes from the victims’ home, has been charged with the murders.
According to the People report, Mr Kohberger visited the restaurant in Moscow twice in the weeks leading up to the murders and ordered vegan pizza. It also alleged that an investigator with insight into the case reportedly told the magazine that authorities knew about the visits to the restaurant, had seized footage and that both staff and owners had been interviewed by law enforcement.
But within hours of the article being published, Ms Fischer slammed the claims and said they were unequivocally false.
“The news/media should really do their due diligence before running a story with completely fabricated information. This person who wants their 5 minutes of fame has now caused a whole bunch of extra work for myself and the investigators,” Ms Fischer wrote in a Facebook post.
The local business owner said that while she hadn’t forbidden her employees from speaking to the media, staff have collectively decided to “not share anything that could potentially harm the investigation or cause the families more stress.”
Ms Fischer also spoke of the challenges of navigating grief amid the intense media interest in the case, warning the public to only trust information coming from law enforcement channels.
“Please allow us to grieve the loss of our friends and co-workers. This has been incredibly hard on us. With our phones ringing off the hook, reporters banging on my door at my private residence and “hunting” down employees as well as showing up constantly at the restaurant, we have not been afforded the time to grieve,” Ms Fishcer pleaded to reporters.
Prior to the article on Mr Kohberger’s now debunked visits to the restaurant, People reported that a since-deleted Instagram account seemingly operated by Mr Kohberger followed and had messaged all three female victims — Mogen, Kernodle and Goncalves.
That information also did not come through official channels, but reportedly from “investigators familiar with the case.”
A gag order in the case was issued on 4 January by the Latah County Chief Magistrate, banning investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and members of both the prosecution and the defence from sharing any new information about the investigation or the suspect before a verdict is reached at trial.
As a result, Moscow Police Department, which had been sharing updates on the investigation, said in a statement that it will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding the case.
The order was extended on Thursday (19 January) and will remain in place throughout court proceedings until a verdict has been reached or unless the mandate is modified by the court.
Twenty regional and national news organizations have since formed a coalition to ask a judge to narrow the gag order, the Associated Press reported.
The outlets contend that press access to law enforcement officers and other officials involved in high-stakes criminal cases provides the public with important context and a better understanding of how the criminal justice system operates.
Mr Kohberger was detained on 30 December at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, voluntarily agreeing to go to Idaho where he was facing several charges – four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary. He was then taken to Idaho.
Before his arrest, Mr Kohberger was a graduate student and teaching assistant at WSU.
The probable cause affidavit states that one of the roommates living in the rented home who survived the ordeal said she spotted the murderer. She said that “a figure clad in black clothing and a mask” walked past her as the individual left the home.
The affidavit states that Mr Kohberger was connected to the crime scene through DNA testing and the location data of his mobile phone.
A search warrant application on Wednesday also revealed that investigators seized a “reddish/brownish stained pillow,” bedding, a glove, a computer tower and other items that are now being examined and tested from his apartment in Washington state.
A motive in the quadruple murder case hasn’t been revealed and Mr Kohberger hasn’t entered a plea. He’s set to appear in court next on 26 June.
