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The latest on the Idaho student murders

What we covered here

  • Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November, made his initial appearance in court on Thursday.
  • Court documents have revealed that a roommate of the slain students encountered a man dressed in black clothing in their house the morning of the murders.
  • The documents also showed officials matched DNA from trash recovered at the Kohberger family home in Pennsylvania to a tan leather knife sheath found on one of the victim’s beds.
  • Kohberger arrived back in Idaho after waiving extradition from his home state of Pennsylvania. He faces four counts of first-degree murder as well as a felony burglary charge, per Latah County, Idaho, prosecutors.
Our live coverage for the day has ended. Follow the latest news here or read through the updates below. 
5:03 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

What we've learned from court documents in the Idaho student murders case

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, center, stands and speaks during a hearing for Bryan Kohberger, on Thursday, January 5, in Moscow, Idaho. (Ted S. Warren/Pool/Getty Images)

Court documents – including a probable cause order – in the state case against Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students, were publicly released on Thursday.
Here's what they've revealed so far:
  • One of the surviving roommates of the four students told investigators she heard crying in the house the morning of the murders, according to the probable cause affidavit. The student — identified by law enforcement as "D.M." — also said she heard a voice say, "It’s OK, I’m going to help you," and then saw a “figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her,” according to the affidavit.
  • Trash recovered from the Kohberger family residence by Pennsylvania law enforcement and sent to the Idaho State Lab for DNA testing was used to help investigators narrow down Kohberger as the suspect, according to court documents. On Dec. 28, the Idaho lab "reported that a DNA profile obtained from the trash” matched a tan leather knife sheath found “laying on the bed” of one of the victims.
  • Phone records indicate Kohberger’s phone was near the victims’ residence at least 12 times between June 2022 to the present day. Phone records also indicate his phone was near the murder scene hours after the students were killed, according to court documents.
  • Kohberger applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in Washington in the fall of 2022, according to court documents, citing police records.
  • Kohberger received a new license plate for his white Hyundai Elantra five days after the mid-November murders, Washington state licensing records and court documents revealed.
4:32 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Kohberger applied for a police internship in the fall of 2022, according to court documents

University of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in Washington in the fall of 2022, court documents citing police records reveal.

“Pursuant to records provided by a member of the interview panel for Pullman Police Department, we learned that Kohberger's past education included undergraduate degrees in psychology and cloud-based forensics,” according to an affidavit made publicly available Thursday.

“These records also showed Kohberger wrote an essay when he applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in the fall of 2022. Kohberger wrote in his essay he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations.”

3:28 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Suspect's phone traced to area near crime scene hours after murders

Phone records indicate Idaho student killings suspect Bryan Kohberger’s phone was near the quadruple murder scene between 9:12 a.m. and 9:21 a.m. local time – hours after the students were slain, court documents released Thursday reveal.

Law enforcement review of the records indicate his phone left his residence in Pullman, Washington, “at approximately 9:00 a.m. and traveling to Moscow, ID,” according to an affidavit.

Kohberger’s phone “utilized cellular resources that would provide coverage to the King Road Residence between 9:12 am. and 9:21 am.

Cell phone records show the same phone “traveling back to the area of the Kohberger Residence and arriving to the area at approximately 9:32 a.m.”

2:18 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Suspect in Idaho student killings has initial appearance in court

Kohberger, left, and his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, during a hearing in Latah County District Court, Thursday, January 5, in Moscow, Idaho. (Ted S. Warren/Pool/AP)

University of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger smiled at his public defender when walked into the courtroom for his initial appearance Thursday morning. He did not appear to make eye contact with anyone else throughout the entire proceeding, including family members of victims who were crying in the first row. 

Steve Goncalves — the father of Kaylee Gonclaves, one of the four slain students — was with his wife and other relatives in the front row, according to a CNN team in the courtroom, adding that family members were seen staring at Kohberger throughout the hearing.

A no-contact order for the murder victims’ family members and the surviving roommates for two years was requested by the prosecutor and upheld by the judge. 

After Kohberger’s court-appointed attorney Anne Chere Taylor requested a review of bail and prosecutor Bill Thompson argued that no bail should be upheld, the magistrate judge presiding over the case upheld no bail for the alleged murderer.

1:24 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Suspect in Idaho student murders case has preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 12

The suspect in the murders of four Idaho university students, Bryan Kohberger, has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 12 at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET). 

In felony cases, if a defendant requests a preliminary hearing, one is set within the time limits prescribed by law, according to the Idaho Court System.

In Kohberger’s case, one is expected within 14 days, according to the judge who presided over his initial appearance Thursday.

1:48 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Suspect's phone was used at least a dozen times near Idaho students' residence since June

Bryan Kohberger is escorted into a courtroom for a hearing in Latah County District Court on January 5 in Moscow, Idaho. (Ted S. Warren/Pool/AP)

Phone records indicate Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger’s phone was near the victims’ residence at least 12 times between June 2022 to the present day, court documents reveal.

“All of these occasions, except for one, occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days,” according to an affidavit.

12:53 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Surviving Idaho roommate says she saw a man dressed in black clothing and a mask inside her home

Police tape surrounds a home that was the site of a quadruple murder on January 3 in Moscow, Idaho. (David Ryder/Getty Images)

One of the surviving roommates of the four slain University of Idaho students told investigators she heard crying in the house the morning of the murders, according to a probable cause affidavit released Thursday.

The student — identified by law enforcement as "D.M." — also said she heard a voice say, "It’s OK, I’m going to help you," and then saw a “figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her,” according to the affidavit.

The document added that D.M. described the figure as a man standing about 5 feet, 10 inches tall, who was "not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows."

The man walked past D.M. as she stood in a "frozen shock phase,” law enforcement officials wrote.

“The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. D.M. locked herself in her room after seeing the male,” according to the document, adding the roommate did not recognize the man. 

The affidavit said that the statements by the surviving witness and other evidence led investigators to believe the homicides occurred between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. local time (7 a.m. and 7:25 a.m. ET).

A Washington State University officer located a 2015 white Hyundai Elantra registered to suspect Bryan Kohberger in an apartment complex parking lot, and officials were able to zero in on him because his driver's license information and photograph were consistent with the roommate’s description.

12:20 p.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Trash from Kohberger family residence in Pennsylvania helped Idaho with DNA testing

Trash recovered from the Kohberger family residence by Pennsylvania law enforcement and sent to the Idaho State Lab for DNA testing was used to help investigators narrow down Bryan Kohberger as the suspect in the Idaho student murders, according to court documents released Thursday.

“On December 27, 2022, Pennsylvania Agents recovered the trash from the Kohberger family residence located in Albrightsville, PA. That evidence was sent to the Idaho State Lab for testing,” the document says.

The next day “the Idaho State Lab reported that a DNA profile obtained from the trash” matched a tan leather knife sheath found “laying on the bed” of one of the victims.

“On December 28, 2022, the Idaho State Lab reported that a DNA profile obtained from the trash and the DNA profile obtained from the sheath, identified a male as not being excluded as the biological father of Suspect Profile,” the document says.

“At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect's biological father.”

11:52 a.m. ET, January 5, 2023

Court documents publicly released in University of Idaho murders case

Court documents – including the probable cause order – in the state case against Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students, have been publicly released.

CNN is going through them now.

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