Idaho murders: Ex-CIA agent says DNA sample puts Bryan Kohberger at crime scene but does not prove guilt
This article is based on sources and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently.
MOSCOW, IDAHO: The DNA evidence that led investigators to arrest Bryan Kohberger in the murders of four University of Idaho students does not necessarily establish that he was present at the crime scene when the killings took place, claimed a former federal agent. The 28-year-old PhD student was arrested and charged with the brutal murders of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, on November 13, 2022, in their off-campus rental home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger, who is currently at the Latah County Jail, was arrested in Pennsylvania, where he made his first court appearance on January 5, 2023. Before his court appearance, the authorities released a shocking probable cause affidavit that detailed the pieces of evidence which led investigators to arrest him. In the affidavit, the police revealed that the DNA found on a knife sheath recovered from the crime scene linked Kohberger to the murders.
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On December 27, 2022, investigators "stole" trash from the Kohberger family's residence in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, and acquired a sample of his DNA. The samples they collected from his parental home matched the sample discovered at the crime scene, Daily Mail reported. "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," read the subsequent DNA report, according to Newsweek. Citing the report, the affidavit added that “at least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect's biological father."
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Reflecting on the details stated in the affidavit, Tracy Walder, a former CIA officer, stated that the DNA evidence did put Kohberger at the crime scene but it does not mention a specific time for his presence. "The DNA is nice to have—it puts him at the scene of the crime—but it doesn't put him at the scene of the crime potentially on that day and around that time," she told News Nation, while adding that this is a "hole" that can be "poked" in the prosecution's case.
Walder continued by saying that individual pieces of evidence "don't exist in a vacuum," and the prosecuting team will "take all of it" when presenting their case. "It's the totality of the facts,” the former FBI special agent noted, referencing the DNA evidence, cell phone data, and description provided by a surviving housemate that was stated in the affidavit.
Before Walder, a former federal prosecutor explained that the evidence cited in the affidavit "does not place Kohberger in that house on the night of the murders". The prosecutor, Duncan Levin, said, "What the evidence seems to show so far is that someone driving his model of car was near the scene, but no camera captured Kohberger driving the car", according to Newsweek.