Idaho murders: Ex-FBI agent believes Bryan Kohberger was 'obviously surveilling' victims before Nov 13
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MOSCOW, IDAHO: A former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) official has claimed that University of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger was "obviously surveilling" the victims before the crime was committed. Kohberger, 28, a criminology student was arrested on December 30, 2022, in connection with the murder of four students — Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 — on November 13, 2022. He has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary.
Speaking to New York Post, Pete Yachmetz, a former FBI agent who spent 30 years as an investigator before starting his own security firm, said that the murders look “pretty premeditated” and Koberger was "obviously surveilling [the victims].” Yachmetz's observation comes from analyzing data from Kohberger’s mobile records that reportedly suggest that he visited the area of crime “on at least 12 occasions prior to November 13, 2022.”
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In their January 12 report, New York Post quoted Yachmetz as saying that Kohberger "is not the great mastermind he may have thought he was.” Yachmetz believes that the Idaho suspect created a very amateur mistake of leaving the murder weapon's sheath behind. The former FBI agent believes that this could have happened for two possible reasons: either he was alarmed by the victims' screams or he had to use the weapon before the time he had planned to use it.
However, Yachmetz told New York Post that Kohberger had thought the crime through before committing it. “[Kohberger was] most likely thinking [the crime] through, visualizing the best entry method, and fastest method of escape,” Yachmetz was quoted by New York Post as saying. As a former FBI agent, Yachmetz is of the view that Kohberger "would be termed by profilers as a very organized offender who scripted and planned every aspect of the murders.” However, explaining on why the suspect left ample evidence, Yachmetz theorized that a major reason might've been Kohberger may have been in a state of arousal of some type during the murder and panicked. “As a result, his attention to detail might have decreased, causing him to make mistakes,” Yachmetz was quoted by New York Post.