Idaho murders: Victims' cab driver claims to have spotted Bryan Kohberger's car and tipped off police
This article is based on sources and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently.
MOSCOW, IDAHO: The private cab driver who dropped Idaho victims Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen at their group home near the University of Idaho campus just hours before they were stabbed to death, says he actually saw the white Hyundai Elantra police were looking for last month. He told Law & Crime that he was "exceptionally glad" an arrest has been made.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested and taken into custody early morning on Friday, December 30, in connection to the murder of four University of Idaho students. Moscow Police revealed that his DNA connected him to the scene of the crime. "I was surprised but exceptionally glad that some form of resolution is forming," the private driver said. "I feel exceptionally bad for those parents and our community."
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When the driver discovered that Kohberger lived close by in Pullman, Washington, he was a little shocked. "He lived 1,200 feet from my front door. I spent six weeks trying to convince my wife there was not a threat and I was wrong," the driver said. The driver transports passengers about town for a large portion of his days, so following the killings, he kept a look out for the white Hyundai Elantra.
Sometime after December 7, he eventually found it at Kohberger's apartment building. "I thought it was too new," he said of the car, since a 2011–2013 Elantra was the subject of a public information request from Moscow Police. Although he noted the Hyundai Elantra's Washington state license plate number, he had also sent a list of 13 or 14 Hyundai Elantras he had seen to the Moscow PD tip line.
According to the arrest affidavit, Kohberger was seen driving a white 2015 Hyundai Elantra on November 29 by a WSU police officer, and that same day, a different WSU officer noticed the car at Kohberger's apartment complex. The affidavit demonstrates that Kohberger was already on the radar of the police before the ride-share driver turned over his list to them.
"They were all nice girls. They were always polite with me. They were happy, friendly girls. In my opinion, there was nothing bad about them," he said about Goncalves and Mogen. "They were all good employees at Mad Greek," he added, referring to a downtown Moscow restaurant. "I suspected from everything that I read that whatever happened in that house was exceptionally violent, far beyond what a scorned lover would do in regard to the sheer violence," the driver said. "I’m hoping they have an iron-clad case. I desperately, desperately hope they have this locked down. If they let this guy walk, it’s a shame," he added.