'Trophy from crime scene': Internet wonders if Bryan Kohberger took photos of blood-splattered Idaho home
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MOSCOW, IDAHO: After the arrest of Bryan Kohberger, 28, in connection with the murder of the four University of Idaho students, the internet has been blowing up with speculations and theories. In a recent discussion, internet users wondered "if Kohberger took photos of the scene before leaving," as several of them alleged that he would have kept something as "a trophy from the scene."
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 were stabbed to death on November 13, 2022, while they were asleep in their rental home on King Road. Kohberger, a PhD student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the Washington State University, was arrested on December 30, 2022, and charged on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary.
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A Reddit user asked, “Do you guys think Bryan took photos of the scene before leaving?" Very soon, other users reacted as well, with one stating, "100%. I believe he took photos."
One of the users wrote, "If he was indeed stalking, I can see him having photos, screenshots, captured prior to the murders. With his speculated profile I could see him keeping his murder weapon, a trophy from the scene like an article of clothing, etc. Its the general consensus here on Reddit that he's obviously not as smart as he wants everyone to believe; but I don't see him being stupid enough to preserve his crime in photos on a device that includes metadata tags and then keep those photos in his possession."
"For decades, serial killers have taken "mementos" or "trophies" from their crime scenes. The most popular was always ID cards. Taking photos was not so common, probably because it wasn't easy to do when you had to bring a camera to the scene and needed to get the film developed. In this age of digital phones, I can't imagine why a serial killer WOULDN'T bring a burner phone with him to memorialize what he regards as his "achievement". And the phone data encryption is hard to crack nowadays....", another user added.
The user continued, "I have speculated before that the killer in this case could possibly have taken photos so that he could look at them later and relive the crime (possibly even use them for masturbation purposes). However, if we look at it from another angle, it's hard to imagine the killer stopping midway during his stabbing frenzy to snap a few selfies with the victims. I think the adrenaline would be at a huge high, so the heightened experience of stabbing two people to death might drive him on to kill two more instead of taking pictures."
Another user speculated, "I would think he took photos of his intended targets as well." Another user believes that Kohberger hid the device along with the murder weapon, "I'm betting yes, different device and stored wherever he hid the weapon. After all it's looking like he seemingly did this for his own personal project, not because he snapped.", wrote the user.
Another user said, "I thought about this... But most of us rely on our phones to be our cameras these days.. and it would be insane if he took his phone with him to do this.. (even if he put it in airplane mode its still risky). So the other method would be bringing a digital camera.. its not out side the realm of possibility but its just one more thing to do and one more risk to take (if he's so preoccupied taking a photo maybe he has to take a glove off to push the button, or maybe he forgets to wipe down a surface or anything) I think if this wasn't his first, he'd probably be more likely to do it, but i get a sense that he did not do this. Also it would be a pretty shut case if they found that evidence on his computer/phone.. Pretty much no way to refute that beyond 'oh the killer sent them to me' yeah-right.."
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.