We may not have the answers we all want about the University of Idaho murders… but it feels like we’re gaining new insights every day.
Since Bryan Kohberger confessed and pleaded guilty, prosecutors and police have made public all their secrets they were saving for the trial. One of the latest? Descriptions of Kohberger’s phone data.
Up until now we’ve been looking for clues from before the killings, like motive, evidence he really was stalking Kaylee Goncalves or the other victims. But one of the biggest giveaways, according to forensics expert Jared Barnhart, is what he searched on the internet after the crimes.
Related: The Gruesome Theory Behind Why Kohberger Disfigured Kaylee
Barnhart, who reviewed the data alongside his wife, Heather, told FoxNewsDigital that Kohberger was following his own murder investigation closely. And he really freaked out when he saw an article about how the police were interested in a white Hyundai Elantra:
“I think the vehicle was a huge stress point for him, because he had registered it to park there. He had a PDF download of like a list of Hyundai Elantras for the university, you know, and you can see this long list of cars.”
Because he knew it was his car. He’d thought he might get away with it, reportedly telling a colleague at school he thought the murderer had been smart about it. But now he knew he’d messed up — and they were somehow onto him. Barnhart added:
“If you weren’t the bad guy, you wouldn’t care, but he was scrambling, and he thought the police were on him. And they were. They were at that point.”
On the night of December 29, 2022, Kohberger read an article about the cops looking for a car like his. He visited the Moscow Police Department website and checked the latest press release on the murders. After realizing what they had, he “immediately” searched for an auto body shop, Barnhart revealed.
OMG, did he think he was going to get his Elantra painted a different color, and the heat was suddenly going to die down? Like he was playing GTA? This guy was a criminology grad student?? After 1o minutes, he realized that wouldn’t work and started shopping online for a new car.
“Literally the pressure of, ‘Oh, look, they’re really talking about my car,’ caused…within 15 minutes of behavior, him trying to clean it and get rid of it. Just not normal.”
If you need further proof Kohberger was losing it, he also searched “wiretap” and “psychopaths paranoid.” Yeah, he was paranoid alright.
He was also too late. WAY too late.
Just hours later, around 1:30 am on December 30, police busted into his family home in Pennsylvania and took him into custody.
We later learned the reason for interest in the car. It was seen in footage circling the block around the murder house, disappearing for the entire duration of the killings, then speeding away. It wasn’t like there was lots of traffic on King Road in Moscow, Idaho at 4 am. So yeah, cops were onto it pretty quick. In fact, detectives believe even without the knife sheath and DNA testing, they would have gotten Kohberger with the car alone.
It’s kind of reassuring realizing that Kohberger — who was so cold and unmoved in that sentencing hearing — was so shaken and scared in those moments before he was caught. Even if he didn’t show anyone. Don’t you think?
[Image via 6abc/YouTube/Kaylee Goncalves/Xana Kernodle/Instagram.]
