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Crime House has the perfect new show for spooky season Twisted Tales. Hosted by Heidi Wong, each episode of Twisted Tales is perfect for late night scares and daytime frights, revealing the disturbing real life events that inspired the world's most terrifying blockbusters and the ones too twisted to make it to screen. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios. Listen wherever you get your podcasts New episodes out every Monday.
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This is Crime House.
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It was a crime that shocked a small college town and the murderer who took the lives of four University of Idaho students was still on the loose. In part two we saw the investigation take shape. A knife sheath, a shoe print and a city in total panic. But tonight, in part three of our five part series on the Idaho student murders, the story moves beyond Moscow. The Internet lights up with speculation. A mysterious online figure begins posting oddly specific questions about the case. And as detectives follow a new trail of evidence, one name begins to stand out. Brian Kohberger. Let's get into it. Moscow police are working around the clock to solve the murders of four University of Idaho students who were killed last month.
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Police are now searching for a white Hyundai Elantra just like this one on your screen. Moscow PD says it was in the immediate area of that home where the four University of Idaho students were murdered early in the morning on November 13th.
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Hi, I'm Katie Ring, a true crime crime analyst, self defense instructor and fierce advocate for victims. And this is Crime House Daily, your essential true crime companion. Every weekday morning and night here at Crime House Daily, we dig into the true crime stories making headlines right now, where justice is unfolding, arrests are happening, and new evidence is emerging. Every morning, First Watch gets you up to speed on today's biggest cases. Every night, Night Watch takes you deeper. If you want to follow a case from the first 911 call to the final verdict, this is the place for you. Follow Crime House Daily wherever you get your podcasts, leave a review and for ad free listening, subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. For video, check out our YouTube channel Rimehouse Daily. This episode discusses active criminal cases and breaking news. The information we share is based on what's publicly available at the time of recording and may change as new evidence comes to light. We aim to inform, not to decide guilt or innocence, so everyone mentioned is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. I cover some horrendous true crime stories every day, but there is something about the paranormal that terrifies me and Shelby Oaks grabbed me from the first scene and did not Let Go. It's about a woman desperately searching for her sister, and the deeper she goes, the more she starts to realize that the demon they thought was imaginary as kids might not be imaginary after all. No spoilers, but let's just say I was glued to the screen. Critics are raving about it, calling it deeply wicked and downright evil. Truly terrifying. And the Blair Witch Project meets Hereditary. And honestly, they're not exaggerating. What makes it even cooler is that it's written and directed by Chris Stuckman, a YouTuber turned filmmaker, and it's executive produced by Mike Flanagan, the mastermind behind some of the best horror in recent years. Shelby Oaks is one of the most unnerving films I've seen this year, and it's meant to be experienced in theaters, so don't miss it. Shelby oaks hits theaters October 24th. Welcome back to our five part series on the Idaho student murders, the horrific crimes where Bryan Kohberger and killed four friends at the University of Idaho in the city of Moscow. In last night's episode, we detailed the early days of the investigation, including initial clues found at the scene and the police's struggle to keep the public feeling safe without revealing too much about the hunt for their killer. With so much mystery and speculation surrounding the events from the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, friends and family members of Zanna Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Gonzalez and Madison Mogan are not only dealing with painful online attention over the crimes, they're also scared that the killer will come for one of them next. Many of the victims friends pack their bags and leave Moscow, Idaho and start taking classes remotely because they don't feel safe being in the city where the nightmare is still unfolding. Some of them don't even feel safe attending a vigil organized by the university's leaders. Moscow is beginning to look like a ghost of its former self. It's no longer filled with lively college kids. Instead, it's being flooded with outsiders, including social media sleuths who are exploiting the tragedy for clout, legitimate reporters who simply want answers and everything in between. The story is making national headlines and it strikes a chord with people in a heavy way. Every corner of the Internet seems to be flooded with talk about the case. That includes a Facebook group called University of Idaho Murders Case Discussion. As of this recording, the group has over 220,000 members. Most people share their emotional reactions to the tragedy as well as theories about who killed these four innocent college students. But there's one member who takes their questions and Speculation too far. The user's real identity is unknown, but their username is Papa Roger and their profile picture is an artistic rendition of the side of a man's face. The man has a slim, defined jawline, prominent nose, and is wearing a hat that looks like a World War II sailor hat. Papa Roger posts things like, did the killer stop at four victims out of exhaustion, convenience, or lack of knowledge? Why was a knife the weapon of choice? How did the killer hold the knife prior to entering the scene? Which hand do you think they used to kill with? How long do we think the killer was in the house? How did the killer leave the scene? Did the killer clean up at all? And in your opinion, did the killer shower at the crime scene afterward? Pretty soon, the group's administrators are getting flooded with notifications from people reporting Papa Roger's posts as inappropriate. Before Papa Roger ever started posting, some members openly wondered if the killer was in the group, mostly because of the sheer volume of members. Now, when the admins see these morbid, bizarre questions, they start to wonder if Papa Roger could be that person. Their suspicions only grow when Papa Roger starts arguing relentlessly with other members of the group. Then one day, Papa Roger posts something especially startling. They write, quote of the evidence released, the murder weapon has been consistent as a large, fixed blade knife. This leads me to believe they found the sheath. End quote. By now, the autopsy results had been made public, so people knew about the stab wounds, but authorities had not released any information about the knife sheath. When the authorities learn about Papa Roger's account, they begin monitoring the group. But they aren't able to gather a ton of information about Papa Roger. Although the account previously said things that would have gotten them kicked out of the group. The page's creator kept him in because she was suspicious. But a new moderator wasn't privy to this and ended up kicking the profile out for breaching the community guidelines. But as investigators continued searching for a suspect, they eventually discover a potential shocking clue about Pauper Roger. For now, though, their focus is elsewhere. Contrary to what some believe, the Moscow PD and Idaho State Police aren't sitting idly by. They've been canvassing the neighborhood around King Road, questioning neighbors about anything they may have seen that night and gathering footage from people's home security cameras. In one video, they see a white sedan with no front license plate circling 1122 King Road on the night of the murders, the car passes by the house three times before showing up a fourth time at 4.04am, which is right around the time Dylan wakes up. Then at 4:20, right after Dylan spots an intruder in the house, the car speeds out of the neighborhood. It's going so fast, the driver nearly loses control of the vehicle, which tells investigators that whoever's behind the wheel might be trying to escape before getting caught. There's speculation that if this is the killer, they were circling the house waiting for the lights inside to be turned off, which would suggest that this wasn't a random attack, but that the killings were premeditated. After investigators find video footage of a white sedan circling the house at 1122 King Road on the night of the Idaho student murders, they suspect that this was a pro premeditated attack. However, before detectives can answer that question, they have to figure out where the car went after it left the house. Unfortunately, there's no footage showing the exact direction the car goes. But luckily, this isn't the investigator's only lead. On November 20, 2022, the Idaho State Crime Lab sent investigators the results of their analysis of the knife sheath. The news couldn't come at a better time. The police were beginning to lose hope that they'd ever catch the killer, largely because of a common belief that if a homicide investigation goes without an arrest in the first 48 hours, there's a significantly lower chance that the crime will be solved by this time. It's been one week since the Idaho student murders, and they still don't have a primary suspect. However, the crime lab helps them change that. Their analysts tell investigators that they found some genetic material on the sheath. They confirm that it belongs to a male, and they're able to obtain a DNA profile. Officers run the profile through codis, which is a law enforcement genetic database, and there are no hits. Basically, this means that the person whose DNA is on the knife sheath has never been convicted of a crime and required to submit their DNA to law enforcement. The investigators are frustrated, but not defeated because they've worked on other cases in the past that involve genetic genealogy, which is essentially tracking someone down by tracing their family's DNA history. Specifically, they've enlisted the help of a private forensics lab in Texas called othram. So on November 22, about 10 days after the murders, an investigator heads down to Texas and hand delivers the DNA profile to Othram. For about a year, Othram has been contracted with the Idaho State Police to help with something known as investigative genetic genealogy, or IgG, which is an advanced DNA technique that uses public ancestry databases to narrow down a list of possible suspects. They do this by finding someone with a close enough DNA match usually in a wider database like ancestry.com and build a family tree from there until they can narrow it down to someone who could be the killer. And while they're working on that, an earlier piece of evidence brings investigators one step closer to that person. Authorities have been analyzing the footage of the white sedan. Although there's no video showing exactly where the car goes after it leaves King Road, investigators use other footage to eliminate routes where it doesn't go, which helps them form a theory. Detectives believe the sedan left the state of Idaho entirely and headed into Pullman, Washington, another college town about 10 miles away from Moscow, right on the Washington, Idaho border. Since the driver crossed state lines, the FBI is brought in. Soon, an agent who specializes in identifying vehicles determines that the car is probably a Hyundai elantra manufactured between 2011 and 2013. MPD contacts the police in Pullman, who pull their own footage of a car matching the description driving around the city shortly after the murders. Around 5:25am, just an hour after the murders, the car was recorded on the Washington State University campus. Next, authorities send out a bolo, which stands for be on the lookout to all law enforcement in the area. On November 29, 2022, 16 days after the murders, two separate Washington State University campus police officers alert MPD of a car seen on campus that closely matches the description. It's a white 2015 Hyundai Elantra with the Pennsylvania license plate LFZ8649. What's interesting about this is that the state of Pennsylvania doesn't require a front license plate the way Washington and Idaho do. So it seems like the car being registered in Pennsylvania is the reason it doesn't have a front plate. But that's not the most important takeaway. Investigators run the plates and learn the name of the driver, Brian Kohberger. Kohberger is a 28 year old white male who's getting his PhD in criminology and at Washington State. Police and Pullman are familiar with him already because earlier that year he'd applied for an internship with them, but they didn't accept him. They thought his personality was awkward and that he'd have a hard time working with police officers. Investigators don't think much of this, but they do notice some other details about Coburger. According to his driver's license, he's 6ft tall and 185 pounds. Not only that, but his license photo shows that he has bushy eyebrows. All of these details fit the description of the home intruder that Dylan Mortensen provided. Here's the thing though. Despite those similarities, authorities initially dismissed this lead mainly because the FBI said the car is a 2011-2013 model. But Coburger's car was made in 2015. Plus when investigators do some initial digging and they don't find any known connections between Kohberger and any of the victims. But there are at least a few investigators who don't think they should drop this lead so easily because soon the FBI expert reviews the footage again. This time they say the Hyundai could have actually been manufactured between 2011 and 2016, which doesn't rule out Coburger's car. So investigators start eyeing Coburger more seriously. And that's when they uncover troubling things about their new potential suspect.
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Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug Limu.
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Is that guy with the binoculars watching us?
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Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@liberty mutual.com Savings very unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company affiliates excludes Massachusetts.
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In December of 2022, investigators link 28 year old Brian Coburger to the Idaho student murders through his white Hyundai. Now that they have reason to think he could have been involved, they begin digging into his past. Brian Coburger grew up in Pennsylvania and didn't have the easiest time growing up. He got picked on a lot, mainly because he was overweight and socially awkward. It wasn't just occasional teasing. Apparently other kids were really cruel to him and as a result, Co burger tended to keep to himself. Between persistent bullying and subsequent isolation, Coburger began to suffer from severe depression. In 2011, 16 year old Coburger posted on an online forum saying that he feels like a quote, organic sack of meat with no self worth. He also says, I am blank. I have no opinion. I have no emotion. I have nothing. Can you relate? And he says he's consumed with thoughts of taking his own life. However, on the same forum, Kohberger says he feels little remorse for his actions and that he can do whatever he wants. His emotions were all over the place. And when Kohberger was a junior in high school, it seemed like he had tried to gain some semblance of control. He began an extreme dieting and workout regimen and he lost over a hundred pounds. But rather than gain control, Kohberger lost it even further. Eventually he developed an eating disorder that became so severe he had to be hospitalized. And that wasn't even the full extent of his health issues. By the time he was a senior in high school, Kohberger developed an addiction to heroin, but he tried to get a handle on his life. Kohberger had always been interested in criminal justice, so while he was in high school, he joined a vocational training program for careers in law enforcement. However, he didn't last long. Kohberger eventually got kicked out of the program after a group of female members made complaints about him. As Coburger got a little older, he also started to get in trouble with the law. He was arrested at some point in 2014, but for stealing his sister's iPhone. The not for anything truly violent, and by 2018, it seemed like he was on a new path. That year, Kohberger enrolled at Desales University in Pennsylvania. At Desales, Kohberger still had a hard time making friends. He was socially awkward and had a tendency to isolate himself. But pretty quickly his classmates noticed how intelligent he was during group projects. He was extremely detail oriented. He was was also quick to help others out with their portion of the work. Kohberger was such a star. At least one classmate admitted to cheating off of one of his tests. But what no one seemed to realize is that Kohberger had a way of hiding his dark tendencies in plain sight. As part of a school project, he surveyed criminals in Reddit about the steps involved in their past offenses. Under his username criminologystudent, Kohberger said he was seeking to, quote, understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime. He invites people to share the story behind their most recent criminal offenses, with an emphasis on their thoughts and feelings throughout the experience. And he tells people that they can participate in the survey even if they weren't caught or convicted. Kohberger asks people how they prepared for their crimes and and what emotions they felt before, during, and afterward. He asks questions like what steps did you take prior to locating the victim or target? Why did you choose that victim or target over others? How did you leave the scene? And before leaving, is there anything else you did? This is on par for a criminology research project, but let's think back to a couple of questions. Questions that the user Papa Roger posted in the Idaho Murders Facebook group How did the killer leave the scene? And did the killer clean up at all? These questions are eerily similar to the things Coburger asked in his Reddit survey. Like I said, though, it is in line with something a student in this kind of program would do. So at face value, there's nothing alarming going on and Coburger eventually earned his master's degree from DeSales in 2022. That same fall, the 28 year old enrolled in Washington State University's Criminology PhD program. He even landed a job as a teaching assistant. He said he wanted to become a counselor for, quote, high profile offenders. However, within just a couple months, Coburger did a complete 180 from the kind of student he used to be. Both his classmates and undergraduate students he worked with complained to the university about him. There are 13 complaints filed against him in total. He's described as being rude and belittling towards women. Specifically female colleagues and students said that he would stand at their desk, stare at them and physically block them from leaving the room. This kind of thing happened on multiple occasions. He even followed a woman out to her car in the weeks shortly before and after the murders. He also started getting into verbal altercations with his professors over his work ethic. By mid December 2022, Kohberger's behavior is so bad the university pulls his tuition funding and removes him from the TA position. This occurs about five weeks after the Idaho murders. At the time, WSU faculty didn't know that investigators were looking at Kohberger as a suspect. Their decision to pull his TA position and funding are solely related to his behavior in the program. Between Kohberger's dark past, clear disdain for women, and the fact that his car matches the one seen in footage from the night of the crime, investigators on the Idaho murder case feel more certain he's their guy. However, they'll need more concrete evidence if they want to arrest him. And so they amp up their efforts to solve the case with investigative genetic genealogy or IgG. Even though the DNA profile didn't get any hits in codis, the lab that authorities have been working with, Othram, has continued to comb through family records to try and zero in on a name. However, with pressure mounting, investigators tell Othraam to stop and the FBI takes over on igg. With Kohberger as their main suspect, the FBI needed to match his DNA to the crime scene. In order to do this, they go through his family's trash and find DNA evidence that links Bryan Kohberger to the knife sheath. Now, Bryan Coburger's history, his car and his DNA all point to him as the likely killer. This is a huge break in the case. Except now investigators have another problem. Bryan Kohberger is nowhere to be found. What did you think of episode three of our five part Idaho Murders Night Watch series? Drop your thoughts and theories in the comments and stay tuned for Part four. See you next time. If you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel @Crime House Daily and follow us on social media. Chris Crime House 247 for real time updates because the pursuit of justice never stops, Twisted Tales with Heidi Wong is perfect for spooky season. Dive into the real events behind the world's most terrifying blockbusters and beyond. Twisted Tales is a Crime House original. Listen wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes out every Monday.