Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger carried out the horrific crime in less than 13 minutes, according to an updated timeline of the University of Idaho slayings in the case's newly released police report. The affidavit also revealed that Kohberger had planned the murders for a long time and almost took no time in killing the four students.
Officials had previously stated that they thought the four students were killed inside their off-campus Moscow residence between 3 am and 4 am on November 13 before the police affidavit was made public on Thursday. However, going by the new timeline, the murders were committed after 4 am and Kohberger fled the scene before 4:30 am.
Killing Within Minutes
The police believe that Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle's boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were slain between 4 am and 4:25 am. The one-hour timeframe has since been reduced to 25 minutes, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit also revealed that investigators now believe Kernodle was still alive at 4:12 a.m. since phone records show she was using TikTok at that time, indicating she was probably still awake.
According to the affidavit, the four victims shared a house with two other roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, who were all back home by two in the morning after a night out.
This means Kohberger broke into the house sometime between 4 am and killed all four students by 4:13 am before walking downstairs when he was seen by Dylan Mortensen. Kohberger then fled the scene from the backdoor by 4:25 am.
Kohberger, 28, was identified as the suspect, according to police, after DNA evidence from a large knife sheath discovered at the scene, garbage collected from his parents' Pennsylvania home, surveillance footage, cellphone records, and license-plate readers that tracked his car on a cross-country drive all came together.
Timeline of the Killings
Here's how Kohberger likely committed the horrific murders, according to the police affidavit.
4 am Entry
According to the deceased students' roommates, the victims were all asleep or at least in their bedrooms by 4 am, with one exception. At about that time, a DoorDash delivery driver left Kernodle a food order at the house. So, it is likely that Kernodle was the one who was still awake.
Her cellphone records also reveal the same as she was still active on TikTok at 4:12 am.
It would be the final interaction any of the victims would have before dying. The driver, who reported the delivery to authorities during the investigation, has been identified, according to police.
Around the same time, Goncalves' roommate Dylan Mortensen, who is only identified as "D.M." in the affidavit, claimed to have heard Goncalves playing with her dog in her third-floor bedroom. Mortenson lived in a room on the first floor.
Later, Mortenson claimed she was awakened by what she believed to be Goncalves saying, "There's someone in here." Mortenson claimed that when she heard that someone could be in the house, she opened her bedroom door but was unable to spot anyone.
Time of Murder—4 am to 4:12 am
After hearing what she believed to be someone crying from inside Kernodle's room, Mortenson opened her door and took another look around. According to the affidavit, she informed officers she overheard a male voice say something that sounded like "It's OK, I'm going to help you."
Mortenson again went back to her room.
All Murdered by 4:12 am
The voice or the sound of crying could have been that of Kernodle, according to the police, given that her TikTok was in use around about 4:12 am, indicating that she was still awake and was perhaps using it.
This is the affidavit's final precise timestamp from the home on the night of the killings.
Encounter With The Killer – 4:17 am to 4:20 am
Mortenson told police that after hearing the sound of crying, she opened a door for the third time at an unknown time when she had a terrifying encounter with a masked "figure clad in black clothing," thought to be the murderer.
Mortenson described the man as being at least 5 feet 10 inches tall, athletically built, and lacking in significant muscle mass. He had thick eyebrows, and the mask obscured his mouth and nostrils. The description matches Kohberger, who is so far the only suspect in the murders.
She was standing in a "frozen shock phase" when the intruder, who Mortenson said she did not know, went right by her, she told police.
Seeing the intruder, a shocked Mortenson locked herself in her bedroom as the man approached the back sliding glass door. The murderer, according to police, then fled the scene.
"The combination of [Mortenson's] statements to law enforcement, reviews of forensic downloads of records from [Funke's and Mortenson's] phone, and video of a suspect video as described below leads investigators to believe the homicides occurred between 4:00 a.m. and 4:25 am.," police wrote in the affidavit.
Murderer Feels Scene - 4:20-4:25 am
Around 4:20 am, a white Hyundai Elantra thought to be driven by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage leaving the area close to the dead student's off-campus house "at a high rate of speed."
According to police, the crimes might have been committed as late as 4:25 am but it is likely that Kohberger killed the four students between 4 am and 4:13 am.
Return to Crime Scene
According to the probable cause affidavit, Kohberger's cell phone pinged its location near the student residence at 1122 King Street in Moscow at around 9 am on November 13, just five hours after he allegedly stormed into the building and killed the four students in cold blood.
Police believe, Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were murdered in a planned manner, which also involved stalking the victims.
According to cellphone records gathered by the Moscow Police Department, Kohberger left his apartment in Pullman, Washington at 9 am and arrived in the neighborhood of the house between 9:12 and 9:21 a.m. that day.
Kohberger not only visited the crime scene but also stalked his victims before killing them mercilessly. Investigators' access to his phone data also revealed that his phone was able to be traced to a location close to the three-story off-campus party home where the students resided at least 12 times in the months leading up to the massacre.
However, a lot of questions remain unanswered in the affidavit.
The murder weapon, a knife, itself is still missing, and authorities have stated that they are actively looking for it. It is also unclear from the documents whether the suspect knew the students before their deaths because neither the materials explain why police weren't notified until nearly eight hours after the killings probably occurred nor any possible motivation in the case.
