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New footage released on Thursday shows quadruple-murder suspect Bryan Kohberger debating a traffic stop with a Washington State University (WSU) police officer less than a month before the slayings of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger, 28, is facing four counts of first-degree murder and one felony burglary count in the killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were stabbed to death in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13. He was arrested in the quadruple homicide in December and has not yet entered a plea, although a previous attorney for Kohberger indicated that his client was "eager to be exonerated."
The video released Thursday was taken October 14 from a WSU police officer's body camera after Kohberger was pulled over for running a red light. Kohberger was a Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at WSU.
In the clip, which was shared online by Fox News, the university officer tells Kohberger, "I think you know why I stopped you. You ran the red light."
"What actually happened was I was stuck in the middle of an intersection, so I was forced to go left," Kohberger responds.
"Yeah, I was behind you the whole time," the officer says back. "Technically, you're not supposed to enter the intersection at all for that reason, because if the light turns red, then you're stuck in the intersection and then you run the red light."
After Kohberger provides his license, registration and insurance, he asks the officer to "explain" the traffic violation "a little bit further," saying that what he did was allowed in Pennsylvania. The officer responds that in the state of Washington, a driver is not permitted to block an intersection while trying to turn left or run the red light after a traffic light changes. The officer eventually finds a copy of the traffic law and recites it for Kohberger.
Toward the end of the exchange, Kohberger apologizes if he was "asking too many questions about the law." He was eventually let go with a warning.
Phil Weiler, vice president for marketing and communications at WSU, told Newsweek in an email on Friday that Kohberger had not had any interaction with WSU police prior to the traffic violation, as far as he was aware. Weiler added that Kohberger only spent one semester at WSU, "so his time on campus was limited."
Investigators also released additional documents on Thursday related to the search warrant carried out at Kohberger's Pennsylvania residence on December 30. In part of the newly released information, court documents indicate that at least two samples collected during the search warrant at Kohberger's home came back positive during presumptive blood tests of samples collected at the victims' house in Moscow, Idaho.
Fox News reported that Kohberger is being held without bail in Latah County Jail. A preliminary court hearing is scheduled for June 26.
Last week, a surviving roommate of the slaying victims, Bethany Funke, agreed to sit down with Kohberger's defense team after the suspect's attorneys attempted to force Funke to testify during the case's preliminary trial.
Funke had previously spoken to police about the night of the quadruple homicide, and part of her interview was included in the probable-cause affidavit released by the Moscow Police Department shortly after Kohberger's arrest.
Update 05/05/2023, 4:37 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Washington State University.
About the writer
Kaitlin Lewis is a Newsweek reporter on the Night Team based in Boston, Massachusetts. Her focus is reporting on national ... Read more