Bryan Kohberger Walked Right Past Idaho Murder Victims' Roommate: Affidavit

Bryan Kohberger walked past one of the University of Idaho murder victims' roommates after allegedly carrying out the crime.

In a probable cause affidavit released on Thursday, an investigator with the Moscow Police Department explained an interview he conducted with the victims' roommates, identified as D.M. and known widely as Dylan Mortensen.

In the interview, Mortensen explained that she was awoken at around 4 a.m. local time on November 13 to what sounded like Kaylee Goncalves playing with her dog. "A short time later, D.M. said she heard who she thought was Goncalves say something to the effect of 'there's someone here,'" the affidavit said.

"D.M. stated she looked out of her bedroom but did not see anything when she heard the comment about someone being in the house. D.M. stated she opened her door a second time when she heard what she thought was crying coming from [Xana] Kernodle's room. D.M. then said she heard a male voice say something to the effect of 'it's OK, I'm going to help you,'" the affidavit said.

According to the affidavit, the roommate also told police that she opened her bedroom door for a third time after hearing crying from another room and noticed a "figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose walking towards her."

"The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a 'frozen shock phase.' The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. D.M. locked herself in her room after seeing the male," the affidavit said. "This leads investigators to believe that the murderer left the scene."

Kohberger, 28, was recently arrested in Pennsylvania on four counts of murder in the first degree for the fatal stabbings of Goncalves, Kernodle, Ethan Chapin and Madison Mogen.

Despite the charges and the evidence recently released in the affidavit, Kohberger has maintained his innocence and his previous public defender in Pennsylvania, Jason LaBar said in a statement that he is "eager to be exonerated."

The affidavit also states that a "latent" shoe print was found right outside of Mortensen's door, which investigators said "is consistent with D.M.'s statement regarding the suspect's path of travel."

The four students were found fatally stabbed on November 13 in an off-campus residence located at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho where all of the victims except Chapin lived.

According to the affidavit, a knife sheath was found in one of the victim's rooms following the murder. On December 27, police in Pennsylvania recovered trash from Kohberger's family residence.

"On December 28, 2022, the Idaho State Lab reported that a DNA profile obtained from
the trash and the DNA profile obtained from the sheath, identified a male as not being excluded as the biological father of Suspect Profile," the affidavit said.

Kohberger is expected to hear the charges filed against him in Idaho on Thursday.