MOSCOW, Idaho — More than 60 documents released last week give insight into how investigators and prosecutors are making a case against Bryan Kohberger and how the case was investigated over the last few months.
Kohberger stands accused of murdering Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Kaylee Goncalves in November 2022.
"The volume of warrants that have been issued indicate to me that they're casting quite a wide net, trying to collect as much information as possible," said Seattle trial lawyer Mo Hamoudi.
That includes warrants dating back to the early days of the investigation in November, including searches of the victims' social media accounts and Tinder accounts.
"We're almost getting a retrospective view of where the investigation was back in December and that is not necessarily where the investigation is now," Hamoudi cautioned.
Hamoudi says some of the warrants are standard, including those for social media, financial records, and phone data for the suspect and victims.
"One thing you're doing as investigators is trying to establish what has happened to a particular victim is you want to understand who they associated with," he said.
Investigators also asked for information more likely tied directly to leads, such as delivery truck video from the United Parcel Service (UPS) in the days before the killings.
We know from a previous affidavit that investigators had identified Kohberger as a person of interest as early as November 25.
Among warrants for his phone, social media, and Tinder history, there are also search warrants directly related to evidence in that affidavit.
Police say a knife sheath from a Ka-Bar USMC knife was found at the scene and had Kohberger's DNA on it.
There are warrants for Ka-Bar, Walmart, and Amazon related to the purchase of such a knife or sheath.
"You're trying to piece together circumstances to connect a transaction, a purchase, of a knife from Walmart to a type of knife that may have been discovered at the crime scene," Hamoudi said.
Though he cautions, even with all these documents appear to reveal, we can't assume too much. There are still pieces under seal and much more that'll likely be held to preserve the case until trial.
"What we don't have is the story put out to the judge to get all of those initial warrants, nor do we have the information they obtained from those warrants and where they are now," Hamoudi said.
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