Smoking Gun Found in Idaho Killer Case

The murders of four University of Idaho students last year shocked the country. Police found the victims stabbed to death in an off-campus home. More than a month later, they arrested a suspect for the murders in Pennsylvania. New reporting indicates a so-called “smoking gun” was found in his home.

Law enforcement arrested Bryan Kohberger, 28, in December. He has been charged with four counts of murder and a single count of felony burglary. Police have said his DNA matched some found on a knife sheath that was found at the scene of the crime next to one of the deceased victims. In March, court records were unsealed in the case, including an inventory of the items found in his parents’ home, Newsweek reported.

Among the items police reportedly recovered was an ID that was found inside a glove placed in a box. That identification card allegedly belonged to someone who lived in the victims’ home, though law enforcement has not said who.

A retired FBI agent, Jennifer Coffindaffer, told News Nation’s Chris Cuomo that the ID evidence was a “big deal.” She referred to it as a “smoking license.”

The probable cause affidavit released earlier this year revealed a vehicle matching the description of Kohberger’s car was allegedly caught on video near the scene of the grisly homicides. Additionally, cell phone data was used to reportedly place him near the scene of the murders. There’s speculation that he was obsessed with one of the female victims — Madison Mogen, Kaylee Gonclaves, and Xana Kernodle — and that Ethan Chapin was killed just because he happened to be there. Police have not indicated who they think the target was.

Authorities are also reportedly investigating whether Kohberger is connected to any of the unsolved homicides in Pennsylvania, where he lived and went to school before moving to Washington. Police have not confirmed the existence of the ID because there is a gag order in the case.