Man charged with Idaho college murders may have joined online chat groups to discuss killings
Claire Reid
Featured Image Credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / REUTERS
The suspect in the Idaho murders of four students may have joined online chat groups to talk about the facts of the killings, an ex-FBI has said.
Bryan Kohberger has been charged with the brutal murders of University of Idaho students Kaylee Gonclaves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in the early hours of the morning on 13 November.
Kohberger, a PhD student in Washington State University's department of criminal justice and criminology, was arrested in Pennsylvania on 30 December.
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Now, in a series of tweets, former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer believes that the 28-year-old had used an online Reddit forum about the case as well as Facebook to discuss facts of the case.
According to Coffindaffer, the accounts made claims about the murders that later turned out to be accurate.
Coffindaffer claims that in two posts, the accounts shared two timelines and referenced a knife sheath left at the scene, prior to that information being released by authorities.
In one post, the person Coffindaffer suspects to be Kohberger wrote: “Speculation: killer parked behind the house. Approached property through tree line.
“Entered sliding doors and left it open. Committed murders and exited sliding door.
“One knife according to corners [sic] statement. Time of murder approximately 3:20am - 3:40 am according to car fleeing scene and on camera on highway 8 approximately 3:45am. Vehicle left skid marks upon exit."
Another post from December 30 reads: "Of the evidence released, the murder weapon has been consistent as a large fixed blade knife. This leads me to believe they found the sheath."
Sharing the post, Coffindaffer wrote: “This comment was of particular interest after the release of the PCA. The comments just seem to hit home…”
An affidavit released on 5 January revealed that cops had found ‘a tan leather knife sheath' laying next to victim Mogen’s bed.
The two accounts also claimed the killer had been inside the house for ‘15 minutes’ and that they felt the ‘white car isn’t relevant’.
The unusually specific claims lead to others in the Reddit and Facebook groups to accuse the poster of being involved with the murders, with one person commenting: “Dude is solving his own crime... Psycho.”
An admin from the Facebook page ended up removing the account, explaining: “'He was on her and argued incessantly with people and said some really creepy stuff and posted similar questions to Bryan's crime questions.
“We removed [the account] at 7:10 the evening before Bryan's arrest. He created a group page and had 6 people in it. No one has heard from [the account] since the arrest.”