Bryan Kohberger may have cleared out his apartment at Washington State University (WSU) two weeks before police officers secured a search warrant.
Assistant Chief Dawn Daniels of the WSU Pullman Police Department described the largely empty apartment in a report filed after she and other officers were sent to collect evidence just hours after police arrested the man suspected of killing four University of Idaho students at his family home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30.
“We also noticed while clearing the apartment, it was sparsely furnished, and fairly empty of belongings, including no shower curtain in the bathroom and the trash cans appeared empty,” Daniels wrote in the report, obtained by Digital.
Daniels, along with her team, collected 12 items in total as proof, according to the court documents released back on January. Six items could have been strands.
The lock Daniels’ team discovered in the apartment was not included in the January report.
Daniels told a judge in a phone call on Dec. 30 that “a padlock, round in shape, in the living room closet” had been found at Kohberger’s apartment.
Daniels stated in the call that “based on my experience and training I recognized the padlock as the shape of the locks commonly used on storage unit,” Daniels. The lock has a round shape, and its design makes it difficult to cut.
Daniels said that because these locks are “typically used on storage units,” she reached out to the apartment coordinator, which is when she learned that students are given a storage unit in the building.
The phone call between Daniels and the judge was in lieu of submitting a formal request for a search warrant.
Daniels, her team and the judge were all already on the scene. The judge verbally approved her request. The transcript of the call was later entered in to court.
Digital received the video footage and transcript of the hearing, including the recordings made by the bodycam.
Daniels’ search of the storage locker ultimately turned up nothing, because it was completely empty.
Daniels wrote: “The floor and cobwebs were dusty in the closet.” It did not seem that the storage closet was used in the past and there were no items seized from it.
BRYAN KOHBERGER EMERGENCY SURFING WARRANT
It is possible that the lack of evidence in the apartment was due to Kohberger leaving for his winter break, knowing he may not be able return to the graduate program. Digital obtained a copy of a termination letter sent to Kohberger by the director of the graduate program just a few days after he arrived home in Pennsylvania.
The letter reveals that Kohberger had multiple altercations with the professor he served as a teacher’s assistant to at the school.
You had an altercation on September 23rd 2022 with the Faculty you are supporting as a TA. Professor [John] Snyder. In the letter, it says: “I had a meeting with you on 3rd October to discuss standards of professional conduct.”
It continues, “On October 21, Professor Snyder sent you an email about how you have failed to live up to your expectations in this semester as a teaching assistant.” The Graduate Director then contacted you by email on Nov. 2nd. [Dale] Willits and myself met you for a discussion on an improvement plan. You agreed and I sent you an email with the date November 3rd.
Kohberger, the director of the Graduate School and faculty members including the professor with whom Kohberger allegedly was in conflict met on December 7th to discuss the progress he had made with the plan for improvement previously discussed. The letter states that “While we did not agree on perfection, there were improvements.”
Just two days after that, there was another incident.
In the letter, it states that “On December 9, there was a second altercation between you and Professor Snyder in which it became evident that you hadn’t made any progress concerning professionalism. I asked for a meeting on December 11, about this incident.” We met on the 19th of December when I told you that your position as a spring semester TA was terminated.
Kohberger was not kicked off the program, but he faced new financial obligations after losing his job.
Teaching assistants in the criminology program at WSU “receive a specified stipend each month, health insurance benefits, and an in-state tuition waiver. On its website, the university states that tuition waivers for out-of state students will be offered the first two years until the student has established residency.
Kohberger will have to pay the full cost of the fall and spring semesters, which is estimated at $46,278. According to WSU.
One day after the search of his apartment, Kohberger received a trespass order from the police chief at WSU, Gary Jenkins.
The purpose of this admonition to notify you that your trespassing has occurred on all Washington State University campuses. The letter received by Digital states that this includes buildings, walkways, breezeways and courtyards as well as parking lots, driveways and access roads. The letter reads: “This admonition takes effect immediately, and continues until any pending student behavior charges are resolved and written permission is given to you to return campus.”
Kohberger signed a copy the order to confirm receipt on December 31, 2009.
BRYAN KOHBERGER TRESSPASS ORDER
A WSU Pullman police officer first identified Kohberger as a person of interest in the University of Idaho murder investigation on Nov. 29 because he drove a white Hyundai Elantra similar to the one the suspected killer drove on the night of the murders.
The officer alerted Moscow Police Department of this, but officers had to wait another month to obtain a warrant.
The officers did not know about Kohberger’s academic offenses, or that Kohberger had been expelled from the PhD program two weeks earlier.
Kohberger later signed off on his lawyer collecting his belongings from the apartment, and a filing by the WSU officer guarding the door reveals that she took five items.
Anne Taylor was only in the apartment for 10 minutes, but she left with “a flatscreen TV, a computer screen, and a small bag of miscellaneous things.” Papers and receipts. A laundry basket of books. And a medium-sized box.
The lack of evidence collected at the apartment could bode well for Kohberger, as could the body camera footage from an October traffic stop on the WSU campus obtained by Digital.
In that video, the officer notes that Kohberger’s registration was set to expire on Nov. 22, which could explain why he decided to get a new license and Washington registration just days after the murders of those four University of Idaho students on Nov. 13.
BRYAN KOHBERGER PERSONAL PROPERTY WAIVER
Kohberger faces four charges of murder, first degree, in connection with the death of Madison Mogen (21), Kaya Goncalves (21), Xana Kerodle (20) and Ethan Chapin (20).
The single burglary charge is added to the list.
Kohberger remains in custody without bail, at the Latah County Detention Denter, pending a June preliminary hearing that will last approximately a week.
Kohberger, according to his former public attorney, maintains innocence.