There are two likely scenarios that will lead to the discovery of the murder weapon used in the University of Idaho murders case, according to former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer.
Last month, 28-year-old suspect Bryan Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ house in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the stabbings of four University of Idaho students, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20. The four victims were found dead in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13.
Police previously said that a Ka-Bar-style fixed-blade knife was believed to be used in the crime. However, a recently unsealed search warrant for Kohberger’s apartment near Washington State University (WSU), where he was a Ph.D. student studying criminal justice and criminology, said that no murder weapon was found, prompting questions of where it could be located.
Kohberger has maintained his innocence in the case, with his former public defender, Jason LaBar, saying in a statement that his client was “eager to be exonerated.”
“I think we’d find the murder weapon in one of two ways. One, out of sheer luck. Someone walking or hunting. I do believe he had to exit the road, far from eyesight. And two, if convicted and wants to save himself by not getting the death penalty, Kohberger will make a deal and give up [the] location,” Coffindaffer, who is not involved in the investigation, told Newsweek over the weekend.
According to a probable cause affidavit released by the Moscow Police Department, Kohberger’s vehicle was seen several different times near the 1122 King Road residence between 3:29 and 4:20 a.m. local time on the day of the murders. The affidavit also states that police believe the killings occurred “between 4:00 a.m. and 4:25 am.”
In the affidavit, investigators detail a route they believed Kohberger took to his apartment following the murders. While Kohberger’s apartment and the 1122 King Road residence are roughly 20 minutes away from each other, according to Google Maps, the route taken by Kohberger is much longer as his phone initially pings at his apartment at 2:47 a.m. and returns at around 5:30 a.m. local time.