By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-27 06:19:09 | Updated at 2025-03-30 12:31:00
3 days ago
Bryan Kohberger purchased a balaclava months before four Idaho students were savagely murdered inside their off-campus home.
Surviving housemate Dylan Mortensen told police she saw a man wearing 'the same kind of mask' around the time police believe Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle were all slaughtered in November 2022.
Accused killer Kohberger desperately wanted his Dick's Sporting Goods purchase to be inadmissible in his upcoming trial.
But new court documents reveal prosecutors have insisted upon using the records because it could prove crucial to their case.
'The relevance of this information is that Bryan Kohberger purchased a black balaclava from Dick's Sporting Goods on January 10, 2022,' the prosecution states.
'This mask is the same type of mask described by DM that she witnessed worn by a male in the residence on November 13, 2022.'
A search of Dick's Sporting Goods' current offering reveals there are 41 variations of black balaclavas or ski masks available.
It is not clear which balaclava Kohberger had purchased.
A search of Dick's Sporting Goods' current offering reveals there are 41 variations of black balaclavas or ski masks available
From left: Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee's shoulders), Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke
Kohberger's legal team already tried and failed to have critical DNA evidence and Amazon shopping history tossed from the case.
A Ka-Bar brown leather knife sheath, featuring a US Marine Corps seal, had been found next to Mogen's body in her bedroom on the third floor of the home.
Touch DNA on the sheath was traced back to Kohberger using Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG), according to prosecutors.
Following his arrest, it was found to be a statistical match.
While the murder weapon has never been found, Kohberger's Amazon shopping history reveals he bought a Ka-Bar knife, sheath and sharpener from Amazon back in March 2022, according to a prosecution filing.
Eight months later - on November 13 2022 - investigators believe this same type of knife was used to murder the four University of Idaho students.
Following the murders, Kohberger searched to buy a replacement knife and sheath, prosecutors allege.
Elsewhere in the new filing is a 12-page assignment Kohberger submitted in 2020 while studying his his for his criminology masters degree at DeSales University.
The new filings also revealed Bryan Kohberger's license
The extraordinary picture taken hours after the alleged crime shows Kohberger smirking and offering a 'thumbs up' to the camera
DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath (seen in a stock image) left behind at the scene
The chilling paper details in excruciating detail how first responders are expected to handle crime scenes, using the made-up example of a 'deceased white female.'
'I should make sure to swab under her fingernails to see if DNA of the offender is there: she likely dug into their skin,' he wrote.
'Surveillance footage is circumstantial evidence but may lead investigators in the right direction and to the apprehension of the suspect... this may be the work of a serial killer, though this is highly unlikely.'
Kohberger concluded his paper by arguing that if all steps laid out are followed correctly, defense should not be able to 'discredit the investigation and render evidence inadmissible.'
Prosecutors argue it displays his immense crime scene knowledge.
With his trial looming, the defense has been filing a string of motions to get key evidence tossed from the case - and to get the death penalty taken off the table.
In the new court filing, Kohberger is now seeking to also limit his bank records, Paypal and Venmo records and the bank records of the victims being presented at trial.
It is not clear what the contents of these records show or what relevance they may have to the prosecution's case.
While at DeSales, Kohberger (pictured) studied under Dr Katherine Ramsland - a leading expert on the notorious BTK serial killer Dennis Rader
Ethan Chapin was staying at his girlfriend Xana Kernodle's (together on left) home on the night of the murders. Best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen (together on right) were found stabbed to death in the same bed
The filing also points to a purchase made by Kohberger at sportswear company Under Armor on June 24 2022 - five months before the grisly murders.
Mortensen's recollection of the masked man was vague, other than noting he had 'bushy eyebrows.'
The state will use a selfie Kohberger took just hours after he allegedly murdered the college students as part of the case against him.
The extraordinary picture shows Kohberger smirking and offering a 'thumbs up' to the camera. The selfie appears to have been taken in a bathroom, with a shower as the backdrop.
Kohberger wears earphones and a collared long sleeve shirt buttoned to the top in the eerie picture.
Between 4.22am and 4.24am on the morning of November 13, 2022, Mortensen and the other surviving housemate Bethany Funke exchanged 17 frantic text messages fearing someone was in their house.
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen together. Mogen had DNA from three individuals under her nails
'I'm not kidding o [sic] am so freaked out,' one of the messages read.
Over three separate messages, Funke responded 'come to my room. Run. Down here.'
Soon after seeing the intruder, Mortensen went downstairs to Funke’s room and the two roommates fell asleep there.
Kohberger has so far offered up a vague alibi for the night of the murders claiming he was driving around at night looking at the stars.
No witnesses can corroborate where he was, his attorney Anne Taylor admitted in a court filing.
