Idaho murder victims' roommate heard crying, saw man in mask morning of killings: court docs

A tan leather knife sheath was left at the crime scene with Kohberger's DNA, officials say

The Idaho murder victims' surviving female roommate heard crying and saw a man wearing a black mask the morning of the massacre before locking herself in her room, according to a newly unsealed filing.

The roommate — one of two who survived the attack and identified only as D.M. in the document — awoke at 4 a.m. Nov. 13 by what she believed was the sound of Kaylee Goncalves playing with her dog, Murphy, on the third floor. 

A short time later, she heard what she thought was Goncalves saying, "There's someone here," the document says. D.M. looked out of her second floor bedroom window and didn't see anyone.

The roommate opened her door when she heard crying coming from Xana Kernodle's room on the same floor and a male voice saying, "It's OK, I'm going to help you."

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Bryan Kohberger's booking photo with insets of his alleged victims and his parents' home in Pennsylvania. (Monroe County Prison | Instagram)

A security camera located on a nearby property just 50 feet from Kernodle's bedroom captured "distorted audio of what sounded like voices or a whimper followed by a loud thud" at 4:17 a.m., the document says. A dog also began barking numerous times. 

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D.M. opened her door again and "saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose walking towards her," Moscow Police Department Cpl. Brett Payne wrote in the affidavit. "The male walked past D.M. as she stood in a ‘frozen shock phase.’" He walked by her and exited the second floor sliding glass doors, D.M. told police. 

A view of the sliding glass door in the rear of 1122 King Road, Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 14, 2022. The door was reportedly used by Bryan Kohberger to exit the residence after he allegedly killed four University of Idaho students. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

The roommate locked herself in her room. The second female roommate, who was on the first floor, slept through the attack. 

Nearly eight hours later, a call was placed to police from one of the surviving roommates' cellphones reporting an unconscious person. 

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Investigators believe the man the roommate saw is Bryan Kohberger, who is charged with fatally stabbing Goncalves, Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin, according to the document.

The home where four University of Idaho students were murdered Nov. 13.  (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

The bombshell revelations were revealed in a probable cause affidavit that was unsealed Thursday before Kohberger made his initial appearance in Latah County Court, where he was ordered held without bond. 

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The Washington State University Ph.D. student was arrested Friday at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He was extradited Wednesday to Idaho. 

He lived in an apartment in Pullman, Washington, eight miles from the crime scene.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, is accused of killing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen. (Latah County Sheriff's Office)

Kohberger allegedly left behind a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed next to Mogen's right side. 

The sheath had "Ka-Bar" and a United States Marine Corps eagle, globe and anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it, according to the affidavit.

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"The Idaho State Lab later located a single source of male DNA (suspect profile) left on the button snap of the knife sheath," the filing says.

Map showing Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger's movement on the morning of Nov. 13, 2022, after four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their home. (Google Earth / Fox News Digital)

Kernodle appeared to be the only resident of the home that was awake when she was ambushed. She received a DoorDash order at 4 a.m. and was on TikTok at approximately 4:12 a.m., according to the document. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt previously said Kernodle had defensive wounds.

Goncalves and Mogen's bodies were found on the third floor in Mogen's bed. Police believe the victims were killed between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m.

A footprint, identified as a "Vans type shoe," was found outside the second floor sliding door.

READ THE PROBABLE CAUSE AFFIDAVIT DESCRIBING THE IDAHO COED MASSACRE

Kohberger was allegedly captured on surveillance video fleeing the scene in his white 2015 Hyundai Elantra at about 4:20 a.m. But he returned to the crime scene a little after 9 a.m. — three hours before police were called to the house, the affidavit said.

That afternoon Kohberger was allegedly captured on surveillance footage doing some shopping at an Albertsons grocery store in the Pullman area. Cellphone records reveal that the suspect had likely been surveilling the home for weeks.

After Bryan Kohberger allegedly murdered four University of Idaho students, he did some light shopping at an Albertsons grocery store. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

The gruesome murders left the small college town deeply shaken, as the killer remained on the loose for weeks.

As investigators feverishly processed the crime scene, Kohberger carried on with business as usual on the Pullman campus, where he studied in the department of criminal justice and criminology.

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On Nov. 25, police told local law enforcement to be on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra spotted near the crime scene. 

Four days later, a WSU police officer identified Kohberger's car and alerted the Moscow Police Department. 

Bryan Christopher Kohberger arrives to the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, for his extradition hearing. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

At some point, Payne viewed Kohberger's Washington state driver's license and noted that his photo matched the female roommate's description of the killer's bushy eyebrows and other attributes.

After the semester wrapped up, Kohberger drove 2,500 miles to Pennsylvania with his father to the family's home.

On Dec. 27, agents fished through the family's trash and sent the carefully selected scraps of waste to the Idaho State Lab.

The victims of the Nov. 13 University of Idaho massacre.  (Instagram @xanakernodle / @maddiemogen / @kayleegoncalves)

The next day, the lab reported that the DNA profile obtained from the trash was the father of the person whose DNA was on the knife sheath left at the crime scene. 

"At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect's biological father," the affidavit says.

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The affidavit also revealed that last fall, Kohberger applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department. 

In his application essay, he said he was interested in helping police more efficiently collect and analyze technological data in public safety operations.

Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.

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