The Idaho Student Murders | Full Episode | Forensic Files

foreign [Music] ER made his first court appearance in Idaho to face four charges of
first-degree murder if convicted co-burger faces life in prison and possibly the death penalty at his
initial appearance he'll hear the charges against him count two alleges that you committed
murder in the first degree count three murder in the first degree count four Murder in the First number five alleges
that you committed in high school he would talk he would laugh and stuff like that but when I saw him a couple years
later was just kind of creepy I don't know what happened it's like a switch went off and he just changed the newly
released affidavit reveals so much information it's about how police tracked the suspect down DNA phone
records and a witness Brian coburger was studying criminal justice and criminology right here at Washington
State University it was really shocking because of all the different parts of my
life that were tied to this as a journalist as a teacher of college students and and certainly as a father
and a citizen here since the gruesome murders at a house off campus at the University of Idaho
the town of Moscow remains in shock we hear so many stories now about Maddie and Kaylee and Ethan and Santa about how
close they were the type of people they were it's devastating to hear that it's heart-wrenching what do you want the
world to know about your daughter Kaylee this was a person that was going to go into your community and make it better
all these kids were going to make your community better you would want them as your neighbor you'd want them to
interact with your children Zannah kernodle [Music] she was so positive and light-hearted
and understood the gift of life more than anyone I know Ethan Chapin today we're here to honor The Life and
Legacy of our son Ethan Chapin one of the most incredible people you'll ever know
Madison Mogan my only child that we ever had and uh so just smart and funny and beautiful
Kaylee Gonzalez you know most things as a dad you can you can handle but something like that you just can't
prepare for and you can't fix it as a father that's a terrible feeling as a professor here on this campus I
want to know what is the motive why do something like this how did he know Maddie and Kaylee and Ethan and Santa if
indeed he is the person who committed this crime Brian is not tried in the court of
public opinion he has that presumption of innocence I honestly think he did it because he wants to see if he can get
away with it are you hoping to make eye contact with Brian at some point eye contact's a
guarantee I definitely want to let him know that uh I'm not going anywhere we're not going anywhere this day of
court is not just for him it's it's for everybody foreign [Music] thank you [Music]
[Music] foreign [Music] Sky investigators flew Brian coburger to the college town of Moscow police
delivered him to the Lata County Jail on January 5th in an orange jumpsuit face vacant the 28 year old made what
will likely be his first of many appearances in this court he stands charged with the murder of
four students from the University of Idaho Kaylee gonsalves Madison Maddie Mogan
Ethan Chapin and Zana kernodle investigators say he stabbed them to death in the home the women shared the
maximum penalty for this offense if you plead guilty or found guilty is up to death and imprisonment for life do you
understand yes coburger has not yet entered a plea in an affidavit investigators laid out
their understanding of the Grim details about the night of the killings they say
the killer left his DNA on a leather knife sheath like this one found on a bed next to Maddie Mogan
and most hauntingly they say a surviving roommate thought she heard crying and saw a figure clad in Black clothing and
a mask the man walked past as she stood in Frozen shock she locked herself in her room
we will have more details on this fast-moving investigation authorities have not disclosed a motive or if he had
a connection to the students but tonight we are learning more about just who Brian coburger is
just 15 days before his arrest Brian coburger and his father were driving home from Washington State University
for winter break to the family's home in Pennsylvania hello how you doing how y'all doing today the journey
interrupted by two traffic stops almost 10 minutes apart in Indiana for tailgating
oh okay the real little we're slightly much because we drive the powers police body
cam video shows coburger and his father talking calmly with an officer about the
trip hours days then they are released with a warning do me a favor don't follow too close okay
coburger had been at the University since August studying to get his PhD in criminology he was also a teaching
assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice he lived in an apartment complex
on campus and had an office there according to the newly released affidavit coburger had applied for an
internship with the Pullman Police Department in the fall he wrote in his application essay that quote he had
interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data
Benjamin Roberts took four classes with coburger he seemed very comfortable around other people he was fairly quick
to offer his opinion and thoughts and he was always participating fairly eagerly
in classroom discussions he says kohlberger appeared highly intelligent does anything else come to mind that
Brian said to you in the past that today you think might be of interest now there was a comment that he made and
it was this kind of a flippant guy talk thing at one point he just idly mentioned you know I can go down to a
boat or a club and just have pretty much any lady I want Ryan coburger coburger arrived at the University after earning
his bachelor's in psychology and master's degree in criminal justice at Desales University in Center Valley
Pennsylvania while at Desales authorities say Brian coburger posted this survey approved by
the university on the website Reddit asking ex-cons about the crimes they committed one question he asked before
making your move how did you approach the victim or Target this could be a piece of circumstantial
evidence James Galliano is a retired FBI supervisory special agent and CBS News consultant the fact that the suspect was
interested in pursuing a PhD in criminal justice and was especially interested in
the mental state that people who had committed murders in the past yes it could be interesting to note but I know
a lot of researchers that study those things too that would never commit a quadruple homicide
and if co-burger was involved in these murders genetic genealogists CC Moore questions why he would be so careless as
to allegedly leave his DNA at the crime scene people are talking about how smart
he supposedly is I just can't see how that could be true because any student of forensic science or criminology would
have to know that it's virtually impossible not to leave your DNA behind at a very violent intimate crime scene
like this you know Ted Bundy thought he was smart but he wasn't that smart as it
turns out after the murders Roberts says coburger appeared disheveled tired and chattier
than usual but nothing could prepare Roberts for when he learned of coburger's arrest
looking back over the last four months is that I feel like there should have been signs
that I should have seen and I didn't I was blindsided this is out of character for Brian these allegations Monroe
County public defender Jason labarr represented coburger before he was extradited to Idaho the family would
want the general public to know that Brian is a caring son and brother that he's responsible
that he is devoted to them in a statement the family said we care deeply for the four families who have
lost their precious children and that they seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than
judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions he is innocent and pill proven otherwise
labar says coburger came from a close-knit family he grew up in eastern Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains his
father was a maintenance worker and his mom worked in the school system Brian has two older sisters one who works as a
family therapist and another sister who appeared in a 2011 low-budget slasher film two days back about a group of
young students viciously murdered by a serial killer things change she now works as a school counselor my heart
goes out to Brian's family this is Cole Burger's friend Bree who says she met co-burger at a party when they attended
Pleasant Valley High School she asked us not to use her last name Brian was really funny he wasn't
outgoing at all he was but he also wasn't shy he says they bonded over their love of
the outdoors I don't necessarily remember the conversations but you definitely remember how someone makes
you feel I just remember feeling okay I was just with a friend it just felt natural Bree recalls coburger was
an average student with only a few close friends in this yearbook photo coburger's caption said he aspired to be
an Army Ranger I used to be friends with Brian coburger Casey Ernst also knew co-burger from
high school she posted this Tick Tock following Brian's arrest I am just an absolute shopper
he was an overweight kid so he did get bullied a lot but Casey says people saw a change in coburger beginning of senior
year he lost like 100 pounds he was a real it was after that weight loss that a lot of people
noticed a huge switch in him my brother has since come out to say that even though they were friends Brian bullied
him and he had said like he would put him in like choke holds and stuff like that
Bree says coburger started using heroin which ended their friendship you just saw him becoming more self-destructive
he really stayed secluded it's unclear when exactly coburger went into recovery but both Bree and Casey
say years after he graduated high school it appeared as if he was getting his life together
he was going to Northampton Community College and working security for Pleasant Valley School District
he was telling me that he wanted to get sober that he was getting sober and he just wanted to let
me know like I'm gonna do better I'm gonna be better I'm sorry last time I saw Ryan was in 2017 at one
of my friend's wedding and I gave him a hug and I was like you look so good like
I'm so proud of you I just remember being very happy for him and both Bree and Casey say it appeared
that coburger had a new Focus his studies in criminology he wanted to do something that
impacted people in a good way people are not his strong suit and I think through
his criminology studies he was really trying to understand humans and try to understand himself
now Bree like many who knew him struggles to connect the person they once knew to this unspeakable crime I
think a lot of people who were close to him are feeling this massive amounts of guilt why didn't I
see it did I miss something where did it go wrong before this was a crime scene it was a
home to these five close friends maybe none closer than Maddie Mogan and Kayleigh gonsalves
guys on Tick Tock the 21 year old seniors looked like they were enjoying their final school year
you're gonna choose me baby in the early morning of November 13th the two friends headed to a food truck
but they're seemingly Carefree existence would come to an abrupt end just hours later Kaylee and Maddie were stabbed to
death in the upstairs part of the house a hundred miles away in northern Idaho Kaylee's father Steve got the news and
Steve give us a sense of the shock of that moment you just feel like you're getting crushed by a thousand pounds of
weight [Music] what do you want the world to know about your daughter Kaylee [Music]
I want the one to know they they got robbed somebody stole from you Steve Gonzalez says his daughter Kaylee
would have made the world a better place a General Studies major she was the middle child of five siblings Steve says
Kaylee was always up for a challenge she grew up around two boys that were you know older than her and uh she
didn't see any reason why she couldn't be as quick and fast and as good as those two boys were what did she want to
do with her life like most young people it changed she was going to be a teacher
but once you found out how long it was going to take to pay back your student loans she she said dad you know this
thing you do with computer seems to work pretty well she reportedly had a job lined up in Austin but made it clear
that one day she hoped to settle down somewhere near her dearest friend Maddie Mogan Maddie was a marketing major and
she and Kaylee had been Inseparable since the sixth grade I just felt like it was more of a sister ship than it was
friendship so and she was just one of our kids so it perhaps did not come as a surprise when
Steve revealed at a November Memorial that Kaylee and Maddie died side by side they went to high schools together they
came here together and in the end they died together in the same room in the same bed it
Comforts us it lets us know that they were with their best friends in the whole world
it was a belief Maddie's stepfather Scott Laramie repeated to another packed Memorial just days later
the two of them were of course to be reckoned with they stuck together through everything
Maddie had a boyfriend Jake schreiger she was the first person I talked to every morning and the last person I
talked to before bed they had been together for more than a year Jake says Maddie had a talent for making people
laugh she was really funny her jokes really would come out of nowhere and just be
like is that the cute little blonde girl that just said that but Maddie and Kaylee weren't the only victims while
two other roommates were in their rooms and unharmed during the attacks on the second floor the killer made his way to
the room of Zana kernodle she was my baby sister but she was so much wiser zanna's sister Jasmine she
would always tell me she wouldn't know what to do without me and now I have to live this life without her a 20 year old
Junior majoring in marketing Zanna was known for being focused on her studies so focused she didn't make much time for
dating Santa never had a boyfriend before and my dad and I wondered if she was ever
gonna get one that was until she met Ethan Chapin the way she would talk and smile about him
was something I've never seen her do before Ethan was a 20 year old majoring in Recreation and tourism management
Jasmine says Zanna and Ethan began dating in the spring of 2022. they had something so special and
everyone around them knew especially anyone who followed the pair on Instagram for Ethan's birthday Zanna
posted photos of them with the caption life is so much better with you in it love you
it would be her last Instagram just two weeks later the young couple was found stabbed to death in Santa's bedroom
at the University of Idaho the pain of this tragedy is felt at the root and extends hundreds of miles away to a
tulip farm in Skagit Valley Washington it's where Ethan worked before heading to college his boss Andrew Miller so
Ethan started it was in the spring of of 21. it was the best Tula Festival Miller
says the annual tulip festival attracts close to half a million visitors and Ethan stood out in the crowd he's a big
guy wearing a big smile right I think that's the part that I that that kind of struck me right away Ethan a triplet
worked there with his siblings Maisie and Hunter and lived in a rented house on the farm with their parents
that Chapin triplets were Incredibly Close says Rhys Gardner they were best friends if one did something they all
did something it was pretty cool to see including attending the University of Idaho together and that was the funniest
thing it was like of course it was a package deal like all three of them were gonna go there he was excited I think
because his siblings were going with him Araya Macaba says Ethan's parents had decided to live in Idaho too makaba says
when she heard Ethan had been murdered she couldn't believe it I think the first thing I did was
message Ethan I was like hey you're okay right like this isn't real and uh obviously didn't respond
Rhys Gardner scoured the internet for information and I just couldn't stop reading articles and I just wanted to
know what happened and I wanted to know why but in lieu of answers Gardner turned to
tulips that's going to be so it's gonna be so pretty he had an idea name one after Ethan I thought there's there's no
better way to remember someone who had such a big part a big role in those Farms because Rhys called me and it was
hey can this be done and are you interested in doing it and I was yes and hell yes
but creating a new tulip is a long process so instead Miller suggested a mix of tulips that would be a perfect
tribute to Ethan yellow and white yellow of course because go vandals University
of Idaho right that's significant and then white is is an eternal color right and tulips come up in the spring it is a
symbol of of of Hope with his parents blessing they named the mix of tulips Ethan's smile yeah so this will be a
nice yellow or white tulip here in about four months the trio planted thousands of bulbs in the state of Washington and
sent a couple thousand more to the University of Idaho and it really is our hope that we'll be able to continue to
plant that anybody that wants to remember them will be able to have their own Ethan's Ethan smile Garden it's a
living Legacy now it is up to prosecutors to get Justice for these young victims
47 days after the murders of Kaylee gonsalves Ethan Chapin Madison Mogan and Zana kernodle authorities apprehended
the man they believed was responsible we now know investigators had Brian kohlberger in their sights early on but
kept it close to the vest so in the early days after the November 13th murders frustrations swept over Moscow
Idaho think in this instance people are expecting a pretty quick arrest in this case and it takes time police still have
no suspect weapon or motive no arrests have been made no suspects identified by police investigators are asking the
public to be patient Steve can solve this father of 21 year old Kaylee was trying as best he could to deal with
news no one expects most things I'm prepared for most things as a dad you can you can handle but
something like that you just can't prepare for and you can't fix it you know just
think if you do everything right by the book something like this couldn't happen
did you have any sense who might have done something like this no I didn't think anybody in Inner Circle was was
capable of interacting in her doing something that could even deserve something like that as new spread of the
murders so did shock in the College Community which had not seen a homicide since 2015. parents drove hundreds of
miles to pick up their kids to head home and stay home for the semester Matt Loveless is a journalism professor at
nearby Washington State University at this point we don't know if they're going to come back for the spring
semester they're on campus and so that same thing happened in both of our communities and so when parents send
their kids off to school for something to happen like this I think it's a parent's worst nightmare
James Galliano is a retired FBI supervisory special agent and CBS News consultant it's a place Moscow Idaho
where violent crime really is not an issue as police started their investigation
they traced the victim's final steps the day before the murders seemed to start ordinarily Kaylee gonsalves posted
photos with her roommates and Ethan Chapin to her Instagram account with the caption one lucky girl to be surrounded
by these people every day that evening Ethan and Santa attended a party at a frat house on campus Kaylee
and Madison were at a bar between 10 p.m and 1 30 A.M they were then seen at that
local food vendor the grub truck it is believed they all returned home by about 2 A.M on November 13th
so in examining the timeline police know that the crime took place sometime in the early morning hours there were also
two other university Idaho students who were inside the house when the murders took place
it was later that morning that a call was made to 9-1-1 from one of the surviving roommates phones to report an
unconscious person police arrived at the house at 11 58 A.M police find the victims on the second
and third floor of the house in bedrooms a horrific and a very large-scale crime
scene because you're going to be dealing with a number of different floors that need to be processed the bedrooms where
the crimes actually occurred and then Ingress and egress points how did the how did the alleged killer get inside
the house through a front door through a window those are all things police would
be looking at no weapon has been located at this time there was no sign of forced entry into
the residence on November 16th three days after the murders the Moscow police held their first press conference we
believe this was an isolated targeted attack on our victims we do not have a suspect at this time
and that individual is still out there coroner Kathy mobbit issued her report on November 17th they were all murdered
through stabbing with with some kind of a probably a larger knife she told police some of the four victims had
defensive wounds but none had signs of sexual assault police continued to work the case aided by the Idaho State Police
and the FBI I just believe that the Moscow Police Department probably just didn't have a lot of experience in
working a homicide especially one as heinous as this one after about three weeks with no arrests and what to the
public appeared to be no real suspects Steve gonsalves grew more concerned that authorities weren't doing enough and
that the murders would turn into a Cold Case so he says he started working with his
own team to investigate the murders we just thought this is the time let's get it out there
and let's not let it get cold let's get as many resources as as possible did you
have any sense whatsoever as to what a motive might have been for these murders pretty girls
and a handsome guy I I thought you know there might be something to do with there you know
stalking them in the sense of that meanwhile names of possible people of Interest were trickling out including
members of the community and acquaintances of the victims but they all seem to be part of an unfounded
Rumor Mill many from online sluths Steve even had people come to him to prove they were not involved we had
certain suspects take their shirts off in our kitchen to show if they had scratches we tried to do everything in
our in our powers to make sure that if we thought somebody was ruled out we truly we truly felt like you know we we
looked at him law enforcement would end up receiving thousands of tips but the investigation
by outward appearances seemed to be stalled nearly a month after the murders on December 7th police were seen packing
up the victim's belongings to return to the families who had lost so much it was the police chief behind the wheel
of the U-Haul truck that same day a plea was made to the public police were interested in speaking with
the occupant of a white 2011 to 2013 Hyundai Elantra that looks similar to this with an unknown license plate
spotted near the crime scene around the time of the killings today's update is the first descriptive tip that we've
received in several days detectives now want to speak with anyone who is inside a white Hyundai Elantra that was near
this home on King Road around November 13th we still believe there's more information to be gathered
pushing that out to the media pushing that out to people on the internet pushing that out so that people can look
for either a potential suspect a person of interest or a potential vehicle that goes a long way towards running down
leads [Music] it turns out that about two weeks before the police asked the public to be on the
lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra they had already shared that information with
surrounding law enforcement and on November 29th a white Elantra was located by Washington State University
Police the car was registered to Brian coburger CBS News learned that in mid-December
the Hyundai Elantra was tracked for several days by the FBI using Easy Pass monitoring fixed-wing aircraft and
ground support as it was driven by co-burger along with his father from Pullman Washington on that cross-country
trip to the family's home in Pennsylvania where are you headed on December 15th the car was stopped twice in Indiana for
those driving violations by the Indiana State Police and the Hancock sheriff's office if you're coming from Washington
State University and you're going where oh both agencies said at the time of the
stops there was no information available on a suspect for the crime in Idaho to include identifying information or any
specific information related to the license plate state or number of the white Hyundai Elantra do me a favor
don't follow too close Okay police did not ticket Cole Burger they gave a verbal warning and the trip continued
home and then coburger's holiday came to an abrupt halt a suspect is under arrest
for the quadruple murder of four Idaho college students on December 30th 2022 police made that announcement that Brian
coburger was under arrest for the murders he was arrested at his family's home in albrightsville Pennsylvania at 3
A.M with approximately 50 law enforcement officers on the scene there were multiple windows that were broken I
believe to gain access as well as multiple tours authorities believe Brian coburger acted alone Brian was very
shocked by his arrest Brian did not know why they were there but he was aware of
the case ongoing in Idaho Monroe County public defender Jason labarr represented
holberger in Pennsylvania as he was awaiting extradition to Idaho Brian indicated to me that he was eager
to be exonerated that he was willing to go back to Idaho on January 3rd at a hearing in Pennsylvania coburger signed
his waiver of extradition they're squirting him off the tarmac there and on January 4th he flew to Idaho where he
is in jail charged with the four murders all right this is state of Idaho versus Brian
culberger on January 5th coburger appeared in court in Moscow with his new public defender to hear the charges read
against him he has yet to enter a plea the maximum penalty for this offense if you were to plead guilty or be found
guilty is death or imprisonment for life do you understand yes that same day that affidavit was
released that laid out startling new details about the murder investigation according to the affidavit one of the
surviving roommates actually saw the murderer and stood in a frozen shock phase she is referred to as DM in the
affidavit and told police that earlier she heard a female voice say something to the effect of there's someone here
and later a male voice saying something to the effect of it's okay I'm going to help you
later she opened her door after she heard crying and saw a figure clad in Black clothing and a mask
she described the figure as five foot ten with bushy eyebrows the affidavit states that according to
DM the male walked toward the back sliding door and DM locked herself in her room
it was later in the morning when that call was made to 9-1-1 from one of the surviving roommates phones to report an
unconscious person it is unclear what occurred in the hours before police were called
It is believed the murders took place between 4 and 4 25 A.M police say they discovered on the bed in
Madison's room a knife sheath with a marine Insignia that looks similar to this one I would imagine that a crime
scene as as grisly and ghastly as this one that there would have been DNA left by the perpetrator according to the
affidavit the knife sheath was processed and the Idaho State lab later located a
single source of male DNA on the button snap they were able to link it to DNA recovered from the trash at the
Pennsylvania coburger family home it is not clear what if any connection coburger had with the victims however
the affidavit states that by using cellular phone data police were able to place coburger's cell phone near the
crime scene on at least 12 occasions before November 13 2022 all of those occasions except for one
occurred in the late evening and early morning hours even with these new details many
questions remain a newly issued gag order prohibits officials and others involved in the case from speaking about
the murders also authorities have sealed a search warrant that was carried out at
coburger's home in Pullman Washington this is one where you don't want a mistake you don't want something to
happen during this process that's going to give the alleged suspect an opportunity to beat the case now the
case will work its way through the court system as parents who lost their children
will be looking for answers we find the truth you know you get the truth and then that that'll that'll be
everything [Music] you can see it in the stunned silent faces of the kids faces that ask why without even speaking
young eyes glisten bathed in the glow of Candlelight a ritual all too familiar Across America the flowers prayers the
vows to carry on in Idaho they hold on tight to each other and to the memories of those loved and
lost [Music] [Applause] [Music] and the friends [Music] life is so unfair and unpredictable
for Santa cronodle's friend Emily the wound remains Raw a little tired until we'll find Justice For You Ethan Maddie
and Kaylee we love you all so much and for Ashland Maddie mogan's memory is still vibrant
you truly will live on forever not only in my heart but in the heart of so many people that were impacted by
your beautiful smile Your Grace your patience your open heart and your craziness Hunter Johnson
remembers of pal he could rely on Ethan Chapin Ethan was always someone you could count on to
make you smile and cheer up your mood and I I feel so lucky so I've shared so many great memories
with him but those who are older perhaps sense that pain that runs this deep never goes
away Kaylee's father Steve gonsalves yeah you don't heal from something like this it's never gonna happen you're
never gonna be healed you're never gonna get through this when they died part of you dies
we're tired of all these type of crimes we're tired of all this stuff and um we can rally around these
terrible tragedies and we're hoping that as a society we come back stronger and we we decide to not let this be accepted
anymore you know that's what I hope for [Music] fantastic actress she wanted to be in
movies a cosplay model charged with her fiance's murder I didn't do what they're
saying I did now will the jury believe she's not acting who do you believe killed Matthew Trussler Melissa Turner
48 hours Saturday on CBS

Four college students are found stabbed to death in their home. Police say the suspect had studied the criminal mind. "48 Hours" correspondent Peter Van Sant reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

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Brief Summary

Brian Kohberger faces murder charges for the deaths of four Idaho students, with family members sharing their grief and memories in this episode.

Key points

The Court Appearance. Brian Kohberger faces four charges of first-degree murder in Idaho, potentially facing life in prison or the death penalty.
The Community in Shock. The town of Moscow grapples with the aftermath of the gruesome murders of four students.
Brian's Background. Brian Kohberger's academic pursuits in criminology raise questions about his motives and actions.
The Victims Remembered. Friends and family honor the lives of Kaylee, Maddie, Ethan, and Zana, highlighting their dreams and aspirations.
The Arrest. Authorities apprehend Brian Kohberger, believed to be responsible for the murders, 47 days after the crime.
Community Shocked by Murders. The College Community in Moscow, Idaho, is shaken by a homicide not seen since 2015.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I just remember feeling okay, I was just with a friend.

A friend recalls the comfort of being with Brian before his arrest.

11:59WatchJan 9, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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