Newly released body camera video shows the moment Indiana State Police (ISP) unknowingly pulled over the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students as he drove from Washington to Pennsylvania weeks after the murders.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was a doctoral student and teaching assistant at Washington State University when the four students were killed on Nov. 13 at an off-campus home near the university. Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30 at his parents' home in Chestnuthill Township in eastern Pennsylvania.
The ISP said a trooper stopped a white Hyundai Elantra driven by Kohberger around 10:50 a.m. on December 15, 2022, traveling on I-70 in Hancock County, Indiana.
In the video, Kohberger can be seen in the driver’s seat of the vehicle. ABC News reports Kohberger and his father were driving a pre-planned road trip from Washington to the family’s home in Pennsylvania when the vehicle was pulled over.
ISP said the trooper pulled the vehicle over for “following too closely.” The trooper can be heard in the video identifying himself and asking for a license and registration.
The ISP said in a press release there was “no information available on a suspect” for the Idaho murders at the time of the traffic stop. Any identifying or specific information about the white Hyundai Elantra or license plate reportedly seen in or around where the crime occurred was also not available at the time.
"During this time, the system utilized by the Indiana State Police to document law enforcement activity was under routine maintenance, and not available to the trooper for use," the ISP said in a press release.
A deputy with the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office also stopped Kohberger’s vehicle less than 10 minutes before being stopped by the ISP trooper.
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The sheriff’s office said the Elantra was stopped east of the rest area near mile marker 107 on I-70 for “following too closely.”
Both the sheriff’s deputy and ISP trooper gave Kohberger a verbal warning and let him go.
The ISP said the trooper “used his discretion and released the two men with a verbal warning” after learning the two had been stopped minutes before by the deputy he knew was working down the interstate.
Kohberger told a Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday he wouldn’t fight extradition to Idaho. ABC News reported early Wednesday morning that Kohberger was no longer lodged at the Monroe County Jail in Pennsylvania. A jail official told ABC News that Kohberger flew out Wednesday morning.
Authorities have released few details about the investigation and an Idaho judge issued a gag order barring police and attorneys from talking about the case. But court filings — including a document laying out Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson's reasons for accusing Kohburger of the killings — are expected to be unsealed once Kohberger arrives in Idaho.
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DNA evidence played a key role in identifying Kohberger as a suspect, and officials were able to match his DNA to genetic material recovered during the investigation, a law enforcement official said last week. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
Investigators have said they were still searching for a motive and the weapon used in the attack.
The bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington were found Nov. 13 at the rental home where the women lived. Kernodle and Chapin were dating, and he had been visiting the house that night.
The Moscow Police Department said Tuesday they will no longer provide updates on the case after a Latah County Magistrate judge issued a non-dissemination order, which prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and others involved in the case.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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