Newly-released video shows Bryan Kohberger getting his license plates replaced at a Washington DMV office days after killing four University of Idaho students in 2022.
Kohberger, then 28, is seen in the surveillance footage at a Department of Motor Vehicles building in Pullman on November 18, 2022. YouTube user Christy’s Chaos was the first to obtain the footage, in which Kohberger is heard telling staff that he needed his license plate changed.
During the visit, a DMV worker told Kohberger that the area appears safer than San Francisco, which is where she is from.
“I like how small, quiet and I would say safe. But the whole Moscow thing, kinda makes it feel a little less,” the employee commented before Kohberger said, “Yeah,” and nodded his head in agreement.
Notably, Kohberger was later filmed filling out paperwork while wearing black gloves. Kohberger, who requested non-specialty plates, told the DMV worker that he was a Ph.D. student at Washington State University, where he studied criminology.
To avoid the death penalty, Kohberger, 30, admitted to fatally stabbing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves on November 13, 2022, at the women’s off-campus home in Moscow. The plea deal meant Kohberger will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also waived his right to appeal.
Before accepting a plea, Kohberger’s attorneys said he was not at the crime scene and was driving around alone the night the four students were fatally stabbed. The defense wanted to present “alternative perpetrators at trial, but Judge Steven Hippler rejected the list, whose names have not been released to the public.
Police claimed Kohberger visited the area 12 times before the slayings and that he turned off his phone on the night in question. Kohberger’s DNA was found on a knife sheath located near Mogen and Goncalves’ bodies, according to prosecutors. The murder weapon has not been found.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys accused prosecutors of withholding evidence about unidentified DNA samples — including DNA on a glove outside the home which also remains unidentified. The judge rejected those contentions as well.
Investigators tested DNA from a trash can outside Kohberger’s family home in Pennsylvania against DNA found on the sheath at the crime scene. Testing determined that “at least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father.”
At the time of the slayings, Kohberger was working on his Ph.D. in criminology from Washington State University, which is located 10 miles from the crime scene. He was arrested in Pennsylvania in December 2022, after taking a cross-country road trip with his father from Washington to Pennsylvania for the holidays.
Despite a plea deal, a motive in the quadruple murder remains undisclosed.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.
Join Nancy Grace for her new online video series designed to help you protect what you love most — your children.
[Feature Photo: YouTube]
