Just hours ago, Moscow murder suspect
Brian Koberger faced a judge for the
first time in late Latah County.
He faces first degree murder charges
accused of killing four University
of Idaho students just hours ago.
Officials also released the
affidavit that lays out new evidence.
It also reveals a new timeline.
The vets we now know how investigators
say they were able to link Co burgers
DNA to the gruesome crime scene.
But first, let's go to Amanda Rowley.
She has been at the Latah County
Courthouse all morning long.
She was in the room as Coburger faced
an Idaho judge for the very first time.
Hey, good afternoon.
Just to be transparent,
there was quite a line of media members
to get into this initial appearance.
When we got in, it was a very quick
hearing and it was completely
full of members of the media.
But sitting in the front row where
family members of Kaylee Gonzalvez,
who is one of the murdered
University of Idaho students.
Now during this hearing,
the suspect showed no emotion and spoke
very little, meaning he only spoke.
And the judge asked him questions.
Now the judge read through each
charge against Brian Koberger,
1 count of burglary and
four counts of murder.
The Max penalty.
As the judge read in court today,
for each count of murder in the first
degree is death or life in prison.
Cooney County's chief public defender,
Ann Taylor, is representing the suspect.
Coburger is currently being held in
Latah County Jail with no bail and this
morning his attorney argued against this.
But the prosecutor,
Bill Thompson, told the judge.
Idaho law does not entitle the suspect to
a bond because of the charges against him.
Adding that he was arrested
across the country.
The judge decided Koberger will
remain in jail without bail.
She also gave the suspect a no contact order.
That means it's he's prohibited from
having any contact with the victims,
families,
friends and the surviving roommates.
Now,
shortly after the hearing this morning,
the attorney representing the Gonzalvez
family commented on their behalf.
Take a listen.
It's obviously an emotional time for the
family seeing the defendant
for the first time.
This is the beginning of the criminal
justice system and the family will
will be here for the long haul.
And that's the statement for the media
today. Thank you.
Now here's what we can expect in
the upcoming court proceedings.
A status conference hearing is now
scheduled for next Thursday at 10:00
AM and this was at the request of the
suspects defense attorney from today.
Koberger's preliminary hearing must
happen within the next two weeks,
and during that hearing he will have to
enter a plea of either not guilty or guilty.
We'll be keeping track of that
and posting any updates we can
as we learn more reporting from
the Latah County Courthouse.
Amanda Rowley.
Creme 2 News with Coburger
appearing in Latah County Court
we now have court documents
giving us a new timeline of this
students murders and how DNA evidence
was used to track down the suspect.
KREM 2, Channing Curtis and
Tim Pham joining us now with a
breakdown of the 18 page affidavit.
Now Laura, that's right.
We've actually been reading over this
document since it was first released
just before 9:00 this morning.
So it it's a lot to break down.
Yeah we broke it to you here
on up with creme. So let's.
Start things off by taking a look at
a new timeline that investigators
laid out in this affidavit.
We know now that the murders happen on
the early morning hours of November 13th,
but now we're getting a more
detailed look at what investigators
believe actually played out.
The new details lead investigators
to believe the deaths happen
anywhere between 4:00 and 4:25 AM.
Here's what happened starting at 4:00 AM,
according to the affidavit,
police say Xanax Kernodle received
a DoorDash order at the house
at around 4:00 AM.
Cell phone data also shows that
she was likely awake in using
the Tick Tock app at 4:12 AM.
A surviving roommate who lived in the house,
referred to as a DM in the
court documents we have here,
told police something woke
her up at around 4:00 AM,
but thought it sounded like and
solves playing with her dog in one
of the upstairs bedrooms at 4:17 AM,
a security camera in the area
picked up distorted audio of what
sounded like voices or a whimper,
followed by a loud thud.
Then at 4:20 AM,
a vehicle matching the description
of the white Hyundai Elantra was
spotted in the area speeding away.
A vehicle matching that same description
was seen again just before 5:30 AM
on cameras all the way in Pullman,
WA.
Now,
that same surviving roommate that I
just told you about gives police a
chilling account of what happened
that early morning in this affidavit,
and it's absolutely terrifying.
This roommate's bedroom was
right by Zaner Kernodle,
and she told investigators
that she heard several things
throughout those early morning.
Hours now the affidavit says that this
roommate told investigators sometime
after 4:00 AM she thought she heard
crying coming from Zanna's room and
heard a male voice say something like,
it's OK, I'm going to help you.
Then that same roommate says they
opened their door for a third
time that morning and saw a figure
clad in black clothing and a mask
that covered the person's mouth
and nose walking towards her.
She says the male walked past her as
she stood in a frozen shock phase.
She says the male walked past her
toward the back sliding glass door.
She then locked herself in her room.
Now, that roommate also told investigators
that she did not recognize the person,
but she did give them a detailed
description of what they looked
like. And that description,
along with cell phone records
around the area and area,
surveillance cameras and a DNA match,
all LED police to arresting
Brian Koberger Laura.
Alright, thank you.
And Coburger arrived in Idaho
last night and this morning
Nicole Hernandez was tracking his
arrival back in Latah County.
She gives us now the breakdown on
his highly anticipated arrival.
Leading up to the court appearance today,
Koberger first had to make
it back here to North Idaho.
Pennsylvania State Police had
arrested him back on Friday.
This was our first look here
at Koberger as he went into a
Pennsylvania court Tuesday afternoon.
At that hearing, he waived his
right to an extradition hearing.
A Pennsylvania defense attorney says
Kolberger likely did that so he could see
the information in the arrest affidavit.
Less than 24 hours after that court hearing,
Monroe County Corrections in Pennsylvania
released Coburger to Pennsylvania State.
These custody,
they then got koberger on a plane
from Pennsylvania to Moscow.
That plane ride took almost all day
with Coburger Landing at Pullman Moscow
Regional Airport yesterday evening.
This is video of copper getting
off that plane.
Sheriff's deputies immediately it took
coburger here to the Latah County Jail.
They drove him straight into that garage
right behind me, booked him into jail.
And this is where Koberger
spent the night in Moscow.
Nicole Hernandez,
Crime 2 news.
Where you headed?
Well, we're coming from WSU
and you're going where?
Ohh. Ohh OK.
This afternoon we are seeing a new
body camera footage that came in from
Indiana police during several traffic
stops of Coburger's car during his
trip from Washington to Pennsylvania.
You know, yesterday we showed you a video
from an Indiana State trooper who stopped
coburger for following too closely.
This video is from a separate traffic stop
that happened though on the very same day,
just minutes later.
First in this new video,
you can see a deputy with
Hancock County Sheriff's Office.
Approach the white alantra similar,
of course, to the one investigators
have been searching for at the time.
The deputy then says Coburger
and his father were pulled over
for following a van too closely.
But something to note about the video
is the date and time December 15th,
beginning at 10:41 AM.
Then, about 9 minutes later,
Indiana State Police separately
stop Koberger.
This is at 10:50 AM,
stopped again for following too closely.
These two stops are on December 15th,
happening eight days after the Moscow
Police Department began asking the public
for information about a wider lantra.
However,
the Indiana State Police told
us at that time the trooper had
no information about a crime or
search for a car in connection.
With the Idaho case,
Coburger was driving at the time he
and his father were pulled over,
and during the traffic stop,
Coburger talks to the officer at that time,
bringing up a SWAT standoff that
had happened that day in Pullman.
Yeah, I hadn't heard about that
incident just yesterday or.
About an hour and a half ago,
but still wrapping it up. I was not sure
those situations, if they
did shoot somebody, they say.
More
interesting.
It appears that Coburger was not
ticketed for either traffic stop.
If you'd like to watch both body
Cam videos in their entirety,
you can head to our website.
We have it posted there eqrem.com.
As the University of Idaho murder case
continues to receive massive national
attention and in our commitment
to bringing more to every story,
we are taking a look at the challenges of
handling a case of this magnitude cream 2.
Shannon Moudy spoke to a federal
prosecutor and a seasoned defense attorney
who actually represented Ted Bundy.
This afternoon we take a look into what goes
goes into behind trying a case like this one.
From the beginning, the killings
of four University of Idaho students
has drawn the national spotlight.
Now that a suspect is on his way
back to Latah County to face charges,
we're digging deeper into what
the legal process may look like.
I sat down to learn more about trying such
a highly publicized case from someone
who knows about high profile cases.
Does that make it harder with all
of that attention to defend someone?
Oh, of course,
defense attorney John Henry Brown.
You know, nobody, nobody in their right
mind back in the 70s and 80s would
believe Ted Bundy might be innocent.
He defended convicted
serial killer Ted Bundy.
And even before the age of
social media speculation,
Brown says defending cases with
widespread attention was difficult.
I think actually, since the OJ Simpson trial,
there's been a presumption of guilt.
I don't think people believe in the
presumption of innocence anymore.
In Koberger's case,
some details have already come out,
including the use of his DNA to
identify him as the suspect,
Brown says. That could also
make this a hard case to defend
the minute they form an opinion,
like, OK, a card that's similar to
his car is seen at the scene and OK,
there is some sort of DNA evidence minute
the public hears that. DNA evidence?
I think everybody's mind is closed.
Protecting the rights of the accused
doesn't solely fall on the defense team.
Every defendant is entitled
to a fair and impartial jury,
and that is, you know.
Part of our obligation to ensure
that we are doing all we can to
protect the due process rights
of victims as well as defendants.
Vanessa Waldorf is the US attorney
for Washington's Eastern District.
Speaking in general about prosecuting
cases, she says prosecutors get
involved long before an arrest.
That involvement of the prosecution is in
is throughout the investigation to ensure
that constitutional due process is met,
Waldorf says. Preserving
those rights for a defendant.
Also takes time for both sides.
That's why it could take
years to see a case through.
There is continued investigation by
the prosecution and law enforcement
to run down leads that might be
necessary in order to move forward
with a fair and just trial.
And all of those matters can take,
you know, additional time.
Chrome two also reached out
to Ann Taylor who've we've
learned will represent Coburger.
And as of last night,
Taylor is under that non dissemination
order from the Latah County judge,
which prevents her from
commenting on the case.
So we have not heard back
and of course this continues to
be a developing story and we'll
continue to bring you updates
as we learn more here at KREM 2.
And for all of your coverage on this story,
text us the word Idaho to 509-448-2000.
We'll send a link with all that all
the information in the stories.
Right to your phone.