The man accused of
killing four University of Idaho
students is back in court this m
Brian Cobourg or faces four
counts of first degree murder.
He has yet to enter a plea.
This is his second appearance in
Since being extradited,
you'll remember, from Pennsylvan
where he was first arrested.
Jean Casarez has been watching t
She's joining me right now.
Thanks for being here, Jean.
What has happened in court?
Very important.
We have just learned a date of J
is going to be
the probable cause hearing.
This is a very important hearing
because this is where the prosec
has to put on evidence
to show exactly what they have.
And then if they have enough,
the case will be bound over for
But the defense can cross-examin
We may learn more at this point.
We just have the affidavit.
And yesterday,
I was speaking to a former FBI a
20 years he was with the FBI
He was the co-founder of the for
genetic genealogy division of th
And I asked him,
isn't there more than
what's in this probable cause af
I specifically asked him
about DNA at the scene
very well.
Could be,
I don't know, didn't indicate
whether or not he was wearing gl
It leads me to believe
that if they found DNA
on the button, of the knife
sheath, that he was not wearing
So in that case, very, very like
that he
perhaps touched,
you know, the door
to get in and out of the residen
The door to the other rooms.
So it's things like this
that I think we can expect
at that probable cause hearing.
One more thing today.
No bond for the defendant.
He will remain in custody,
will remain behind bars.
Okay. Jean, thank you so much.
I really appreciate that.
Joining me
now is CNN senior law enforcemen
Andrew McCabe.
He's, of course,
a former deputy director of the
Andy, this is one of those appea
in court
where Jeanne sums it up perfectl
He came in, they set a date
and kind of they went along.
There's a lot to happen
now between now
and that probable cause hearing.
I want to walk through a little
of what we do know so far,
which is in that affidavit,
the most notable pieces of evide
that we have
from the probable cause affidavi
One of the things is
phone records indicating that co
phone was near
the murder victims residence
at least 12 times
between June of 2022
to the time around
the time of the arrest.
How is that helpful?
Well, it's
a fascinating fact for us, Kate,
because this is really
the only thing in the affidavit
that even hints at a connection
before the homicide
between Co Berger and these vict
You know,
we still don't have any sense
of what his motivation
might have been, how
he became
focused on this house
and or these people.
But the fact that he was in the
his phone puts him
in the area of the house
on 12 occasions
prior to the homicide
is a pretty strong confirmation
that long
before the murders,
he was already focused on this r
And like I said before, and or f
on the occupants of that house.
So it's it's
our first effort
to build out
what might have been happening
in the lead up to the homicide.
Well, then there is that knife s
I've been curious to ask you kin
I don't know
if you find it
more important less important
than the phone records, this kni
that was found at the scene
laying on the bed.
Next,
one of the victims and investiga
that DNA testing
linked the sheets
to DNA found in the trash
at Coburg, his parents home.
So essentially
linking the sheets
to Brian Coburg himself, that se
pretty important.
It is absolutely critical.
It's by far
the most important piece of evid
in this case so far.
Even with it, assume
you had all the phone records
you have,
puts him in the area,
shows him moving back and forth,
likely between his residence
and and the homicide scene
on the night of the murders.
None of that actually
puts him in the house.
That DNA puts him
not just in the house, but in li
in the bed where two victims wer
So it's absolutely
the most critical piece of evide
It's possible that that DNA got
on the button of the knife sheat
before the homicide,
maybe as he was picking up his t
and preparing to go that night
before he had put his gloves on.
So again,
it gives you a piece of DNA
that you might not have otherwis
collected from the crime scene
if he was
smart enough to wear gloves
during during the commission
of the crime.
So and then, of course, it's
the familial DNA recovered
from the garbage in the Pennsylv
by the by the parents house.
That actually
gives us
a pretty good identification
that the DNA belongs,
in fact, to Coburg or
where or what do you think at th
There's so much to learn, of cou
But is the most
the kind of biggest outstanding
that the defense
could exploit to push back on
some of this evidence
that we've just laid out.
You know, what we know so
far, which I'm sure is far
less than what
the investigators know
already presents a pretty damnin
The first hurdle,
as we've just been talking
about, is always putting the def
at the scene of the crime.
The DNA clearly does that.
Then you have all that other
supporting information
about the vehicle,
the vehicle on surveillance,
the movement of his cell phone
in the period before the homicid
and then,
of course,
the absence of his cell phone
pinging the towers during the ho
But then he shows up the next mo
before the crime is even
reported to the police.
All that stuff is is,
I think, very persuasive.
It's likely that the investigato
have collected
additional evidence after the ar
because they've executed search
at his residence,
his parents residence,
and also in his car.
I think the thing
that we're looking for now
is whether any of those search w
may be on
electronic devices or email acco
conclusively show us how
and why
he began targeting those poor pe
So much to learn.
Really appreciate it.
Now we have a probable cause hea
that they have set the date for.
I really appreciate it.
And good to see you. Thank you.