Suspected mass murderer Bryan Kohberger was previously pulled over in his Hyundai Elantra close to the house where he is accused of slaughtering four University of Idaho students.
Online court records show that the 28-year-old criminologist was hit with an infraction in Moscow, Idaho, for driving without his seatbelt on Aug. 21, nearly three months before the shocking Nov. 13 slayings.
He was stopped around 11:40 p.m. on the main Highway 8 through Moscow, according to a citation obtained by the Independent — and at the intersection that leads straight to the off-campus home where the four students were stabbed to death.
Although the turning is around 1.7 miles from the house on King Road, around a five-minute drive, it is the exact route that online maps advise taking to get to nearby Pullman, where the accused killer lived.
The student and teaching assistant was driving his white Hyundai Elantra at the time, according to the citation — the same vehicle that would become key in the quadruple murder case.
Investigators first announced on Dec. 7 that they were desperately seeking info on white Elantras after one was seen in the “immediate area” of the murder house.
The citation did not specify why the accused killer was in the area when pulled over in August. Latah County JailRight up until Kohberger’s arrest Friday, police continued seeking tips on the cars, stressing that “investigators believe the occupant(s) of this vehicle may have critical information to share regarding this case.”
Here’s the latest coverage on the brutal killings of four college friends:
- Why Bryan Kohberger’s guilty plea means he may get the last laugh — and torment his victims further
- Byran Kohberger’s former criminology professor fears her serial-killer courses inspired him
- Prosecutors offered Bryan Kohberger a plea deal despite a mountain of damning evidence — here’s what they had
- Deluded Bryan Kohberger fans known as ‘probergers’ insist he’s innocent – despite guilty plea deal: ‘Reeks of a coverup’
- Families of slaughtered Idaho students vow to fight Bryan Kohberger plea deal: ‘Idaho has failed’
Online records suggest that Kohberger failed to appear at Latah County Magistrate Court, but that his case was closed on Sept. 16 after a default judgment.
The Latah County sheriff also confirmed the late-night August stop to TMZ, without elaborating on why Kohberger was thought to have been in Moscow.
During the August stop, Kohberger was in his Elantra. the car that cops say was spotted close to the murder scene and also the one in which he drove home to Pennsylvania. Indiana State PoliceHowever, he has been accused of being in the same area in the early hours of Nov. 13 when Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, were stabbed to death.
He was busted Friday at his family home in Pennsylvania after making the cross-country trip with his dad — reportedly trailed by an FBI surveillance team.
He was twice pulled over on the trip home, reportedly at the behest of the feds, who hoped to get bodycam images of his hands.
The suspect was stopped twice while driving home with his dad last month, reportedly at the behest of the FBI. Indiana State PoliceKohberger arrived back in Idaho late Wednesday and is expected to appear in court Thursday to face four first-degree murder charges.
After his appearance, the probable cause affidavit will be made public, finally detailing why he was arrested nearly seven weeks after the murders.
