Was Bryan Kohberger involved in another Moscow, ID-area home invasion?

Idaho 4 murder suspect Bryan Kohberger has been investigated for another Moscow, ID area home invasion that happened months before four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered in their home.

Kohberger has been cleared in the earlier case, but legal experts say news of the investigation could create reasonable doubt that Kohberger is guilty of the Moscow crime.

According to ABC 7 New York, a woman in Pullman, WA, less than 10 miles from Moscow, reported a masked man broke into her home with a knife around 3:30am, a few months before the University of Idaho students were murdered in November 2022.

The woman told police she kicked him in the stomach, and he ran. Police were unable to find any evidence or name a suspect in the case.

Kohberger doesn’t match that intruder’s description

Details of what the woman said happened are similar to what prosecutors allege Kohberger did when he broke into an off-campus home in Moscow and then stabbed and killed Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves.

The Pullman intruder, however, was described as around 5-foot-5-inches tall while Kohberger is 6 feet tall, and Kohberger had not yet enrolled at Washington State University in Pullman when the earlier break-in happened.

A Reddit comment noted, however, “[Kohberger] was listed as a person of interest because the school he attended was having enrollment events during that weekend.” But Kohberger had reportedly not yet visited the campus. The Pullman home invasion has been closed but remains unsolved.

Kohberger was linked to the Idaho 4 murder scene through DNA recovered from a knife sheath found at the home, a description from a surviving roommate inside the home when the murders happened that matched Kohberger, and security footage that showed the same kind of car that Kohberger owned near the crime scene around the same time the murders happened. Prosecutors say Kohberger turned his phone data off while in Moscow.

Casting reasonable doubt on Kohberger’s guilt

Referring to the Pullman home invasion, ABC News legal analyst Brian Buckmire noted while Kohberger was cleared, his defense would likely use the earlier home invasion report to cast reasonable doubt on Kohberger’s guilt, but there was no guarantee the judge in the case would allow it as evidence.

Despite the Kohberger evidence, many online insist he’s innocent. ” … [A]ll the prosecution has (that’s publicly available) is Kohberger near the scene of the crime and DNA evidence found on a knife sheath at the crime scene,” one Reddit comment said.

The comment also noted investigators never found a murder weapon, no DNA evidence in the car, no DNA evidence on his clothing, and no definitive evidence Kohberger was at the crime scene at the time of the murders.

The comment added, “Kohberger also has no motive for committing the crime and no known ties to the victims. A motive, either rational or irrational, is necessary to act; without a motive, there can be no action and the prosecution has yet to state a motive theory.”

Meanwhile, referring to the earlier Pullman break-in report, an X comment said, ” … Actually, it makes me think they got the wrong dude possibly now. Or at least leads me to question BK’s arrest more. Same everything 1 year prior.” Still, Kohberger is the only suspect so far named in the case.

Kohberger’s defense has offered an alibi for the night of the murders. “Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars,” his defense team said.

However, according to the prosecution, “… [T]he State is aware that the defendant was driving around rural areas of Whitman County, Washington, and Latah County, Idaho, during the early morning hours of November 13, 2022. In fact, the defendant’s travels during that time are described in the original Probable Cause Affidavit supporting the Criminal Complaint in this case.”

Kohberger never entered a plea but told the judge he looked forward to being exonerated. The judge entered a not-guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf. Kohberger’s trial is expected to start in Boise, ID, in August 2025.