MOSCOW, Idaho (Court TV) — Newly released search warrants show investigators focused on some of Bryan Kohberger‘s online activity as they worked to connect him to the murders of four college students.
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a motion hearing regarding a gag order, Friday, June 9, 2023, in Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho. A judge overseeing the case against Kohberger, charged with killing four University of Idaho students last fall, is set to hear arguments over a gag order that largely bars attorneys and other parties in the case from speaking with news reporters. (Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, Pool)
Kohberger was indicted on murder and burglary charges after he allegedly broke into a home and brutally stabbed Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, all University of Idaho students, on Nov. 13, 2022.
While a gag order is in place and most documents in the case are sealed, search warrants were released on Sept. 28, offering new insight into the investigation.
Investigators served one of the search warrants to Amazon on May 10, and said there was reason to believe that activity on the site from March 20-30, 2022 and Nov. 1-Dec. 6, 2022, may hold clues to the murders. The warrant specified “all detailed customer click activity pertaining to knives and accessories,” significant because the victims were stabbed to death. Investigators have also said in court filings that they have DNA from the scene that was found on a knife sheath.
The Amazon warrant further asks for details of all payment methods, items placed in Kohberger’s cart, removed or deleted from the cart, or saved/wish-listed items, as well as reviews read by the user and any comments he made.
YouTube was also served a search warrant, looking for subscriber information and device identifiers for all devices that logged into accounts, including IMEI addresses, cookies, and locations. The warrant also requested channel analytics and any comments made or mentions of the account made by other users.
The warrant served to Apple on Aug. 1 similarly asked for the records of all devices associated with the user ID, including electronic serial numbers and SIM information, as well as contents of all emails, instant messages and files stored in the iCloud. Records were also obtained for “locations where the account or devices associated with the accessed account, including all the data stored in connection with AirTags, Location Services, Find My, and Apple Maps.”
A warrant served to Spotify asked for logs of user actions, including search queries, playlists, interactions with other users and streaming history, as well as “User device sensor data to include motion-generated or orientation-generated device sensor data which the user device collects about the way the user moves or holds their device.”
Each warrant asked for any financial information linked to the accounts, and a search warrant served to Venmo on July 25 asked for all bank accounts, credit/debit cards and transactions linked to the account, as well as the names of the transactions’ recipients.
Search warrants released in June indicated investigators had been digging into Bryan Kohberger’s digital activity, with warrants served to Google, TikTok and AT&T, among others.
Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to the murders and is expected in court on Oct. 26, where his attorneys will argue for his indictment to be dismissed.
