A newly released photograph of Bryan Kohberger shows the confessed University of Idaho killer moments after he was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania.
Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson, who was the lead investigator on the case, told ABC News it appeared Kohberger was “sorting through garbage, with gloves on, just shortly before the arrest occurred.”
Moscow, Idaho, Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger — who was a captain during the investigation and was appointed chief last year — recalled getting a text from investigators saying, “We got him,” on December 30, 2022, about six weeks after the murders.
“The next thing on, there was a picture of him in handcuffs from the scene,” Dahlinger said. “I can’t describe the relief that washed over in that moment.”
The photo shows Kohberger, wearing dark shorts and a dark hoodie, sitting with his hands behind his back, staring at the camera.
Gilbertson, part of the team who interviewed Kohberger that day, described him as “expressionless,” saying the then-Washington State University graduate student in criminology liked to “speak to you and teach and enlighten you.” He said Kohberger spoke at length with investigators about WSU and Pullman, about 10 miles from Moscow and the home of the Washington school. He said that Kohberger asked several times why he was being interviewed.
Eventually, Gilbertson said, he told him, “We’re here because of the case in Moscow.”
“As soon as we mentioned that, then he stopped, and he said, ‘I don’t want to talk anymore,’” Gilbertson said. “We asked if he was familiar with it, if he knew anything about Moscow, and he said, no … and stopped right then and said he wanted an attorney.”
Kohberger pleaded guilty last month to the murders of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, and Kaylee Goncalves and was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years for a burglary charge.
He is currently being housed in the “J” block of the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, which is considered the most restrictive area, ABC reported.
