Bryan Kohberger’s Erratic Searches Show He Went Paranoid After Police Linked Car To Idaho Killings

Bryan Kohberger carried out several erratic internet searches after police announced they had identified a suspect’s car in the Idaho murders.

The unusual activity, uncovered during his murder trial, was confirmed by a forensic team that analyzed Kohberger’s phone data.

Digital forensic investigator Jared Barnhart, who reviewed the data, said Bryan Kohberger believed police were closing in on him once the vehicle was tied to the case.

Police Identifying The Suspect’s Car Was ‘A Huge Stress Point’ For Bryan Kohberger

On December 30, 2022, Kohberger was arrested in connection with the murders of four Idaho students, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Just a day earlier, the convicted murderer had made a series of unusual online searches, which a digital expert now claims were prompted by police revealing that they had identified a vehicle potentially used in the murders, per the New York Post.

“I think the vehicle was a huge stress point for him,” said Jared Barnhart of Cellebrite, a digital forensic company that works with law enforcement.

According to Barnhart, Kohberger quickly downloaded a PDF list of Hyundai Elantras from Washington State University, where he was studying at the time of the murders.

The former PhD student also appeared interested in changing the appearance of his car as he spent some time searching for an auto detailing shop.

Additionally, his phone data indicated that he was even shopping online for a different car altogether.

The Convicted Murderer Was Paranoid About Being Caught

Speaking further about Kohberger’s behavior, Barnhart suggested that the convicted murderer believed police were onto him, which explained his erratic online searches.

“If you weren’t the bad guy, you wouldn’t care, but he was scrambling, and he thought the police were on him,” said the digital forensic expert. “And they were. They were at that point.”

As part of his erratic searches, Kohberger also visited the Moscow Police Department website and checked the latest press release on the case, seemingly to gauge how close police were to catching the suspect.

His paranoia about being caught was further reflected in his searches for terms such as “wiretap” and “psychopaths paranoid.”

“Literally the pressure of, ‘Oh, look, they’re really talking about my car,’ caused…within 15 minutes of behavior, him trying to clean it and get rid of it,” Banhart added about Kohberger’s behavior. “Just not normal.”

DNA Evidence At The Crime Scene Led To Bryan Kohberger’s Arrest

Unfortunately for Kohberger, his worst fears came true, as just a day after making the searches, he was arrested at his parents’ home.

Interestingly, it wasn’t Kohberger’s vehicle that sealed his arrest but the Ka-Bar knife sheath found at the crime scene.

The sheath contained DNA evidence from the suspected killer and was determined to have originally held the yet-to-be-found weapon used in the fatal murders of the Idaho students.

Through advanced forensic technology, police were able to link the DNA to Kohberger.

The Idaho Killer Would Have Been Caught Even Without The DNA Discovery

The sheath became a key piece of evidence in the case, which ultimately ended with the former PhD student agreeing to a plea deal of four consecutive life sentences for the killings.

Despite the importance of the DNA discovery, detectives later noted that even without the sheath, Kohberger likely would have been caught.

Their alternate plan, had the sheath not been recovered at the crime scene, was to track him down using leads tied to his vehicle.

IDOC Plans To Limit Access To Bryan Kohberger’s Records

Following Kohberger’s sentencing, he was moved to the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, one of the prison facilities managed by the Idaho Department of Corrections.

Within a few weeks of his stay, Kohberger filed several complaints, including some that detailed rape threats from inmates in his block.

These complaints have since gone viral, leading to multiple requests for Kohberger’s public records by the media and the public.

While IDOC has since guaranteed that Kohberger is safe within its facility, the agency recently declared its intention to intensely scrutinize requests for records of Kohberger and other inmates.

“The Idaho Department of Correction (IDOC) recently made available public records associated with complaints filed by Bryan Kohberger in response to public records requests submitted by members of the news media and the public,” a rep told the New York Post.

The rep continued, “IDOC seeks to clarify that additional scrutiny will be applied to future requests for public records concerning any individual in IDOC custody.”