A new book on the University of Idaho murders attempts to lift the veil of secrecy that’s shrouded the case, revealing what those closest to the students believe was the motive behind admitted killer Bryan Kohberger’s brutal crime.
Bestselling author James Patterson and investigative reporter Vicky Ward teamed up for a new book released on Monday, “The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy.” The book not only poses a potential motive, but also sheds light on Kohberger’s life before the killings and follows multiple points of view of the timeline of the crime that sent shockwaves through Moscow and skyrocketed to national attention.
“For people who have followed this story, we wanted to give them closure,” Patterson told ABC News.
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Roommates Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, were all stabbed to death at the girls’ off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
Patterson and Ward conducted over 300 interviews with people who have ties to the case, including family and friends who believe Mogen was the target.
“There was consensus that it was Maddie that Kohberger was going for. And the victims’ families, I think, would all agree with that,” Ward said.
Moscow police allege Kohberger’s cellphone records show his phone appeared to be close to the victims’ house on at least 12 occasions between August and the night of the murders — almost always late at night.
The book described what it calls a “recurring nightmare” the victims’ friend Emily Alandt had after the murders. Alandt said she imagined that the now-admitted killer went to the restaurant where Mogen worked, expressed romantic interest in her and was rejected, prompting him to retaliate.
“When [the friends] are told that the guy who murdered their friends is this guy, Bryan Kohberger, they don’t recognize his photo. They can’t put it together,” Ward said. “That’s when Emily said the only explanation that she and [her boyfriend Hunter Johnson] could come up with is the story that we tell, as the story of her dream that Bryan Kohberger targeted Maddie. And that she doesn’t know the exact details, but that’s her best guess.”
Prosecutors said Mogen was the first of the four killed. A knife sheath with Kohberger’s DNA was found under her body, officials said.
The book also delves into Kohberger’s life as a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the killings.
“Kohberger, the criminologist, had such training for this, and he almost committed the perfect crime,” Patterson said. “Had he not left the knife sheath, he probably wouldn’t have got caught.”
In the wake of the shocking crime, as police searched for a suspect, one of the key sources of information was a surviving roommate, Dylan, who told friends, including Alandt, what she saw the night of the murders.
“It was really through Emily that we learned of what, sort of, [roommate] Dylan had gone through,” Ward said. “It sounded so surreal to them all, because she said he had a black mask and he looked like he was carrying a black vacuum. And they’re sitting there thinking, ‘Who could this be?’ And, ‘What on earth has happened?'”
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Kohberger was arrested nearly seven weeks after the murders.
After maintaining his innocence for more than two years, on July 2, the Pennsylvania Poconos native admitted to the quadruple killings in court and pleaded guilty to all counts. He’ll be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on the four first-degree murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count.
Now, as the families prepare for next week’s sentencing hearing on July 23, Patterson and Ward are hoping to give readers a true sense of the four victims.
“You will meet Ethan and Kaylee and Maddie and Xana,” Patterson said. “You will meet them and you will feel them as human beings.”
“I spoke to Stacey Chapin, Ethan’s mom. And she did say, which was wonderful to hear, that she’s so glad that this book exists, because it means that they’re not forgotten,” Ward said. “It is a tribute to them and their lives.”
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