Judge Steven Hippler has lifted the “gag order” banning police and prosecutors from discussing their investigations into Bryan Kohberger, who has pleaded guilty to the brutal 2022 murders of four college students at the University of Idaho.
Moscow Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger said that bringing justice to the victims has been his team’s focus and that their “mission was accomplished.”
“Our hope is that not only the families, but the friends, even the Moscow community and all the communities that were affected by this, can start to heal and bring some sort of closure to this horrendous act,” Dahlinger told ABC News.
However, the police chief could not identify a clear motive for the murders, which shocked the nation and devastated the state of Idaho.
Earlier this month, Kohberger, 30, entered into a plea deal and admitted killing four University of Idaho students. The four roommates—Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle—were stabbed to death by Kohberger in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022, in their off-campus home in the town of Moscow, Latah County.
The former PhD student at Washington State University is not thought to have known the victims. The plea deal was described by Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves, as a “deal with the devil.”
Speaking to ABC News, Washington State University police chief Gary Jenkins said that he knew Kohlberger, having interviewed him for an intern position in 2022, just months before the killings.
“The hair on the back of my neck stood up,” Jenkins said, when he heard that Bryan Kohberger was being linked with the case.
“His name definitely rang a bell with me. And I told them that I had interviewed Bryan Kohberger… I had his résumé and cover letter for the intern position.”
The former Pullman, Washington police chief said he did not select Kohberger for the intern position, owing to his perceived lack of personability.
“He didn’t have a real conversational manner about him,” Jenkins said. “I just didn’t think he would be able to develop that trust and rapport.”
According to Jenkins, criminal justice professors overseeing the Ph.D. program at WSU feel “responsible” for not having intervened prior to the murders.
“I’m a law enforcement professional. I interviewed him, and I couldn’t tell you what was to come, and I don’t know how they could either.”
Kohberger’s attorneys have said they will maintain their silence until sentencing, which is expected on July 23.
Idaho is one of the 27 U.S. states that uses capital punishment, although there have been no executions in the state since 2012.
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