Authorities have discovered unsettling evidence revealing Bryan Kohberger kept personal items from women he knew before his conviction in a brutal college town murder case.
According to the New York Post, investigators found ID badges belonging to two women in the glove compartment of Kohberger’s vehicle while searching his parents’ home following his December 2022 arrest for the killing of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger, who was working on a Ph.D. in criminology at the time, was convicted of fatally stabbing four students—Kaylee Gonclaves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin—on November 13, 2022. The murders took place in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, sparking national attention and months of intense investigation.
Weeks after the violent incident, Kohberger was taken into custody at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. During a subsequent search of the property and his vehicle, police made the troubling discovery of ID badges concealed in his glove box.
One of the IDs belonged to a woman Kohberger had worked with while employed as a security guard at Pleasant Valley School District. Court records indicate he held that position between 2016 and 2021. The identity of the second woman remains undisclosed, but officials confirmed both had prior acquaintance with Kohberger.
Investigators find curious items tied to the past
According to prosecutors, both women were caught off guard when notified that Kohberger had held onto their identification cards. Neither woman reported having been threatened or harmed by him. Their statements raised further questions about his past behavior and psychological state.
The grisly details of the murders, combined with this latest revelation, have fueled deeper public and legal scrutiny into Kohberger’s motives. Though prosecutors laid out extensive evidence during his trial in Idaho, many continue to question what truly drove him to commit such a heinous act.
Kohberger declined to speak during his sentencing hearing, refusing to offer any explanation or show remorse before the court. His silence did little to ease the anguish of the victims’ families, some of whom gave tearful statements at the July 23, 2025, hearing held at the Ada County Courthouse.
Sentencing met with raw emotion and silence
During the hearing, Dylan Mortensen, one of the surviving roommates from the shared house on King Road, gave their account. Madison Mogen’s father was seen visibly emotional, shedding tears while listening to the victim impact statements presented that day.
The court proceedings marked the conclusion of a multi-year case that began with a traffic stop in Latah County. Body camera footage from that stop, released earlier this week, shows Kohberger acting far more open with law enforcement than he did during his later trial. In the video, Kohberger had been pulled over for driving 43 mph in a 35 mph zone. During his conversation with a deputy, he made several unusual comments, including a remark about being honest and questioning whether people lie to police about wearing seat belts.
Early police stop offers unusual insight
“I’m just being honest with you,” he said to the deputy early in the stop, before launching into a strange defense of his behavior. “Just for future reference, I’m not this person… like I told you I wasn’t wearing my seat belt — do people lie to you about that?” Less than three months after that encounter, Kohberger drove his white Hyundai Elantra cross-country to Idaho, where police say he entered the students’ home and carried out the attacks. The car later played a significant role in linking him to the scene during the investigation that followed.
Following the traffic stop and subsequent murders, authorities began compiling a timeline that eventually led them to Pennsylvania in late December. His arrest was coordinated with FBI agents and local police at his parents' house, where they found not only the IDs but also other evidence later presented at trial.
Public remains uneasy with lingering questions
Despite the conviction, concerns over Kohberger’s psychological profile remain in the spotlight. The presence of these IDs, investigators say, suggests a pattern of fixation that they hope to understand more fully. Experts and members of the public have speculated over possible behavioral indicators that predated the murders.
Law enforcement has not announced whether additional searches revealed more items tied to other individuals, but officials continue to comb through all materials collected from the initial investigation. As public interest in the case continues, attention has turned to understanding how someone with Kohberger’s academic background in criminology could carry out such targeted violence. For now, the victims’ families hope that the sentencing and recent revelations help provide some closure. Still, many are left grappling with the reality of how close Kohberger kept links to his past—and what those connections might have revealed had they been noticed earlier.
