Surviving roommate helped police ID Idaho suspect Kohberger

(NewsNation) — The surviving roommate who lived in the house where four University of Idaho students were killed later helped police identify the man accused of the deadly stabbings, a newly unsealed probable cause affidavit shows.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested last week in Pennsylvania, in connection with the fatal stabbings of four students: Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20. The three women lived together, along with two roommates who ultimately survived. Chapin and Kernodle were dating.

Court records — which became available Thursday morning after Kohberger arrived in Idaho — reveal the justification authorities used to obtain a warrant for Kohberger’s arrest.

Authorities believe homicides occurred between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. at a residence on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, according to the affidavit

In the affidavit, it states that one roommate was woken up at 4 a.m. to what she thought was the sound of Goncalves playing with her dog. A short time later, the roommate said she heard Goncalves say something to the effect of "there's someone here," according to the affidavit. Police said it's possible, per a review of records of Kernodle's phone, that she also could have said this, as her phone indicated she was likely awake and on TikTok at approximately 4:12 a.m. When the roommate looked out of her bedroom, she did not see anything.

The roommate then opened her door a second time when she heard what she thought was crying from Kernodle's room. The roommate then said she heard a male voice apparently say "It's OK, I'm going to help you."

After the roommate opened her door for a third time, she “saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her.”

She told police the figure was 5-foot-10 or taller and a male who was "not very muscular but athletically built." The man the roommate saw, she said, also had "bushy eyebrows." As the witness stood in a "frozen shock phase," the man walked toward the back sliding glass door, and she locked herself in her room. She said she did not recognize him.

After reviewing Kohberg's state driver's license information and photograph, police saw that it indicated he is a white man, with a height of 6' who weighs 185 pounds.

"Additionally, the photograph of Kohberger shows that he has bushy eyebrows," the affidavit said. "Kohberger's physical description is consistent with the description of the male (the roommate) saw inside the King Road Residence on Nov.13."

Last year, both roommates of Mogen, Kernodle and Goncalves gave a statement on the killings. One said she knows "somewhere Xana and Ethan are together, keeping each other company, watching us and telling us, ‘It’s OK and that we have each other.’ Maddie and Kaylee, the inseparable duo, the two best friends that were like sisters.”

The other wrote that she wishes she could give each of her roommates "one last hug" and tell them she loved them.

“You always told me that everything happens for a reason,” she wrote. “But I’m having a really hard time trying to understand the reason for this.”