(NewsNation) — Idaho police have begun releasing investigative reports related to Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to killing four college students in 2022.
The Moscow police department released authorized files Wednesday afternoon after Kohberger was handed four consecutive life sentences for the brutal killings.
Judge Steven Hippler had imposed a gag order in 2023 at the beginning of the legal process in order to preserve the integrity of the case, but lifted it last week citing Kohberger’s guilty plea.
Hippler specifically stated that doing away with the gag order “does not convert sealed documents to unsealed documents,” and that the process to unseal won’t start until after sentencing
Kohberger brutally murdered Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus Idaho home in November 2022.
He took a plea deal, agreeing to serve four life sentences for the slayings. He confessed to killing them in court, avoiding a trial where prosecutors intended to seek the death penalty.
The former criminology student sat expressionless as several family and friends of the four young victims made emotional impact statements in court.
The hundreds of case files reveal the harrowing scene responding officers found when they got to the house. They also detail interviews with surviving roommates, inmates who were housed with Kohberger, and someone he matched with on Tinder.
Investigators spoke to a former coworker who described seeing injuries on his face and hands in November 2022. They also uncovered a Reddit post with a survey asking participants to provide information to “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime.”
Kohberger was transferred to state prison on Wednesday night, where he is expected to spend the rest of his life without the chance of parole.