WARNING: Graphic content
Some of the damning evidence that cold-blooded killer Bryan Kohberger left behind after he murdered four University of Idaho students in the middle of the night is seen in newly released pictures.
Size 13 footprints trudging from the back door into the snow from the off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, and a misplaced knife sheath painted one of the clearest pictures of the quadruple murderer’s movements in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
The photos, part of a massive, 3,000-file dump from the Idaho State Police, offered a glimpse of the tragic killings before they were quickly scrubbed from the website, according to the Daily Mail, which obtained the grisly images before they were swiftly taken down.
Footprints were found outside the Moscow, Idaho, home after Bryan Kohberger killed four University of Idaho students on Nov. 13, 2022.Idaho State Police
A close up of the footprints in the snow.Idaho State Police
The most incriminating items found at the bloody scene were a 13-inch tan leather knife sheath that fit a KA-BAR-style combat knife, which was the weapon used in the deadly stabbings of Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin.
The sheath was found on a bed inside Mogen’s room, surrounded by blood-soaked sheets.
Forensic analysts used traces of DNA from the sheath to identify Kohberger as the killer.
Kohberger had purchased a set of knives months before the murders, and investigators traced it back to him.
Officials initially believed the killer left the sheath behind in an attempt to mislead the investigation, but later said Kohberger had left it behind in a panic during the frantic slayings.
The most incriminating items found at the bloody scene were a 13-inch tan leather knife sheath that fit a KA-BAR-style combat knife.Idaho State Police
Bloodstains smeared on a wall inside the murder scene.Idaho State Police
During the investigation, officers found footprints in the snow leading away from the home.
The large, size 13 shoe prints were also discovered inside the bloodied crime scene after detectives used a chemical agent on the floor, according to the outlet.
A Nike shoe seized by police at Kohberger’s home after his arrest matched the size of the print at the Idaho house.
Bryan Kohberger in a selfie taken from his phone before the murders.Courtey of Dateline
Kohberger fatally stabbed Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin.kayleegoncalves/Instagram
Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to the quadruple murders in July, carried out the massacre in minutes, launching the attack around 4 a.m.
He is believed to have snuck in through a sliding side door before making his way upstairs to Mogen’s bedroom, where she was sleeping with Goncalves, and hacked the 21-year-olds to death, leaving the DNA-covered sheath.
Kohberger then encountered Kernodle, 20, who had grabbed a food delivery and was returning to her room on the second floor.
The masked killer butchered Kernodle before making his way to her bedroom, where he found 20-year-old Chapin sleeping and murdered him.
The graphic images painted the closest images of the gruesome scene since the killings.
Idaho police “temporarily” removed the short-lived photo dump of the horrifying, bloody scene because of “privacy concerns” to allow for a further review of the files before reposting them.
“Following adjudication of the criminal case, the Idaho State Police received a large volume of public records requests seeking the photographs,” a spokesperson for the department said in a statement.
Blood stains the wood floor, clothing and furniture inside one of the bedrooms of the off-campus house.Idaho State Police
The masked killer butchered Kernodle before making his way to her bedroom, where he found 20-year-old Chapin sleeping and murdered him.Idaho State Police
Kohberger was handed four life sentences without the possibility of parole at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.Ada County Sheriff’s office
“In making the redactions, the Idaho State Police also chose to follow Judge [Megan] Marshall’s permanent injunction, which required the City of Moscow to redact areas of the photographs depicting ‘any portion of the bodies of the decedents or the blood immediately surrounding them,’” the statement continued.
”After questions were raised, the records were temporarily removed for further review to ensure the appropriate balance between privacy concerns and public transparency was struck.”
Kohberger, who was a graduate student at nearby Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, was handed four life sentences without the possibility of parole at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
His controversial plea deal saved him from being sentenced to death.
