University of Idaho murder suspect Brian Kohberger may have been targeting one of the roommates at the off-campus house where four students were killed two years ago — and there are signs that his family had suspicions about his involvement before his arrest, according to a bombshell new book.
Bryan Kohberger, 29, was targeting college senior Madison Mogen when he allegedly broke into the home on King Road in Moscow in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022, journalist Howard Blum suggests in his new book, “When the Night Comes Falling: A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders.”
“I think Maddie was his target,” Blum told ABC News –noting the suspect supposedly bypassed two other bedroom doors and made a beeline for Mogen’s when he entered the house.
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“If he was just on a killing spree, it would have been natural, instinctive, to go to one of those doors,” Blum suggested.
“Instead he goes up this narrow staircase and he turns directly into Maddie’s room.”
Mogen, 21, was found dead on her bed alongside her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, also 21. Downstairs on the second floor, housemate Xana Kernodle, 20, was killed alongside her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20.
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All four victims suffered multiple stab wounds. A knife sheath was found near the bodies of Mogen and Goncalves.
Two surviving roommates –Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen – discovered the bloody scene hours later, and alerted police.
Kohberger –who was pursuing a doctorate in criminology in nearby Pullman at the time of the murders – was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30.
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At the time of the shocking arrest, the one-time high school outcast’s family was supposedly already suspicious about his possible involvement, Blum claimed.
“[Michael] has been reading the headlines –he knows that four students were killed 12 miles from his son’s house. He knows what a troubled son he has,” Blum told ABC of the suspect’s father, Michael Kohberger.
Michael was apparently “on edge” when he picked his son up at school a few weeks after the murders, he added.
Here’s the latest coverage on the brutal killings of four college friends:
- New book makes bone-chilling revelations about real target in University of Idaho murders
- Bryan Kohberger’s lawyers call surprise witness to try to disprove evidence that he was at grisly University of Idaho murder scene
- Idaho murder victims’ former roommate speaks out after the bloodshed
The father and son infamously drove cross country from Washington to Pennsylvania – and were stopped twice by Indiana police.
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According to Blum, one of Kohberger’s sisters even confronted their father about the possibility that he was involved in the Moscow murders – but the patriarch brushed off the concerns.
“He can’t confront it,” Blum suggested to ABC.
Kohberger was taken into custody when authorities stormed the family’s home just before the New Year.
He was extradited to Idaho, where he pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.
Over a year later, Kohberger remains in custody. A trial date has not been set.
