Idaho killings suspect tried to slide into the DMs of one of the victims

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• The suspect in the murders of four University of Idaho students allegedly slid into the DMs of one of the female victims.
• According to a report from People, Bryan Kohberger messaged a victim on Instagram in the weeks before they were killed.
• Kohberger reportedly sent messages repeatedly but the victim never replied, the source told People.

Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students reportedly slid into the direct messages of one of the female victims on Instagram in the weeks before the murders.

An investigator familiar with the case told People magazine that an Instagram account believed to be Kohberger’s repeatedly sent the messages in late October, but she never replied.

“He slid into one of the girls’ DMs several times but she didn’t respond,” the anonymous source told People. “Basically, it was just him saying, ‘Hey, how are you?’ But he did it again and again.”

On November 13, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were found dead inside a Moscow, Idaho, off-campus rental home. They were stabbed to death in their beds.

Last month, Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in connection to the killings. The 28-year-old suspect is a Ph.D. student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University.

Attorney Shanon Gray, the lawyer for the Goncalves family, previously said in an interview that the victims had no prior connection to Kohberger.

The investigator who talked to People did not identify which victim Kohberger is believed to have messaged. It is also possible the victim never saw the messages as Instagram messages sent to someone who doesn’t follow you appear as a request in their inbox.

“She may not have seen them, because they went into message requests,” the source told the magazine. “We’re still trying to determine how aware the victims were of his existence.”

The investigator told People that there was “no indication that he was getting frustrated with her lack of response,” adding “he was definitely persistent.”

The Moscow Police Department did not comment on the report due to a gag order issued by a local judge.

Source: People