The Idaho Student Murders | Full Episode

foreign [Music] ER made his first court appearance in Idaho to face four charges of first-degree murder if convicted co-burger faces life in prison and possibly the death penalty at his initial appearance he'll hear the charges against him count two alleges that you committed murder in the first degree count three murder in the first degree count four Murder in the First number five alleges that you committed in high school he would talk he would laugh and stuff like that but when I saw him a couple years later was just kind of creepy I don't know what happened it's like a switch went off and he just changed the newly released affidavit reveals so much information it's about how police tracked the suspect down DNA phone records and a witness Brian coburger was studying criminal justice and criminology right here at Washington State University it was really shocking because of all the different parts of my life that were tied to this as a journalist as a teacher of college students and and certainly as a father and a citizen here since the gruesome murders at a house off campus at the University of Idaho the town of Moscow remains in shock we hear so many stories now about Maddie and Kaylee and Ethan and Santa about how close they were the type of people they were it's devastating to hear that it's heart-wrenching what do you want the world to know about your daughter Kaylee this was a person that was going to go into your community and make it better all these kids were going to make your community better you would want them as your neighbor you'd want them to interact with your children Zannah kernodle [Music] she was so positive and light-hearted and understood the gift of life more than anyone I know Ethan Chapin today we're here to honor The Life and Legacy of our son Ethan Chapin one of the most incredible people you'll ever know Madison Mogan my only child that we ever had and uh so just smart and funny and beautiful Kaylee Gonzalez you know most things as a dad you can you can handle but something like that you just can't prepare for and you can't fix it as a father that's a terrible feeling as a professor here on this campus I want to know what is the motive why do something like this how did he know Maddie and Kaylee and Ethan and Santa if indeed he is the person who committed this crime Brian is not tried in the court of public opinion he has that presumption of innocence I honestly think he did it because he wants to see if he can get away with it are you hoping to make eye contact with Brian at some point eye contact's a guarantee I definitely want to let him know that uh I'm not going anywhere we're not going anywhere this day of court is not just for him it's it's for everybody foreign [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] Sky investigators flew Brian coburger to the college town of Moscow police delivered him to the Lata County Jail on January 5th in an orange jumpsuit face vacant the 28 year old made what will likely be his first of many appearances in this court he stands charged with the murder of four students from the University of Idaho Kaylee gonsalves Madison Maddie Mogan Ethan Chapin and Zana kernodle investigators say he stabbed them to death in the home the women shared the maximum penalty for this offense if you plead guilty or found guilty is up to death and imprisonment for life do you understand yes coburger has not yet entered a plea in an affidavit investigators laid out their understanding of the Grim details about the night of the killings they say the killer left his DNA on a leather knife sheath like this one found on a bed next to Maddie Mogan and most hauntingly they say a surviving roommate thought she heard crying and saw a figure clad in Black clothing and a mask the man walked past as she stood in Frozen shock she locked herself in her room we will have more details on this fast-moving investigation authorities have not disclosed a motive or if he had a connection to the students but tonight we are learning more about just who Brian coburger is just 15 days before his arrest Brian coburger and his father were driving home from Washington State University for winter break to the family's home in Pennsylvania hello how you doing how y'all doing today the journey interrupted by two traffic stops almost 10 minutes apart in Indiana for tailgating oh okay the real little we're slightly much because we drive the powers police body cam video shows coburger and his father talking calmly with an officer about the trip hours days then they are released with a warning do me a favor don't follow too close okay coburger had been at the University since August studying to get his PhD in criminology he was also a teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice he lived in an apartment complex on campus and had an office there according to the newly released affidavit coburger had applied for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in the fall he wrote in his application essay that quote he had interest in assisting rural law enforcement agencies with how to better collect and analyze technological data Benjamin Roberts took four classes with coburger he seemed very comfortable around other people he was fairly quick to offer his opinion and thoughts and he was always participating fairly eagerly in classroom discussions he says kohlberger appeared highly intelligent does anything else come to mind that Brian said to you in the past that today you think might be of interest now there was a comment that he made and it was this kind of a flippant guy talk thing at one point he just idly mentioned you know I can go down to a boat or a club and just have pretty much any lady I want Ryan coburger coburger arrived at the University after earning his bachelor's in psychology and master's degree in criminal justice at Desales University in Center Valley Pennsylvania while at Desales authorities say Brian coburger posted this survey approved by the university on the website Reddit asking ex-cons about the crimes they committed one question he asked before making your move how did you approach the victim or Target this could be a piece of circumstantial evidence James Galliano is a retired FBI supervisory special agent and CBS News consultant the fact that the suspect was interested in pursuing a PhD in criminal justice and was especially interested in the mental state that people who had committed murders in the past yes it could be interesting to note but I know a lot of researchers that study those things too that would never commit a quadruple homicide and if co-burger was involved in these murders genetic genealogists CC Moore questions why he would be so careless as to allegedly leave his DNA at the crime scene people are talking about how smart he supposedly is I just can't see how that could be true because any student of forensic science or criminology would have to know that it's virtually impossible not to leave your DNA behind at a very violent intimate crime scene like this you know Ted Bundy thought he was smart but he wasn't that smart as it turns out after the murders Roberts says coburger appeared disheveled tired and chattier than usual but nothing could prepare Roberts for when he learned of coburger's arrest looking back over the last four months is that I feel like there should have been signs that I should have seen and I didn't I was blindsided this is out of character for Brian these allegations Monroe County public defender Jason labarr represented coburger before he was extradited to Idaho the family would want the general public to know that Brian is a caring son and brother that he's responsible that he is devoted to them in a statement the family said we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children and that they seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions he is innocent and pill proven otherwise labar says coburger came from a close-knit family he grew up in eastern Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains his father was a maintenance worker and his mom worked in the school system Brian has two older sisters one who works as a family therapist and another sister who appeared in a 2011 low-budget slasher film two days back about a group of young students viciously murdered by a serial killer things change she now works as a school counselor my heart goes out to Brian's family this is Cole Burger's friend Bree who says she met co-burger at a party when they attended Pleasant Valley High School she asked us not to use her last name Brian was really funny he wasn't outgoing at all he was but he also wasn't shy he says they bonded over their love of the outdoors I don't necessarily remember the conversations but you definitely remember how someone makes you feel I just remember feeling okay I was just with a friend it just felt natural Bree recalls coburger was an average student with only a few close friends in this yearbook photo coburger's caption said he aspired to be an Army Ranger I used to be friends with Brian coburger Casey Ernst also knew co-burger from high school she posted this Tick Tock following Brian's arrest I am just an absolute shopper he was an overweight kid so he did get bullied a lot but Casey says people saw a change in coburger beginning of senior year he lost like 100 pounds he was a real it was after that weight loss that a lot of people noticed a huge switch in him my brother has since come out to say that even though they were friends Brian bullied him and he had said like he would put him in like choke holds and stuff like that Bree says coburger started using heroin which ended their friendship you just saw him becoming more self-destructive he really stayed secluded it's unclear when exactly coburger went into recovery but both Bree and Casey say years after he graduated high school it appeared as if he was getting his life together he was going to Northampton Community College and working security for Pleasant Valley School District he was telling me that he wanted to get sober that he was getting sober and he just wanted to let me know like I'm gonna do better I'm gonna be better I'm sorry last time I saw Ryan was in 2017 at one of my friend's wedding and I gave him a hug and I was like you look so good like I'm so proud of you I just remember being very happy for him and both Bree and Casey say it appeared that coburger had a new Focus his studies in criminology he wanted to do something that impacted people in a good way people are not his strong suit and I think through his criminology studies he was really trying to understand humans and try to understand himself now Bree like many who knew him struggles to connect the person they once knew to this unspeakable crime I think a lot of people who were close to him are feeling this massive amounts of guilt why didn't I see it did I miss something where did it go wrong before this was a crime scene it was a home to these five close friends maybe none closer than Maddie Mogan and Kayleigh gonsalves guys on Tick Tock the 21 year old seniors looked like they were enjoying their final school year you're gonna choose me baby in the early morning of November 13th the two friends headed to a food truck but they're seemingly Carefree existence would come to an abrupt end just hours later Kaylee and Maddie were stabbed to death in the upstairs part of the house a hundred miles away in northern Idaho Kaylee's father Steve got the news and Steve give us a sense of the shock of that moment you just feel like you're getting crushed by a thousand pounds of weight [Music] what do you want the world to know about your daughter Kaylee [Music] I want the one to know they they got robbed somebody stole from you Steve Gonzalez says his daughter Kaylee would have made the world a better place a General Studies major she was the middle child of five siblings Steve says Kaylee was always up for a challenge she grew up around two boys that were you know older than her and uh she didn't see any reason why she couldn't be as quick and fast and as good as those two boys were what did she want to do with her life like most young people it changed she was going to be a teacher but once you found out how long it was going to take to pay back your student loans she she said dad you know this thing you do with computer seems to work pretty well she reportedly had a job lined up in Austin but made it clear that one day she hoped to settle down somewhere near her dearest friend Maddie Mogan Maddie was a marketing major and she and Kaylee had been Inseparable since the sixth grade I just felt like it was more of a sister ship than it was friendship so and she was just one of our kids so it perhaps did not come as a surprise when Steve revealed at a November Memorial that Kaylee and Maddie died side by side they went to high schools together they came here together and in the end they died together in the same room in the same bed it Comforts us it lets us know that they were with their best friends in the whole world it was a belief Maddie's stepfather Scott Laramie repeated to another packed Memorial just days later the two of them were of course to be reckoned with they stuck together through everything Maddie had a boyfriend Jake schreiger she was the first person I talked to every morning and the last person I talked to before bed they had been together for more than a year Jake says Maddie had a talent for making people laugh she was really funny her jokes really would come out of nowhere and just be like is that the cute little blonde girl that just said that but Maddie and Kaylee weren't the only victims while two other roommates were in their rooms and unharmed during the attacks on the second floor the killer made his way to the room of Zana kernodle she was my baby sister but she was so much wiser zanna's sister Jasmine she would always tell me she wouldn't know what to do without me and now I have to live this life without her a 20 year old Junior majoring in marketing Zanna was known for being focused on her studies so focused she didn't make much time for dating Santa never had a boyfriend before and my dad and I wondered if she was ever gonna get one that was until she met Ethan Chapin the way she would talk and smile about him was something I've never seen her do before Ethan was a 20 year old majoring in Recreation and tourism management Jasmine says Zanna and Ethan began dating in the spring of 2022. they had something so special and everyone around them knew especially anyone who followed the pair on Instagram for Ethan's birthday Zanna posted photos of them with the caption life is so much better with you in it love you it would be her last Instagram just two weeks later the young couple was found stabbed to death in Santa's bedroom at the University of Idaho the pain of this tragedy is felt at the root and extends hundreds of miles away to a tulip farm in Skagit Valley Washington it's where Ethan worked before heading to college his boss Andrew Miller so Ethan started it was in the spring of of 21. it was the best Tula Festival Miller says the annual tulip festival attracts close to half a million visitors and Ethan stood out in the crowd he's a big guy wearing a big smile right I think that's the part that I that that kind of struck me right away Ethan a triplet worked there with his siblings Maisie and Hunter and lived in a rented house on the farm with their parents that Chapin triplets were Incredibly Close says Rhys Gardner they were best friends if one did something they all did something it was pretty cool to see including attending the University of Idaho together and that was the funniest thing it was like of course it was a package deal like all three of them were gonna go there he was excited I think because his siblings were going with him Araya Macaba says Ethan's parents had decided to live in Idaho too makaba says when she heard Ethan had been murdered she couldn't believe it I think the first thing I did was message Ethan I was like hey you're okay right like this isn't real and uh obviously didn't respond Rhys Gardner scoured the internet for information and I just couldn't stop reading articles and I just wanted to know what happened and I wanted to know why but in lieu of answers Gardner turned to tulips that's going to be so it's gonna be so pretty he had an idea name one after Ethan I thought there's there's no better way to remember someone who had such a big part a big role in those Farms because Rhys called me and it was hey can this be done and are you interested in doing it and I was yes and hell yes but creating a new tulip is a long process so instead Miller suggested a mix of tulips that would be a perfect tribute to Ethan yellow and white yellow of course because go vandals University of Idaho right that's significant and then white is is an eternal color right and tulips come up in the spring it is a symbol of of of Hope with his parents blessing they named the mix of tulips Ethan's smile yeah so this will be a nice yellow or white tulip here in about four months the trio planted thousands of bulbs in the state of Washington and sent a couple thousand more to the University of Idaho and it really is our hope that we'll be able to continue to plant that anybody that wants to remember them will be able to have their own Ethan's Ethan smile Garden it's a living Legacy now it is up to prosecutors to get Justice for these young victims 47 days after the murders of Kaylee gonsalves Ethan Chapin Madison Mogan and Zana kernodle authorities apprehended the man they believed was responsible we now know investigators had Brian kohlberger in their sights early on but kept it close to the vest so in the early days after the November 13th murders frustrations swept over Moscow Idaho think in this instance people are expecting a pretty quick arrest in this case and it takes time police still have no suspect weapon or motive no arrests have been made no suspects identified by police investigators are asking the public to be patient Steve can solve this father of 21 year old Kaylee was trying as best he could to deal with news no one expects most things I'm prepared for most things as a dad you can you can handle but something like that you just can't prepare for and you can't fix it you know just think if you do everything right by the book something like this couldn't happen did you have any sense who might have done something like this no I didn't think anybody in Inner Circle was was capable of interacting in her doing something that could even deserve something like that as new spread of the murders so did shock in the College Community which had not seen a homicide since 2015. parents drove hundreds of miles to pick up their kids to head home and stay home for the semester Matt Loveless is a journalism professor at nearby Washington State University at this point we don't know if they're going to come back for the spring semester they're on campus and so that same thing happened in both of our communities and so when parents send their kids off to school for something to happen like this I think it's a parent's worst nightmare James Galliano is a retired FBI supervisory special agent and CBS News consultant it's a place Moscow Idaho where violent crime really is not an issue as police started their investigation they traced the victim's final steps the day before the murders seemed to start ordinarily Kaylee gonsalves posted photos with her roommates and Ethan Chapin to her Instagram account with the caption one lucky girl to be surrounded by these people every day that evening Ethan and Santa attended a party at a frat house on campus Kaylee and Madison were at a bar between 10 p.m and 1 30 A.M they were then seen at that local food vendor the grub truck it is believed they all returned home by about 2 A.M on November 13th so in examining the timeline police know that the crime took place sometime in the early morning hours there were also two other university Idaho students who were inside the house when the murders took place it was later that morning that a call was made to 9-1-1 from one of the surviving roommates phones to report an unconscious person police arrived at the house at 11 58 A.M police find the victims on the second and third floor of the house in bedrooms a horrific and a very large-scale crime scene because you're going to be dealing with a number of different floors that need to be processed the bedrooms where the crimes actually occurred and then Ingress and egress points how did the how did the alleged killer get inside the house through a front door through a window those are all things police would be looking at no weapon has been located at this time there was no sign of forced entry into the residence on November 16th three days after the murders the Moscow police held their first press conference we believe this was an isolated targeted attack on our victims we do not have a suspect at this time and that individual is still out there coroner Kathy mobbit issued her report on November 17th they were all murdered through stabbing with with some kind of a probably a larger knife she told police some of the four victims had defensive wounds but none had signs of sexual assault police continued to work the case aided by the Idaho State Police and the FBI I just believe that the Moscow Police Department probably just didn't have a lot of experience in working a homicide especially one as heinous as this one after about three weeks with no arrests and what to the public appeared to be no real suspects Steve gonsalves grew more concerned that authorities weren't doing enough and that the murders would turn into a Cold Case so he says he started working with his own team to investigate the murders we just thought this is the time let's get it out there and let's not let it get cold let's get as many resources as as possible did you have any sense whatsoever as to what a motive might have been for these murders pretty girls and a handsome guy I I thought you know there might be something to do with there you know stalking them in the sense of that meanwhile names of possible people of Interest were trickling out including members of the community and acquaintances of the victims but they all seem to be part of an unfounded Rumor Mill many from online sluths Steve even had people come to him to prove they were not involved we had certain suspects take their shirts off in our kitchen to show if they had scratches we tried to do everything in our in our powers to make sure that if we thought somebody was ruled out we truly we truly felt like you know we we looked at him law enforcement would end up receiving thousands of tips but the investigation by outward appearances seemed to be stalled nearly a month after the murders on December 7th police were seen packing up the victim's belongings to return to the families who had lost so much it was the police chief behind the wheel of the U-Haul truck that same day a plea was made to the public police were interested in speaking with the occupant of a white 2011 to 2013 Hyundai Elantra that looks similar to this with an unknown license plate spotted near the crime scene around the time of the killings today's update is the first descriptive tip that we've received in several days detectives now want to speak with anyone who is inside a white Hyundai Elantra that was near this home on King Road around November 13th we still believe there's more information to be gathered pushing that out to the media pushing that out to people on the internet pushing that out so that people can look for either a potential suspect a person of interest or a potential vehicle that goes a long way towards running down leads [Music] it turns out that about two weeks before the police asked the public to be on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra they had already shared that information with surrounding law enforcement and on November 29th a white Elantra was located by Washington State University Police the car was registered to Brian coburger CBS News learned that in mid-December the Hyundai Elantra was tracked for several days by the FBI using Easy Pass monitoring fixed-wing aircraft and ground support as it was driven by co-burger along with his father from Pullman Washington on that cross-country trip to the family's home in Pennsylvania where are you headed on December 15th the car was stopped twice in Indiana for those driving violations by the Indiana State Police and the Hancock sheriff's office if you're coming from Washington State University and you're going where oh both agencies said at the time of the stops there was no information available on a suspect for the crime in Idaho to include identifying information or any specific information related to the license plate state or number of the white Hyundai Elantra do me a favor don't follow too close Okay police did not ticket Cole Burger they gave a verbal warning and the trip continued home and then coburger's holiday came to an abrupt halt a suspect is under arrest for the quadruple murder of four Idaho college students on December 30th 2022 police made that announcement that Brian coburger was under arrest for the murders he was arrested at his family's home in albrightsville Pennsylvania at 3 A.M with approximately 50 law enforcement officers on the scene there were multiple windows that were broken I believe to gain access as well as multiple tours authorities believe Brian coburger acted alone Brian was very shocked by his arrest Brian did not know why they were there but he was aware of the case ongoing in Idaho Monroe County public defender Jason labarr represented holberger in Pennsylvania as he was awaiting extradition to Idaho Brian indicated to me that he was eager to be exonerated that he was willing to go back to Idaho on January 3rd at a hearing in Pennsylvania coburger signed his waiver of extradition they're squirting him off the tarmac there and on January 4th he flew to Idaho where he is in jail charged with the four murders all right this is state of Idaho versus Brian culberger on January 5th coburger appeared in court in Moscow with his new public defender to hear the charges read against him he has yet to enter a plea the maximum penalty for this offense if you were to plead guilty or be found guilty is death or imprisonment for life do you understand yes that same day that affidavit was released that laid out startling new details about the murder investigation according to the affidavit one of the surviving roommates actually saw the murderer and stood in a frozen shock phase she is referred to as DM in the affidavit and told police that earlier she heard a female voice say something to the effect of there's someone here and later a male voice saying something to the effect of it's okay I'm going to help you later she opened her door after she heard crying and saw a figure clad in Black clothing and a mask she described the figure as five foot ten with bushy eyebrows the affidavit states that according to DM the male walked toward the back sliding door and DM locked herself in her room it was later in the morning when that call was made to 9-1-1 from one of the surviving roommates phones to report an unconscious person it is unclear what occurred in the hours before police were called It is believed the murders took place between 4 and 4 25 A.M police say they discovered on the bed in Madison's room a knife sheath with a marine Insignia that looks similar to this one I would imagine that a crime scene as as grisly and ghastly as this one that there would have been DNA left by the perpetrator according to the affidavit the knife sheath was processed and the Idaho State lab later located a single source of male DNA on the button snap they were able to link it to DNA recovered from the trash at the Pennsylvania coburger family home it is not clear what if any connection coburger had with the victims however the affidavit states that by using cellular phone data police were able to place coburger's cell phone near the crime scene on at least 12 occasions before November 13 2022 all of those occasions except for one occurred in the late evening and early morning hours even with these new details many questions remain a newly issued gag order prohibits officials and others involved in the case from speaking about the murders also authorities have sealed a search warrant that was carried out at coburger's home in Pullman Washington this is one where you don't want a mistake you don't want something to happen during this process that's going to give the alleged suspect an opportunity to beat the case now the case will work its way through the court system as parents who lost their children will be looking for answers we find the truth you know you get the truth and then that that'll that'll be everything [Music] you can see it in the stunned silent faces of the kids faces that ask why without even speaking young eyes glisten bathed in the glow of Candlelight a ritual all too familiar Across America the flowers prayers the vows to carry on in Idaho they hold on tight to each other and to the memories of those loved and lost [Music] [Applause] [Music] and the friends [Music] life is so unfair and unpredictable for Santa cronodle's friend Emily the wound remains Raw a little tired until we'll find Justice For You Ethan Maddie and Kaylee we love you all so much and for Ashland Maddie mogan's memory is still vibrant you truly will live on forever not only in my heart but in the heart of so many people that were impacted by your beautiful smile Your Grace your patience your open heart and your craziness Hunter Johnson remembers of pal he could rely on Ethan Chapin Ethan was always someone you could count on to make you smile and cheer up your mood and I I feel so lucky so I've shared so many great memories with him but those who are older perhaps sense that pain that runs this deep never goes away Kaylee's father Steve gonsalves yeah you don't heal from something like this it's never gonna happen you're never gonna be healed you're never gonna get through this when they died part of you dies we're tired of all these type of crimes we're tired of all this stuff and um we can rally around these terrible tragedies and we're hoping that as a society we come back stronger and we we decide to not let this be accepted anymore you know that's what I hope for [Music] fantastic actress she wanted to be in movies a cosplay model charged with her fiance's murder I didn't do what they're saying I did now will the jury believe she's not acting who do you believe killed Matthew Trussler Melissa Turner 48 hours Saturday on CBS

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 4,000,565

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, idaho murders, idaho update latest, university of idaho, moscow, idaho

Id: SMUxAjW5-JI

Length: 40min 44sec (2444 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 09 2023