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The Idaho police chief whose department spearheaded the investigation that landed student murderer Bryan Kohberger behind bars for life is revealing new details about the case.
Moscow Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger told Fox News’ Paul Mauro that two traffic stops on Kohberger in Indiana during a cross-country trip with his dad came before his name had been discovered by investigators – calling earlier reports that the stops had been requested to gather information on the suspect “completely wrong.”
Kohberger left a Ka-Bar knife sheath at the crime scene on Nov. 13, 2022, which led the task force investigating the case to his identity on Dec. 19. He drove home with his dad days earlier, at risk of flunking out of his Ph.D. program at Washington State University, about 10 miles from the crime scene.
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“If we had had that information, he would not have been able to leave the area,” Dahlinger said.
Kohberger was living in a student apartment in Pullman, Washington. The victims were living across the state line at an off-campus rental next to the University of Idaho. Police arrested the killer at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains on Dec. 30.
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“We had lots of different leads, and we tracked down each and every one of them,” Dahlinger said. “It was painstaking, and you know until we got to the end of this, I can’t remember exactly how many people that we looked at – but we did hundreds of interviews with so many different people.”
The sheath proved crucial in the case. None of the victims had Kohberger’s DNA under their fingernails, likely because the criminology and criminal justice Ph.D. student wore protective gear.
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Still, Dahlinger said detectives were confident they could have found him without the sheath because they had identified a suspect vehicle, although it would have taken longer.
There were no signs Kohberger worked with an accomplice, Dahlinger said. Police have had no luck searching for the murder weapon. Police believe he used only one knife to kill all four victims.
“We looked at every angle, but we live in North Idaho,” he said. “It’s a rural area, and a Ka-Bar knife is a relatively small item, so it’s endless where that could be.”
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Police did find Kohberger with a gun when they arrested him at his parents’ house, although he didn’t use it in the student murders. He initially spoke with Pennsylvania police, but clammed up and demanded a lawyer when he realized there were Idaho detectives present, Dahlinger said.
Dahlinger also revealed it was the defense that asked for the plea deal.
WATCH: Idaho police chief details Kohberger’s ‘abnormal behavior’ after college murders
“I was in the room when Bill Thompson gave us that information that they had reached out, the defense had reached out asking if they would be willing to entertain that idea,” he said, referring to the lead prosecutor on the case. “And it was very quick.”
He said it caught investigators by surprise, but they were all attuned to how the criminal justice system works.
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“Just to dispel the whole plea thing as well, because I know every time somebody hears ‘plea deal,’ right, the whole word ‘deal’ makes everybody feel like they’re getting off. The suspect’s getting off somehow. They’re not getting their full extent,” he said. “Now, the only thing that went off the table on this was the death penalty.”
The death penalty was never a lock. Jurors would have had to approve it unanimously after convicting him at trial.
Under the deal, Kohberger will die in prison. And he waived his rights to appeal and to seek a sentence reduction.
Idaho Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive terms of life in prison, plus another 10 years, for the four counts of first-degree murder and a single felony burglary charge he faced.
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