The 28-year-old man suspected of killing four University of Idaho students reportedly followed the three female victims on Instagram.
None of the victims followed the suspect back, People Magazine reported, but the outlet was able to review his Instagram account before it was deleted. The Daily Wire previously reported that the suspect allegedly made contact with one of the female victims in late October, several weeks before Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, were killed on November 13.
“He slid into one of the girls’ DMs several times but she didn’t respond,” an investigator familiar with the case told People over the weekend. “Basically, it was just him saying, ‘Hey, how are you?’ But he did it again and again.”
A state court in Washington on Wednesday unsealed the search warrants used to collect items from the suspect’s home and office at Washington State University’s department of criminal justice and criminology, where the suspect, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, was pursuing his Ph.D.
Police found nothing at the suspect’s office, the filings show, but hair samples and other evidence were collected from his apartment.
The search warrants show police were looking for blood, DNA, shoes with a particular pattern on the soles, and any information pertaining to the victims who were killed in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13.
Police seized a “nitrite-type black glove,” three possible hairs, one possible animal hair strand, a computer tower, a “dark red spot,” two cuttings from an uncased pillow containing a “reddish/brown stain,” along with other items from the suspect’s apartment. While the warrant mentioned the items were removed, it did not explain what connection the items may have to the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21.
The suspect has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. The suspect appeared in court and was ordered held without bail, with his next court date scheduled for June 26. Prior to the hearing, his public defender, Ann Taylor, filed motions requesting “Any written or recorded statements by a co-defendant, and the substance of any relevant oral statement made by a co-defendant whether before or after arrest in response to interrogation by any person known by the co-defendant to be a peace officer or agent of the prosecuting attorney, or which are otherwise relevant to the offense charged.”
The suspect previously asked members of law enforcement if they had arrested another individual in connection with the crime, Inside Edition reported.
Taylor also filed 17 other requests for discovery, including drug tests related to the case, “payments, promises of leniency, preferential treatment or other inducements or threats made to prospective witnesses,” disclosures related to electronic surveillance, and a “Disclosure of whether a defendant, or any other person, was identified by lineup, show up, photo spread or similar identification proceeding relating to the offense charged, and production of any pictures utilized or resulting therefrom and the names, addresses and telephone numbers of all identifying witnesses.”
The last request could pertain to a section of the probable cause affidavit, which stated that one of the surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen, saw a man leaving the house around the time of the murders. Mortensen told police she opened her door multiple times after hearing noises upstairs, and on the third time, she saw a man wearing black clothing and a mask over his nose and mouth walking toward her. She said the man was 5’10” or taller, athletically built but not muscular, with bushy eyebrows. She said the man walked past her as she stood in a “frozen shock phase.” She said he walked out of the house, and she locked herself in her room.
Police matched the suspect to a cell phone and white Hyundai Elantra that were traced to the area of the crime on the date it occurred. They also learned that the suspect registered his vehicle in Washington and received Washington plates on November 18 – five days after the murders.