The 28-year-old man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students late last year allegedly made contact with one of the victims on social media before the killings.
The suspect, who will not be named per Daily Wire policy, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary following the killings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, on November 13.
An investigator familiar with the case told People Magazine that the killer reached out to one of the girls on Instagram in late October but she did not respond, which led to a flood of messages.
“He slid into one of the girls’ DMs several times but she didn’t respond,” the source said. “Basically, it was just him saying, ‘Hey, how are you?’ But he did it again and again.”
Last week, 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.
Ashe Schow contributed to this report.