The bar where two of the slain University of Idaho students spent their final hours has pushed back against a rumour that accused killer Bryan Kohberger visited on the night of the murders.
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen spent the night of 12 November at the Corner Club bar in downtown Moscow, Idaho.
Police said that the two best friends arrived at the bar at around 10.30pm, leaving around three hours later at 1.30am on 13 November.
They then stopped by a late-night food truck for some takeout pasta before getting a private taxi ride back to their student rental home on King Road just before 2am.
Hours later – between 3am and 4am – Goncalves, Mogen, their roommate Xana Kernodle and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in the home in a brutal attack that rocked the small college town and hit headlines across the globe.
Their bodies were discovered at around midday on the second and third floor of the three-storey home, when a 911 call was made from the cellphone of one of the women’s two surviving roommates, who had slept through the attack in bedrooms on the first floor.
On Friday, Mr Kohberger – a 28-year-old criminology PhD student who lived less than 10 miles away in Pullman, Washington – was arrested and charged with the four murders.
Since then, rumours have swirled online about his potential connection to the victims and how he carried out the brutal attack.
Among the rumours circulating on social media was a theory that Mr Kohberger had visited the Corner Club on the night of the murders and had been thrown out of the bar.
The Corner Club denied the rumour on Twitter before slamming the media and members of the public for reaching out about the theory.
"Suspect was not and has not been here. No one was removed from the bar the evening of the incident. Stop calling us," the bar tweeted on Tuesday.
In a follow-up tweet, the Corner Club added: “This isn’t just about random people. This is about @ABC @NBCNews @CBSNews @FoxNews @CNN too. The below tweet is in direct response to one of the above stopping by to do a story on something we know not to be true. So to protect someone from another round of doxxing, we spoke up.”
Speculation has been rife throughout the seven-week investigation into the high-profile murders, with officials debunking several rumours and ruling out individuals whose names circulated on social media.
Yet, Mr Kohberger’s name was not on the public’s radar prior to his bombshell arrest on Friday on charges of four counts of first-degree murder and a felony burglary count.
Officials have so far stayed tight-lipped about what evidence they have linking him to the killings – something that looks set to change after his extradition hearing.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said in Friday’s press conference that state law limits what officials can release before a suspect makes their initial court appearance. The probable cause affidavit must also remain sealed until the suspect returns to Idaho where he faces charges.
However, two law enforcement sources told CNN that the net closed in on Mr Kohberger when the white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene at the time of the killings was traced back to him.
His DNA was then also matched through genetic geneology techniques to DNA found at the crime scene, the sources said.
The PhD student is set to appear in court in Pennsylvania for his extradition hearing on Tuesday afternoon, where his public defender said he plans to waive his extradition rights, paving the way for him to be transported back to Idaho to face the charges.
Public defender Jason LaBar said that the suspect was “eager” to get the process under way so that he could “be exonerated” of the allegations and so that he could focus on “resolving these matters as promptly as possible”.
Mr Kohberger was spotted being led into court late on Tuesday morning ahead of the hearing.
Dressed in red prison garb and with his hands cuffed in front of him, the accused quadruple murderer was flanked by officers as he exited a prison van and entered the court building.
The suspect could be back in Idaho as soon as Tuesday evening.
No motive has been given for the brutal stabbings and it is unclear what connection – if any – he may have to the four victims.
Kaylee Goncalves’ father Steve Goncalves told ABC News that he had found unnamed connections between the suspect and his daughter – but was not ready to reveal what these potential ties were.
The grieving father has vowed to face his daughter’s alleged killer in court, saying that he wants Mr Kohberger to be “sick of seeing us” as he spoke of his determination to win “a battle of wills” against the man accused of stabbing his daughter to death in her bed.
“I want him to be sick of seeing us and sick of knowing that these people won’t let it go,” he told NBC News on Monday.
“You know, it’s a battle of wills, and we’ll see who wins.”
On Friday, police swooped in on the Kohberger family home in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County, and arrested him for the 13 November murders in Moscow.
As a criminal justice PhD student at Washington State University – just across the Idaho-Washington border from Moscow – Mr Kohberger lives just 15 minutes from the King Road home where the murders took place.
In the aftermath of the murders, he had stayed in Pullman, Washington, and continued with his studies for several weeks before setting off on the 2,500-mile drive to his home state Pennsylvania sometime in December so that he could spend the holidays with his family.
However, his public defender has now revealed that Mr Kohberger did not make the journey alone.
Jason LaBar told CNNthat Mr Kohberger’s father had travelled to Washington state to meet his son before Christmas – weeks after the violent quadruple homicide – so that they could make the cross-country drive home together.
The father and son travelled in the suspect’s white Hyundai Elantra – the vehicle that has been at the centre of the murder investigation for several weeks.
They were pulled over by police twice as they passed through Indiana, Mr LaBar told KTVB. Mr LaBar said he wasn’t sure if the stops resulted in citations but said one was for speeding and the other was for following a car ahead too closely.
Sometime during the journey east, investigators began tracking Mr Kohberger’s movements across the US.
“Sometime right before Christmas we were zeroing in on him being in or going to Pennsylvania,” a law enforcement source told CNN.
Two separate witnesses also recalled seeing the two men at an auto repair shop in Pennsylvania on 16 December when the pair stopped off to get the Hyundai Elantra serviced.
One individual, who did not want to be identified, told CNN that they had a friendly conversation with both Mr Kohberger and his father at the business.
During that encounter, the suspect appeared “a little awkward” but did not appear suspicious, they said, adding that he had spoken of his ambitions to work in behavioural criminal justice and become a professor.
Mr LaBar said that the father and son then arrived at their family home in the Pocono Mountains around 17 December.
An FBI team kept Mr Kohberger under surveillance in the area for several days before his arrest on Friday (30 December).
The white Elantra driven by Mr Kohberger was seized from his parents’ home at the time of his arrest. Investigators had been searching since early December for the occupant of a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra which has been spotted in the “immediate area” of the crime scene at the time of the murders.
There is no indication that the suspect’s family had any involvement in or knowledge of his alleged crimes and police believe that he acted alone.
In a statement released on Sunday, his parents vowed to support their son and brother as the legal process moves forward.
“First and foremost we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them,” the family said in a statement.
“We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother.
“We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions. We respect privacy in this matter as our family and the families suffering loss can move forward through the legal process.”
Mr Kohberger moved to Washington to begin the criminology graduate program at Washington State University in August and had just completed his first semester.
Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022.
While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him.
He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”.
He reached out for participants on Reddit, with the chilling survey resurfacing in the wake of his arrest.
“In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post said.
