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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Mike Bedigan

Shocking moment Bryan Kohberger casually chats to DMV worker about college murders

Shocking new surveillance footage has emerged showing convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger casually chatting to a DMV worker about the brutal crimes he had committed just days previously.

Kohberger entered the Department of Motor Vehicles branch in Pullman, Washington, on November 18 2022, just five days after the killings of four students in Moscow, Idaho, according to the footage shared on the YouTube channel Christy’s Chaos.

“I definitely need to get my license plate changed,” the PhD student tells the employee, before the pair discusses the local area.

“I like how small, quiet and I would say safe, but the whole Moscow thing kinda makes it feel a little less,” the employee says to Kohberger, as he nods his head in agreement.

In the early hours of November 13, 2022, Kohberger broke into the off-campus apartment of University of Idaho students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, and stabbed the four to death.

He was arrested at his family home in Pennsylvania on December 30.

In the surveillance video, Kohberger, who is dressed in black and wearing gloves, discusses changing his Pennsylvania state license plate for his white Hyundai Elantra for a Washington state plate.

During the hunt for the killer, police sought help from the public after the vehicle was seen driving in the area on the night of the murders.

“I definitely need to get my license plate changed,” Kohberger tells the worker in the video, later opting for a standard, non-specialty plate. She then asks if he is a student at the University of Washington.

“Yeah, PhD,” Kohberger replies. “I’m definitely not an undergrad.”

“It’s an interesting community. Where I came from in Pennsylvania, I came from a very small university, so this is big,” he added.

In the early hours of November 13 2022, Kohberger broke into the off-campus of University of Idaho students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, and stabbed the four to death (Instagram)

Elsewhere in the conversation, he engages the worker in conversation about baseball, after noting she is wearing a San Francisco Giants shirt, and claiming that his mother was from Brooklyn.

“I’m actually from the East Coast, I’m a Yankees fan, I’m hoping you guys don’t catch up,” Kohberger says.

In July 2025, almost three years after the killings, Kohberger was sentenced to die in prison for the “senseless slaughter” of the four Idaho college students after refusing to reveal his motive.

Judge Steven Hippler condemned Kohberger to spend the rest of his life behind bars for committing “unspeakable evil” as he handed him four consecutive life sentences, and an additional 10 years for burglary, without the possibility of parole.

Kohberger avoided the death penalty after switching his plea from not guilty to guilty.

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