Bryan Kohberger had tried to slide into the DMs of an Idaho killings victim, a source told People
AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool
- Idaho killings suspect Bryan Kohberger reportedly slid into the DMs of one of the four victims.
- A source told People that Kohberger messaged a victim on Instagram in the weeks before the killings.
- Repeat messages were sent, but the victim never replied, the source told the magazine.
University of Idaho killings suspect Bryan Kohberger reportedly slid into the direct messages of one of the four victims on Instagram in the weeks before the slayings.
An investigator familiar with the case told People magazine that an Instagram account believed to be Kohberger's repeatedly sent messages to one of the women victims beginning in late October, but she never replied.
"He slid into one of the girls' DMs several times but she didn't respond," the anonymous source told People in a report published on Tuesday. "Basically, it was just him saying, 'Hey, how are you?' But he did it again and again."
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in their beds inside a Moscow, Idaho, off-campus rental home shared by the women in the early morning hours of November 13.
Kohberger, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University, was charged last month with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in connection to the killings.
A lawyer for Goncalves' family previously told Insider that the slain college students had no prior connection to Kohberger.
"No one knew of this guy at all," attorney Shanon Gray said.
People's source did not say which victim Kohberger is believed to have messaged, and it is possible the victim never saw the messages. If an Instagram message is sent to someone who doesn't follow you, it appears as a request in their inbox, and sometimes users aren't immediately notified about the request.
"She may not have seen them, because they went into message requests," the source told People. "We're still trying to determine how aware the victims were of his existence."
Additionally, the source told the magazine that there was "no indication that he was getting frustrated with her lack of response."
"But he was definitely persistent," the source said.
The Moscow Police Department told Insider it was unable to comment on the report due to a gag order issued by a local judge. The FBI, which is assisting in the investigation, declined to comment.