Beyond The Horizon
Murder In Moscow: Author Howard Blum And His New Book Detailing The Murders (6/23/24)
Bryan Kohberger is a 29-year-old criminology graduate student from Washington State University who has been accused of the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. The students were found stabbed to death in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 at his family's home in Pennsylvania. Investigators have linked him to the crime scene through DNA evidence and cellphone data, which reportedly shows him near the victims' residence multiple times before the murders and during the night of the incident. His defense, however, claims that Kohberger was out driving and stargazing during the time of the murders, and they plan to use cellphone data to support this alibi.
Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and a potential death penalty if convicted. His legal team is pushing for a change of venue for the trial, citing concerns over finding an impartial jury due to the extensive media coverage of the case. The trial date has not yet been set, and pre-trial hearings continue to address various motions and evidence disputes​.
In this episode, we hear from author Howard Blum about Bryan Kohberger and the murders that rocked the nation.
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to contact me:
bobbycapucci@protonmail.com
source:
How Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger almost eluded capture (nypost.com)
- Duration:
- 13m
- Broadcast on:
- 23 Jun 2024
- Audio Format:
- mp3
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I can't tell you that one way or the other, but Mr. Bloom seems like he has some pretty decent sources. Either way, let's dive in and let's see what he's come up with. Like I said, this article was published by the New York Post and the headline, "How Idaho Murders Suspect Brian Coburger "Almost Eluded Capture." This article was authored by Howard Bloom. I'm a morning of November 13th, four University of Idaho students were found dead, hacked to death in their off-campus house. No one understood why or who was responsible. Then, nearly a month later, the FBI began zeroing in on a suspect, Brian Coburger, a 28-year-old graduate student in criminology at a nearby university. Only now, Coburger, accompanied by his father, was driving home to Pennsylvania for the Christmas break. In his new book, When the Night Comes Falling, a Requiem for the Idaho student murders, author Howard Bloom details the false moves that almost derailed Coburger's cross-country pursuit and capture. The FBI surveillance team called it a hat box operation and the jargon was a bit of an anacarism. It was a throwback to an arrow when G-men sporting fedoras over their brill-creamed hair would be out in force on the street to monitor a target's every move. Back then, a sea of hats would box the suspect in. These days, the watchers have a few more tricks at their disposal. Undercover vehicles, surveillance vans, low-flying, fixed-wing planes, and that's just for starters. But the name has stuck. And there's no doubt that if the FBI is on your shit, you're in big trouble. They're gonna come with everything they got. And my guess is they're probably using drones, right? I mean, you have these backwater rebels all over the world utilizing drones. You really think that the FBI isn't using them? And on the morning of December 12th, 2022, when Brian Kohlberger, now the chief suspect and the murder of four college students, headed off across country from Pullman, Washington, and his white, Hyundai Elantra, his father, Michael, riding shotgun in the front seat, the surveillance plan was hat box all the way. The bureau's commitment to stealth was no less meticulous. For not only were the agents determined to keep their activity secret from the chief suspect in a quadruple homicide, but they were also set on making sure the local police had no inkling either. And this all happened early on, right? And when this was breaking and Howard Bloom was talking about this originally, the FBI came out and said that none of it was true. So take it for what it's worth. They didn't wanna share that they had a person of interest in their sites until they had more evidence. And look, that makes a lot of sense, right? And the FBI denying it doesn't mean that Mr. Bloom was wrong. So whenever we're dealing with the FBI, remember, they don't have to tell you the truth. You have to tell them the truth, but they don't have to tell you the truth. But by the day's end, the hat box operation had turned into a colossal screw up. In their determination, not to tip their hand to the Idaho Task Force, the federal surveillance team had decided not to pick up the coworkers until the car got well out of the area. Only the FBI had misjudged what route the travelers would be taking. Sounds about right for the modern day FBI, huh? And the White Hyundai, along with its invaluable passengers, had seemingly vanished. Frantic hours later, they found the car in Loma, Colorado. The car was caught on the town's automated license plate reader and with this sighting, the hat box operation once again was underway. So as you can see, they were all over Kohlberger early on. And this really leads me to believe that the evidence they have against Brian Kohlberger is strong as hell. Considering everything that we have seen, right, what's public knowledge and then how crazy they're going to try and make it look like there's misconduct, it really leads me to believe that Kohlberger has been caught dead to rights. And when you have that DNA on the knife sheet, how can anyone look at this and say, oh, well, it's not Brian Kohlberger? Unless you're contrarian. Now, of course, I understand the process has to play out and things might change. But as of now, I have no idea how anyone could look at this and logically say, well, I think Brian Kohlberger is innocent. Yet it wasn't long before the vigilant watchers were, yet again, in danger of losing their suspect. Lights flashing and Indiana Sheriff had ordered the Kohlberger's to the side of the road. The FBI team was stunned, had a sharp thinking. Indiana Sheriff connected the white Hyundai to the car. The Idaho police had announced they were searching for. An arrest before the final incriminating pieces had been fitted into the puzzle could jeopardize the case they were building. There were tactical concerns too. Was the suspect armed? Was the sheriff's deputy in danger of becoming another victim? A decision had to be made. They decided to stand back and to their immense relief, they watched as a routine traffic stop played out. Kohlberger was chided for tailgating and then the car pulled back onto the interstate. Yet only nine minutes later, an Indiana State trooper lights flashing directed the white car to pull over again. What indeed was going on? Michael Kohlberger wondered too. An overwhelming sense of dread, he later told relatives had been weighing on him since he had flown out a few days earlier from Pennsylvania to accompany his son on the cross country drive. He began to suspect that there had must have been something purposeful guiding the rapid succession of police stops. Michael abraced himself for what would happen next. Please get your license and registration. The trooper barked, he stood outside the passenger window and spoke across Michael as if he wasn't even there. You were a little too close to the back of the semi. The trooper continued his voice now easier and after only another warning for tailgating, the trooper wished them a safe trip. As the car pulled back on the road, the FBI watchers relaxed. However implausible, the two consecutive traffic stops for tailgating were, they decided, simply what they seem to be. And I guess sometimes it is what it is, right? The FBI said they had nothing to do with those stops from the very beginning. And then Bloom here is basically confirming that. Michael also played back the encounters in his mind. His son's emotional temperature hadn't appeared to have jumped a notch. Later, he wandered to a relative, whether that was the demeanor of someone who had nothing to hide. Or was it the icy calm of someone incapable of feeling fear? Major Chris Paris of the Pennsylvania State Police had been handpicked by the FBI to command what would become known as the Great Trash Robbery. For days, his team from True Ben had been covertly keeping an eye on Brian Coburger. And now December 27th, the Bureau gave the green light. They were ordered to steal Coburger's garbage. The hope was that it would contain DNA that precisely match the DNA recovered from the button of a knife sheath left at the scene of the murders. And look, this is what I'm talking about. This evidence right here is so strong that it's very, very difficult to get this kind of stuff thrown out. It's very difficult to challenge this stuff. And if it does get into a court, open court, in front of a jury, how do you explain it? How do you explain this as a lawyer, right? I don't even care if you dig up Johnny Cochran. There's no way that you can explain this because there's no logical explanation as to why your DNA is on this knife sheath. It was nearly 4 a.m. and Trooper Brian Knoll crept with a furative concentration as he made his way to the garbage cans outside the Coburger home. Brows out here creeping into these trash cans like he's a raccoon. He reached in, grabbed the two plastic bags and held them high in the air like trophies. But then he had a sickening thought. I should have brought bags loaded with garbage to replace the ones I'm taking so Coburger wouldn't notice something was up. What if Coburger came out to deposit another bag? But there was nothing he could do so he clutched his pilfer treasures close to his chest and made his way through the darkness to awaiting SUV. The purloined garbage was shipped to a state police crime lab in Meridian, Idaho for analysis. Only the examination failed. There was no match to the DNA on the knife sheath. Had Coburger, the knowledgeable criminal justice student, made sure any material containing DNA had not gone in the family's trash or had they been zeroing in on the wrong man. Shake in the technicians repeated the analysis and the startling discovery was made. The DNA profile obtained from the trash belonged with a conclusive 99.9998% certainty to the father of the man whose DNA was on the knife sheath. Michael Coburger had branded his son a suspected killer. Betcha pop dukes didn't have that one on the bingo card, huh? Dynamic entry was only used to serve in a restaurant when the threat matrix was code red. The strategy was to charge in loud and strong to not just surprise the suspect but to scare the living daylights out of them. But any cop knew if the targets waiting inside ready to shoot tactics wouldn't count for much. At just after midnight on December 30th, a Pennsylvania state police emergency response team assembled at the gray barn-like troop in barracks in Hazleton. There were about 24 of them and they were heavily armed. Well, somebody killed or allegedly killed four people I'm coming in with a bazooka too. The early morning arrest of Ryan Coburger would be a code red up. When arresting someone accused of butchering four people in cold blood, you don't take chances. The team filled into a couple of specially outfitted Ford E-350 vans for the half hour ride to Albrightville. But as the force approached the rural development dotted with playgrounds and volleyball courts where the Coburgers lived, the lead van came to a sudden halt. The entrance to the community was blocked by a pair of white boom gates. A code had been entered into a sentry box for the pollster eyes. And none of the heavily armed officers had the code. A few of the tough guys cert team members wanted to plow through but cooler heads prevailed. As the force waited impatiently in the vans, a state trooper tracked down an acquaintance in the community and the entry code was obtained. It was 1.30 in the morning and they followed in light formation down a curling road until they reached Lambsdon Drive. It was so quiet, it seemed as if the cocking of a single rifle would rouse people from their slumber. The team, however, took their positions without being noticed. Then all hell broke loose. Windows shattered, explosive charges boomed, and the cert team stormed the white clapboard house. There was no need to fire a shot. They found Brian Coburger in the kitchen. Despite the hour, he was awake. He was wearing shorts, a t-shirt, and latex gloves. He had been scrupulously stuffing his personal trash into Ziploc, baggies, still convinced he was smarter than anyone else. Well, breaking news, you're not dumbass. Someone grabbed them by the collar and he'd Coburger up from his chair. He seemed stunned as the handcuffs were snapped onto his wrists. The team commander insisted that protective cordon be assembled around the suspect. Just a precaution he explained. Trembling, handcuffed, surrounded by towering troopers, Brian Coburger was led down the driveway to the waiting van. And like I said, that was an excerpt from the book when night comes falling by Howard Bloom. And honestly, we have only scratched the surface when it comes to what happened up in Moscow. We don't have the whole story yet, but as we get closer to trial, and especially once that trial does kick off, all of those blanks are gonna be filled in. And as far as this book goes, I'm gonna pick it up and I'm gonna read it over the next few weeks and see what Howard Bloom has to say. Because I'm very interested in whatever these journalists are coming up with, right? Always good to take a look at it and at least see what's what. Whether you believe it or not, well, that's a different story, but it's always a good thing to consume as much information as possible. Then you weed out what the garbage is and you retain the good stuff. So I'm gonna dive into that book over the next couple of weeks and we'll see what's what. But as for this one, that's gonna do it. All of the information that goes with this episode can be found in the description box.