PULLMAN, Wash. — In newly released documents obtained via public records request, samples taken from Bryan Kohberger's apartment in Pullman, Washington, show some presumptive positive tests for blood.
The documents do not say whose bodily fluid it belongs to -- but out of multiple "reddish brown stains" and samples from the sink and shower drain, only two items were marked as "positive" in the presumptive chemical tests for blood that were conducted on Dec. 30, 2022. A presumptive test can show that a sample is likely blood and indicates the presence of bodily fluid, but a confirmatory test is more specific.
This is the first time documents show certain stains in Kohberger's apartment were likely blood stains.
Kohberger, 28, is charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students in an off-campus home, 1122 King Road, in Moscow on Nov. 13, 2022. Police say they matched Kohberger's DNA found at the scene that was discovered on a knife sheath next to the bodies of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were also stabbed to death in the same home, sometime in the early morning hours of that Sunday. Two roommates who were home at the time of the killings survived, unharmed.
One swab of the mattress cover on the bed marked positive for blood, the document describing it as a "brown irregular drip." The document says multiple stains were tested after one positive blood test.
The other positive test comes from an uncased pillow on the south side of the bed, the document states. There were two separate stains -- only the larger stain was tested.
Swabs that tested negative for blood include samples from the sinks, the shower drain, a stain under the coffee table, a stain near a computer pad, a curtain rod and an entry to a doorway.
Search warrant documents for what police collected at Kohberger's apartment show that they collected multiple items for testing, including the mattress cover and uncased pillow that later tested positive for a possible presence of blood.
Here is what police found during that search:
- One nitrate-type black glove
- One Walmart receipt with a Dickies tag
- Two Marshalls receipts
- Dust container from a vacuum
- Eight possible hair strands
- One Amazon Fire TV Stick with a cord/plug
- One possible animal hair strand, four other possible hair strands
- One computer tower
- One collection of a dark red spot, collected without testing
- Two cuttings from an uncased pillow with reddish-brown stains, one stain tested
- Top and bottom of a mattress cover with multiple stains
Kohberger's next hearing in the case is June 26 at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow.
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