ID - 4 Univ of Idaho Students Murdered - Bryan Kohberger Arrested - Moscow # 65

[layer]

By watching on survelliance cameras, I'm surprised they can't figure out -- with a good deal of certainty -- just what he bought in the store that night.

Perhaps they could, but stating that he purchased Ho Hos and Preparation H didn't sound nefarious enough to put into a PCA.

JMHO

 

[maskedwoman]

I’m intrigued how one “picks up” wifi. You would need a password to be on the wifi. Or does this simply mean when the phone picks up the existence of all available close by networks without accessing them? Until now I didn’t know that this could be tracked.

A few threads ago, someone gave an excellent explanation of how that works. My admittedly non-techy summary is that the wifi and nearby devices exchange packets of data when they recognize and talk to each other, even the phone does not actually connect.

 

[Ceska]

I’m intrigued how one “picks up” wifi. You would need a password to be on the wifi. Or does this simply mean when the phone picks up the existence of all available close by networks without accessing them? Until now I didn’t know that this could be tracked.

People can pick up unsecured wireless networks. I don't exactly know how, but I do know it can be done.

 

[Auntie Cipation]

What do people think/know to be the functional range of a cell phone tower?

Where I am it seems to be well over ten miles, so someone's phone pinging a known tower doesn't give any clue about them being in a specific neighborhood.

Obviously other sensors can give more precise location: gps, cameras, etc. But if his 12 visits are based only on pinging a tower, what does that really tell us?

(I'm not suggesting that I believe he was in the area for any innocuous reason, especially given the late hours which would rule out, say, using the UofI library or going on a normal date. Just trying to narrow down whether those pings actually *prove* his phone was right there in the immediate neighborhood.)

MOO

ETA: @Ghostwheel GMTA!

 

[Waddles]

A few threads ago, someone gave an excellent explanation of how that works. My admittedly non-techy summary is that the wifi and nearby devices exchange packets of data when they recognize and talk to each other, even the phone does not actually connect.

Interesting, thank you!

 

[NyxNY]

https://coi.isc.idaho.gov/docs/case/CR29-22-2805/011023%20Request%20for%20Discovery.pdf

Will the public be privy to the items of discovery on the deadline of January 24th, or will we need to wait until the preliminary hearing or possibly even a trial?

 

[Cindizzi]

Statement from DeSales University in Pennsylvania says KB completed his graduate studies in June 2022.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1608894611380137984

 

[layer]

People can pick up unsecured wireless networks. I don't exactly know how, but I do know it can be done.

We can pick up secured ones too. Connecting to a secured wifi connection requires a password to log on, but both secured and unsecured networks require users to log on. Having said that, AFAIK no one has ever said that BK's phone connected to the wifi at 1122 King Road.

 

[eloquence]

Your last paragraph really has me confused as well. I don’t understand why he would walk by a potential witness and leave her alive. I’m also confused as to how the coroner said the victims all died in their sleep, when it now seems like, from DM’s recollection, they potentially all were awake.

That coroner was pushed out of the picture fairly quickly for saying inaccurate or unreleased things. IMO she may have been trying to illustrate they were all in bed, settled for the night... it was likely quickly clear that they hadn't provoked it at all (not like they were in a big fight downstairs) but clearly at least some of the victims were awake.

 

[Palinsmom]

Single source has a specific meaning in forensic genetics.

I do not believe that the PCA indicates there could have been any other DNA (male or female) on the sheath. They had a single source (one person's genome) and it happens to be male.

IMO as a forensic anthropologist, it has but one meaning in forensic genetic science. If there were other profiles, it would not be "single source," it would be tracing one person's DNA among multiple sources (usually assigned some value - as in how many other complete or incomplete sources might have been in the sample).

In this case, they tested the snap of the sheath and found just one person's DNA.

Thank you for this info.
Now I understand the difference. My bad, I tend to read ‘between the lines’ to decipher when it isn’t needed.
I also interpreted the info as saying ( my simple wording ) that out of the DNA found on the sheath only one male’s DNA was included without ruling out female victim DNA.

Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

 

[pittsburghgirl]

RSBM RBBM

I don't usually get chills... But stalking multiple houses at the same time...

That wouldn't surprise me at all. Years ago there was a killer roaming up a down the highways in Western PA, invading homes and shooting the male occupants and abducting and murdering the females. He also killed in Ohio, central PA and Florida (probably not the whole list). But he was an opportunist. He didn't stalk specific people. He looked for opportunities to kill. I think BK is an opportunist and for some reason the house the girls occupied seemed to him an opportunity for committing multiple murder. It may have been as simple the girls' house providing multiple undefended targets and a reasonable path to escape.

 

[Which_pancake]

Excellent post!

[snipped by me for focus]

10:34 to 11:35 —what was he doing for an hour?? Was he in his car, on foot? That wasn’t a quick drive by the house. So many questions…

Possibly they will be able to analyze more specific GPS data, like Google location data, to see where exactly he was then. Driving around but in the area of that tower? At a house/party? Shopping, lol? JMO

 

[10ofRods]

Well, my opinion only, I don't think he was hacking into their wifi, I imagine he was checking out the house, happened to just be close enough to pick up their wifi.

If any of them had been left alive, the unharmed roommates would have heard them (since DM had opened her door a few times when she had heard the noise when BK was in the house), but, with wounds as bad as they were, I would say it is doubtful anyone was alive after a knife attack of multiple stab wounds. It can (sadly) only take a matter of a few minutes, or less, to kill someone.

I agree - a few minutes each. IMO.

But I don't think any of them were capable of making any more sounds after he stabbed them and that was one of his primary goals. They were not moving or making sounds at that point. But they were likely still alive for a few minutes (and by few, I mean under 6-7 minutes with loss of consciousness occurring well before that). The autopsies will eventually reveal how, exactly, the knife caused these deaths. Not as sure about Xana, as I believe more and more than he encountered while she was standing up, which was not his plan. It was likely her blood on the bottom of his shoe.

For the actual knifings, less than 1 minute per victim was needed, IMO.

 

[Cindizzi]

The PCA says BK was spotted on the cameras at Albertsons around 1 am the night/morning of the murders, and that he walked through the store and purchased unknown items.

By watching on survelliance cameras, I'm surprised they can't figure out -- with a good deal of certainty -- just what he bought in the store that night.

Page 17

https://coi.isc.idaho.gov/docs/case/CR29-22-2805/122922%20Affidavit%20-%20Exhibit%20A%20-%20Statement%20of%20Brett-Payne.pdf

The trip to Albertsons in Clarkston/Lewiston was around Noon-1:00 pm. on Sunday November 13.

 

[sunshineray]

I’m intrigued how one “picks up” wifi. You would need a password to be on the wifi. Or does this simply mean when the phone picks up the existence of all available close by networks without accessing them? Until now I didn’t know that this could be tracked.

I think it's like their wifi saying, Hi, I see you, are you going to log in? Like what the co-pilot's phone did when that Malaysian airplane turned off it's tracker. The plane was invisible but co-pilot's phone was still touching base with localized wifi. I think the tech guys called it a handshake?

 

[Sjöberg]

"At least 12 times" just jumped out at me. Since we've learned that the PCA provides just enough to be him arrested, I'm starting to think his phone may have been in that area a lot more than 12 times.

Yes, I also noticed that. One idea is that they have different types of data providing that info (cell tower use, wifi touches, gps - this is usually on even on airplane mode) and the PD only wanted to use the data that confirmed these 12 visits to the PCA or that they only used data provided by several/best sources for the PCA. The second option is that his phone was suspiciously turned off at some nights or that they just want to acknowledge that they don't know if he also visited the area without his phone.

I’m intrigued how one “picks up” wifi. You would need a password to be on the wifi. Or does this simply mean when the phone picks up the existence of all available close by networks without accessing them? Until now I didn’t know that this could be tracked.

A few threads ago, someone gave an excellent explanation of how that works. My admittedly non-techy summary is that the wifi and nearby devices exchange packets of data when they recognize and talk to each other, even the phone does not actually connect.

MOO: Yes. I am no expert, but the simplest logic is, that as you choose which wi-fi to connect to, you see a list of names. These names have not been inserted there by the manufacturers in China, right. So there is some sort of data exchange. The router says "Hello, stranger, I am KMEX-wi-fi and my general parameters are this and our signal strength is that". The phone says "Hello, stranger, I am BKs phone and my general parameters are this and our signal strength is that". This data is stored somewhere for at least some time and accessible from both sides. Same with any turned on bluetooth device, imo.
Now, if he had his phone on airplane mode on any of the occasions, this might have still happened. In some phones, using airplane mode does not turn of the wi-fi at all! And I think that I've read it a few times that this exchange happens even if you have the wi-fi turned off, because it's like an automatic background process that the phone still does, maybe in order to show you the networks in a timely manner as you turn the wi-fi on. But the last part is pure speculation atm, as I will not start googling this again - but someone surely knows to confirm or deny this.

 

[eloquence]

Eating at a nearby food place or bar maybe? I think the only reason they pointed this time out was because it didn't bridge to the following day as maybe some of the others did.

Utilizing the cellular resources providing coverage to the King Road Residence doesn't mean he was anywhere near King Road. How far do those cellular resources go? 2 blocks? Three miles? Half of Moscow? The fact that BK utilized cellular resources providing coverage to the King Road Residence doesn't mean he was near the house, oddly enough unless those resources only provide coverage to that one Residence.

This map is for Verizon, you can select a different carrier at the below link. IMO, looks like there are enough cell towers to deduce he was in the residential area south of UI.

Also, I thought I read somewhere on this case that they could use "arc" technology to determine positioning among an arc from a cell tower. Think MH370 where they had certain arcs or lines that they came up with based on satellite pings. Someone more technological can correct me, but they may have more certainty he was truly close to King Rd than just "he pinged a cell tower in Moscow"



SOURCE: Verizon (United States of America)Cell Tower Map

 

[10ofRods]

That wouldn't surprise me at all. Years ago there was a killer roaming up a down the highways in Western PA, invading homes and shooting the male occupants and abducting and murdering the females. He also killed in Ohio, central PA and Florida (probably not the whole list). But he was an opportunist. He didn't stalk specific people. He looked for opportunities to kill. I think BK is an opportunist and for some reason the house the girls occupied seemed to him an opportunity for committing multiple murder. It may have been as simple the girls' house providing multiple undefended targets and a reasonable path to escape.

I believe EARONS/GSK (DeAngelo) also did this. He had maps. He actually made phone calls and hung up on people to figure out their daily patterns, so that he knew approximately when people got home from work and which houses had a woman alone in them at night and which houses had a male occupant after a certain hour (he didn't care if there were males there, apparently, instead enjoying dominating the male in various ways). Eventually, he would start killing his prey, but not at first.

I don't think DeAngelo stalked specific people as much as he stalked neighborhoods with particular characteristics of his choosing. It's possible he did zero in on some victims (esp. in Visalia, as I believe him to be the Visalia Ransacker as well, and during that phase, he was amping up to serial killing).

Here, it could be both. When this story first broke, there were already-existing TikToks (now gone) of two of the victims, emphasizing their specialness to the U of ID social scene, but with some jealousy exhibited by some who appeared to be other sorority girls. At any rate, at the time, when I went to TikTok and typed in University of Idaho, the TikToks about these two victims were trending and comments on them went way back before the time of the murders. So it's possible BK did the same thing I did and would have seen pictures (leading directly to Instagram, IMO) of two of the victims if he scrolled the top results. There was quite a bit of information about their lives in those TikToks.

IMO. Observation.

 

[WingsOverTX]

Maybe consider this when we wonder how BK might have incapacitated the victims. BK was a boxer. Could he have slugged them first and knocked them out or rendered them helpless? If it was immediately before the deed, it would not develop into a bruise once heart stopped pumping blood. Just a thought

Unlikely. One stab in the lungs or another vital organ was easier to accomplish. Hitting someone (even a sleeping someone) would be riskier for a number of reasons - no guarantee of incapacitation for one.

These victims were in the place where they should be safest, varying levels of alcohol consumption, sleeping or relaxing. The fight put up by Xana was no match for a strong guy with a knife.

He was a creeper. He is tall & strong. Only one victim (EC) could have fought back with any effectiveness & never got the chance.

I find it puzzling that some think that means other than surprise & a knife would be needed.

It was quick & deadly. He had the best weapon for this kind of crime. He didn't need anything else to ensure success, including an accomplice.

My opinion only.

 

[10ofRods]

I’m intrigued how one “picks up” wifi. You would need a password to be on the wifi. Or does this simply mean when the phone picks up the existence of all available close by networks without accessing them? Until now I didn’t know that this could be tracked.

We discussed this for pages and pages on about Thread 60, ha.

SG mentions that BK's phone "touched" the wireless. I guess I could show a screen shot of my own phone (right now) touching the routers of our neighbors. If I were to set my phone to AutoJoin (as many do), I would not only see the router name but I would be asked to enter the passwords (which I don't have).

But I can still tell (by walking up and down my street) which router is where.

I think that's what is meant by SG saying that BK's phone "touched" the router. Not "joined" the router. It's some kind of handshake protocol. When I drive to work, if I refresh my Wireless options, I can see way more routers along my route. Some of them I *could* autojoin if I wished (it's easy to get the password at KFC or McDonald's or Starbucks).

It would be interesting to know if all of the apartment dwellers next door had their own separate routers (probably). And how often the occupants had parties themselves and whether any of these houses began to share their passwords outside the immediate occupants of the house. That one guy who shows up in two of the body cam/noise complaint videos looks like he is on his phone and is likely on wifi (in the August video, he's clearly using his phone). He looks like a resident and very comfortable with the occupants of the house (even acting as "host" when the police come on Sept 1). I bet he had the password. IMO. And once people start giving out their passwords in that age group, all bets are off.

A person who said, "Gosh, I am lost, I need Google maps but my cellular is weak right here, I'm not on ATT, sigh" would likely find someone at almost any student house who would "lend" him their password to help out.