Idaho murders: Bryan Kohberger investigated for another home invasion prior to campus slayings

Officials are now saying Bryan Kohberger, the suspect charged in the quadruple homicide of four Moscow, Idaho, students, was investigated in connection with a home invasion that took place before the murders in a neighboring city. 

Newly released body camera video, obtained by ABC News, shows police responding to an alleged home invasion, which took place October 2021 in Pullman, Washington — a little over a year before and about 10 miles from where four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed in their off-campus home.

"I heard my door open and I looked over and someone was wearing a ski mask and had a knife, and so I like kicked the s--- out of their stomach and screamed super loud, and they like flew back into my closet then ran out my door and up the stairs," the woman in the body camera footage told police, adding that the masked intruder entered her bedroom, holding a knife at about 3:30 a.m. 

IDAHO PROSECUTORS REJECT BRYAN KOHBERGER'S MANY ATTACKS ON SEARCH WARRANTS

A compilation of mugshots for Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger, a 29-year-old criminologist accused of sneaking into an off-campus rental home and killing four students with a knife at 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022. (Monroe County, Pennsylvania | Latah County, Idaho)

She said the suspect was silent the whole time, according to the police report, obtained by the outlet. One of her roommates quickly called the police, but officers found no suspect or evidence at the time. 

On Nov. 13, 2022, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, their housemate Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, also 20, were stabbed to death at around 4 a.m. in their Moscow home.  A surviving housemate told detectives she saw a masked man with "bushy eyebrows" after overhearing crying and sounds of a struggle. 

WATCH BRYAN KOHBERGER: I AM BLANK | FOX NATION

Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at the nearby Washington State University, was arrested weeks later at his parents' house in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains. The 28-year-old suspect is facing four first-degree murder charges and a felony burglary charge in connection with the early morning massacre, during which prosecutors allege he snuck into the house near the University of Idaho campus and brutally killed the four innocent students using a large knife. 

Thirteen days later, Kohberger was named a person of interest in the Pullman case.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE TRUE CRIME FROM FOX NEWS

Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)

The details in both the Pullman break-in case and the University of Idaho quadruple homicide case are eerily similar — both suspects had a knife, wore a mask, entered the home in the early morning hours and were silent while leaving. 

Kohberger is no longer a person of interest in the break-in case, Pullman police told ABC News. 

WATCH PARALLELS OF EVIL ONLINE | STREAM FOX NATION

Kohberger's height does not match the female victim's description in the Pullman case. She told police the suspect was 5-foot-3 to 5-foot-5, while Kohberger is 6 feet tall, according to the police report. Kohberger was not yet enrolled at Washington State University at the time of the Pullman break-in, the report continues. 

The Pullman case is closed and remains unsolved.

TED BUNDY LAWER REVEALS WHAT ‘TOTALLY FASCINATES’ HIM ABOUT BRYAN KOHBERGER CASE

Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, on Aug. 18, 2023. (August Frank/Pool via Reuters)

SIGN UP TO GET TRUE CRIME NEWSLETTER

Investigators replace the plywood over the doors and windows to the home where four University of Idaho students were slain in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 1, 2023. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

"My family and I have been frustrated that the case was not investigated more in depth or resolved," the victim in the break-in case told the outlet. 

With Kohberger's murder trial slated to begin in August 2025, it's unclear whether the defense will use the break-in case to raise reasonable doubt.

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Kohberger is due back in court on Jan. 23. He is being held without bail and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.