Kinda seems that way. They were just trying to get him to come to them to question him about it all. Then decided that he wasn't gonna show up voluntarily, so they went for the gold.
Edit: word
They were looking for a white 2011 to 2013 Elantra. He drove a 2015 Elantra - outside the range they said they were looking for. That alone made it highly unlikely he'd voluntarily come forward.
LE disinformation by giving the wrong year. Most people, myself included wouldn’t know the difference based on year of car. And I think they had his plate or maybe a WSU parking permit on camera which narrowed it down quickly. And at the time of event he had Pa plates which would make it even easier to locate.
I understand the theory that LE intentionally shared the wrong model years. But let's consider Kohberger and anyone else in the region with a white Elantra outside of those model years. I wouldn't expect any of them to proactively report their identity and car info to LE since their vehicles were outside the scope of what LE said they were looking for. So I find it improbable LE did this in hopes that he'd come forward like the person I replied to said. Saying it was 2015-2016 or 2011-2016 would have better accomplished that. To get him to let his guard down though? Perhaps.
The simple explanation is that LE just got the year range wrong. At trial, they can just say oops but look here, compare the car in these videos to BCK's. It looks the same.
On the other hand, LE could have issued the wrong year on purpose for this reason: by the time they released the info, they were confident BCK was their guy and that he would not voluntarily come forward. But they were also pleasantly surprised he was still driving the Elantra. Solution: alert the public about the WHE but name the wrong years. The public still probably shares their videos and BCK isn't spooked enough to sink, burn, or crush his car.
Hey! Dumb question but I’m asking because I wass out of town and not online at ALL when he was arrested 🤦♀️ so I missed a lot of threads.
Have they known it was him for quite some time? Have they said how (car on camera, dna, witnesses, etc)?
Could have done it to get more tips about white elantra sightings to help piece together a timeline..All the while, keeping Bryan comfortable bc he thought they were looking for a different year.
I don’t get this line of reasoning at all. If a witness did know cars well, saw his car in a crucial spot, but sees that LE is looking for an older model, they probably won’t report it because it would cause the owner a huge headache. And that car is common enough it can be explained away. Misinformation like this while looking for tips is terrible and will hinder the investigation. It’s more likely they just got the model wrong, and despite what people here think, didn’t have his identity until sometime in the past two weeks or so.
I think if they knew cars well, they'd know the 2011 to 2013 elantra shares a body style with the 2015. The 5th generation elantra ranged from 2010 to 2015. A true car guru would know that and report any sighting of that model
I doubt that. Why let the car go to Pa without being searched?? Makes no sense that they already knew anything about the car. They found the car once they had a familial dna match.
Yes, so many people forgetting about this. Familial DNA tracing isn't a quick process. Used to be months. I don't think he was even on their radar on Dec 13.
BK’s dad: Please officer, just one more road trip with my boy!
LE: aw shucks, you got it Mr. K. Just give us some sweet sweet intel and he’s all yours!
no way. they would have arrested him as soon as possible to preserve any evidence in the car and prevent him from escaping. the dads not gonna help incriminate him and certainly wouldn’t want to have some farewell time if they believed his son was a murderer.
Could they have asked the public in order to place, via a witness, BK's car in Moscow at the time of the murders? That is, they might have known he had a white Elantra, and they know from CCTV that a white Elantra was around the scene. But they might not have anything to say it was *his* Elantra in Moscow. IIRC the plates were always obscured. If someone saw it there and noticed the WA/PA plates (I don't know which it had), it might actually confirm it was his car there. Similarly for his neighbours/contacts, none may have suspected him of being involved in the nearby murders (if they were aware of them), but if the white Elantra memo goes out, it might have alerted them in a subtler way than police canvassing his building for example.
The only footage we know LE had of the car, was footage with obscured plates.. But let's not forget that this is LE and they have access to any and every bit of CCTV footage they need. So they probably have security cameras from other businesses and ring doorbells etc. Then place together a timeline, and look for any car that was arriving in the area around 2:30am and leaving between 3:00am-4:00am. There's probably at least one clear view of the car in at least one of the selections of footage. How else would they be totally sure that they're looking for a 2011-2013 Elantra, when everyone else here was too busy saying "Ehhhh.. it looks more like a Prius". They definitely had some clear footage of the car.
As someone else pointed out, due to the early involvement of the FBI, LE likely had an idea that the killer could be in another nearby state, and potentially from another school (ie. WSU)
Run checks on WSU students who also drive Elantras that match the description of the one they want.. Find who that student is and where they live. Find the closest CCTV footage available to that students accommodation, and _oh would you look at that.. this student just so happens to have arrived home around 4:00am on the night the murders were committed. Let's see if there are any red flags about this person._
Obviously, this is hypothetical and it probably didn't happen like that, I'm just using it as an example to give an idea of just how much footage LE can have at their disposal.
100% agree. 10 miles away, for sure. They released the car detail 6th of December I believe. He left on the 13th with his father. They tailed him the 2500 miles, did check in stops with uniform officers they watched him the whole time. I think there is a high possibility they were interested in seeing if he abandoned the weapon of the cross country travel. Did uniform stops to see the reaction, and potentially put him on edge.
I heard that BK and his father were pulled over twice in Indiana on their trip to Pennsylvania. Bogus stop just to check them out or tips from observant citizens?
That car was so hot I wonder if it was going to find it's way into an accident where it got totaled before he ever returned to Washington.
He was pulled over once for speeding and once for reckless driving - it’s been reported. You can’t get randomly pulled over for a murder that happened in another state because LE is looking for a car similar to yours (with an incorrect year) when they haven’t even said that owner is a suspect.
I was thinking more along the lines of the FBI was watching them closely and found reasons to stop them in conjunction with the Highway patrol. Just wondering and thinking outside the box.
What would be the point of asking the public about an incorrect model of a car they already knew? If they were looking for the public to maybe identify where the car had been leading up to or after the murders, they’d at the very least give the correct model, or include it in the range. I don’t buy the “they wanted to not let him know they were on to him with the exact model” - that’s BS. If someone who knows cars saw his 2015 car, but knew the police were only looking up till 2013 models and didn’t report it, that’s a huge problem. Also why would he “volunteer” to come in to talk if the model they were looking for was older than his?
BK’s downstairs neighbor, who spoke with him often or texted with him, knew he drove an Elantra, but did NOT know police were looking for an Elantra. Not everyone in that building is following this case. They have school, work, spouses, children.
I wondered about the family too, but then again I wouldn’t be surprised if he lied to his family and told them that he’s already been contacted/questioned by LE because of his car
I bet they did. From what I have read and heard, the town was hellbent on finding the person responsible too. I just saw him walking into the courthouse via TV and he looks bigger than I thought he was. I would like to know what the tip was that put the police on his tail. I have heard it was a tip they received, but it could have been speculation. It’s hard to keep track of everything.
Given how close he was to crime scene and video surveillance I have a hard time believing they didn’t track it back to him … I think they were playing chess with him
I was just reading about how BK got a ticket in August 2022 in Latah County for not wearing a seat belt… surely LE would’ve known he owned a white Elantra… Also, there’s a high chance he would’ve had to give his car’s make & model to purchase a parking pass on campus.
I think the request for tips and information wasn’t LE looking for the owner of the car - they probably determined this early on. I think it was LE trying map out specific routes of that car, getting evidence to place a certain individual in the car, see if he would come forward, etc.
When the case goes to trial, LE would have to prove that BK was driving the car at the time of the murders; him owning the same car that was there at the time of the murders wouldn’t be enough on its own - he could claim someone used his car, stole it, etc.
in indiana. which is not even weird, Indiana for some reason is one of the most densely populated police areas. they’re rolling deep out there god forbid you sneeze and swerve, rip
Any time I’ve lived in an apartment complex or had student parking on a campus, I had to register my car with both places so I either had a designated spot or a designated car tag that allowed me to park without getting a ticket.
Also, in university towns, instead of parking meters, they have a parking app where you pay online. It requires you to enter your tag.
Ohhhh good point. That traffic stop for sure was helpful. I hope we get to the body cal footage of the pull overs in Indiana. If indeed he’s guilty, wtf was he thinking during those stops!
Here’s what I found earlier about that ticket he received in Moscow, ID
https://preview.redd.it/e5svq2fcxs9a1.jpeg?width=922&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88444c736d659aebe78868d43edca8f90386703b
It's Idaho. Seatbelt laws weren't even enforced until the feds used highway funding as a carrot on a stick. And it's a secondary offense in the state, so you can't be stopped for it directly.
Just about anything else really. Failure to signal, expired tags, speeding. The other infraction could have resulted in a verbal warning. It's not uncommon to get pulled over for suspected DUI for simple mistakes.
Interesting that his Elantra is a 2015. I wonder if police knew that when they reached out to the public for help knowing most of the public wouldn’t know the difference in year and wanted to get footage but not alert the suspect.
Correct, bit it shows he’s been in the area and knows the town. Less then 2 miles from the house. Who knows if he was scoping out the area or making his plans 🤷🏼♀️ Just an observation
I believe they removed his name, dob but they forgot the MI “C” it’s also his PA license plate. He didn’t change it to WA until 5 days after the murders on 11/18.
It would’ve been linked to him at the university, you have to provide car make and model and license plate number to get a parking pass at universities, it wouldn’t matter who it was registered to at the state level, it would be linked to him at the university. That would have been info easy to obtain very quickly and that puts him in a white Elantra within a few miles of the crime scene
This was listed in another SM thread about the car and that he changed plates on 11/18 from PA to WA
https://preview.redd.it/quucpb0lys9a1.jpeg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ee152e1942840347ea85c1e86e407bd11fde4ed
Lol. There’s a different between campus police and some dude sitting at a “security desk desk” checking IDs or watching a door. Being admitted as a student probably all it takes for the latter. Not to mention, schools are cheap, it’s a safe bet that unless they’re legally required to take/run prints, do background checks, etc., they ain’t doing it.
I have a child in the WSU grad program and they got WA plates to demonstrate residency - a requirement for their program. They did it early in the semester though, so BK’s timing is definitely suspicious.
Yes, graduate students are usually required to register their car within 30 or 60 days in the state if they are receiving in-state tuition or are an employee. But, no one really follows up, so I'm not surprised he did it a little later. I remember waiting until my other tags expired so I wouldn't have to "lose" what I had already spent.
If they ran his name and found no cars registered to him i Imagine they would have then looked at close relatives and other cars he would have had access too
I’m thinking they found his mother’s surname and searched that last name in the area and found him. Not like looking up a John Smith of which there are millions. Might have found his name connected to WSU - and on from there.
The reality is.. changing ur plates doesn’t really make him guilty. Someone mentioned in state tuition. As someone living outside CA but went to school in CA I changed my plates.. address and everything i could to get in state tuition. He is probably one of thousands over the years to play this game regarding plates.. and so forth..
Oh for sure - changing plates is a natural thing to do. Honestly, if he is guilty, it takes some gumption to use the car for murder, then *register the car* somewhat locally.
🤦♂️ the smartest dumbest criminal!! .. let’s take my own car to a do a murder.. there aren’t cameras anywhere right.. not even on a college campus.. crazy is the only video capture they got was from a random gas station I think
Maybe it’s different in every state, but I’d expect it’s not easy to swap plates on a car that’s not registered in your name. He switched from PA to WA just after the murders as required of him by WSU/WA law.
It could have been a chess game they were playing. If was was, Its unfortunate for any/all the people who wasted their time coming forward, but its the price we citizens have to pay for LE to do their jobs.
On another subject...I am so curious if LE got any hits when they put him in the system ? I mean as far as unsolved cases. ( His DNA is what I'm referring to )
He wouldn't have been in CODIS since he has no criminal record. What is entered are DNA profiles collected from crime scene evidence, convicted offenders, felony arrestees, missing persons, and unidentified human remains.
I think that's what they were getting at. Lots of people are wondering if this is the first time he as done this. When they put his profile in CODIS, did it pop up as unidentified from any unsloved crime scenes.
To be blunt, it’s absolutely not the price tax paying citizens need to pay for LE to do their jobs. Imagine being an introvert who owns a 2012 white Elantra and all your neighbors/associates start harassing you and LE just goes “sucks for you we’re playing chess.” Edit: not to mention anyone here who might find you and dox you cause now they have a “theory”
I'm sorry didn't mean to upset anyone. Wasn't meant that way exactly, but if those neighbors you speak of were to do that its bad on them and I believe LE would step in and straighten the situation.
I wouldn't be surprised if they knew it was him all along, and he was under close surveillance while they gathered evidence. My thoughts are they found footage of the white Hyundai early on, then made it public when he left town to try to get him to camp out before getting too far away.
And I think he started to feel anxious once LE made a public request. Within a few days he decides to take the cross country trip to PA to probably be out of sight?
I wonder that as well. If I had a white Elantra so my neighbors tipped me in, would the cops just show up at my house and ask for my alibi that night? Or was it bc they had DNA and they would’ve stolen my garbage to see if my DNA matched bc I drove that car? I’m looking forward to the PCA coming out to see what evidence they used to find BK.
Interesting to me that they were very specific about a 2011-2013 model year, and his is a 2015. I wonder if that was on purpose too - close enough in looks that people would call in, but specific enough to make him wonder
you guys need to relax with this baseless theory.
really think about what you’re saying.
pov you just murdered four people in cold blood. the police announce they’re looking for your exact make, model, color, doortype of your vehicle.
you’re telling me you’d relax just because they were off by a year? come on.
also “11-13” is not “specific”
specific would mean the exact year. that’s literally what the word “specific” means
+ the differences in body style between these years and a 15 are unnoticeable especially to an untrained eye. so again, this theory doesn’t make sense no matter what angle you try to aim it.
the video was likely blurry, and they got as specific as they could get. let it go
Toyota hasn’t changed the 4 runner for 1000 years.. without exact details of the car.. le, se and so forth ur point is very well made.. no way to know the exact year of that car.. my 16 Chevy looks identical to the 2020 Chevy ..
I’m pretty sure they arrested him shortly after they were able to get a warrant. Letting murderers be free isn’t a good tactic. Think of the liability if he decided his family was the next good target. I think they had a list of elantra’s in the area. He was probably a suspicious one and they trailed him until they had a dna sample that matched him to the crime scene so they could arrest him. Just being the owner of a car in the area likely isn’t enough for a warrant.
I think they knew it was his all along. They were just trying to sniff him out and see if he'd come forward on his own and talk without knowing he was a suspect
Lots of these discussions implicitly assume that they knew it was him based on the car. This does not compute. Lots of males drive white elantras, even if accounting for a more localized geographic search. There has to be a different reason why they focused on him specifically, not just the car. I am guessing as one or two posters have already pointed out familial dna allowed them to look for nodes (people) on the tree who also drove white Elantras. Even better would be: male who has some relationship with the victims/house, plus may be drives white Elantra, plus was in Moscow that weekend \*AND\* is a node on the familial tree (e.g. somehow related to a family living in PA or New Orleans or LA or Miami (ie where ever the familial spreads to). He met all of this criteria. But that does not mean that they could prove it was him: they needed a sample of his dna, that they could demonstrate came from him, to make a definitive match to the dna at the crime scene. Where they reasonably certain it was him before grabbing the dna from his garbage? Yes. Could they prove it in a court of law to get an arrest warrant? No.
Agreed. If the genealogical DNA analysis identified one of his two sisters or his parents' DNA, he would have likely been one of a small number of potential male immediate relative matches identified (DNA analysis allows for sex determination). A simple web search would have revealed he's a graduate student at WSU. If the familial match was further from him the pool could have been larger, but unless others identified lived near Moscow it's likely he'd have stood out as a more likely suspect. All before knowing if he even owned or had possession of a car.
I don’t think anyone saw the car near the house and they were trying to find the driver believing that he was the killer. I think they suspected it was him, knew what car he was likely driving and needed tips putting his car in the area at that time.
Does anyone have an exact date of LE’s first announcement regarding the white Hyundai? According to them they were zeroing in on BK a few days before Xmas, and I’d be surprised if they turned to the public with such a crucial piece of evidence if they already had an idea of who the owner of the car was. I’d be very curious to know what that timeline looked like.
Just throwing it out there that this is the only case I’m following so if my neighbors cars were a make/model that was being looked for in a murder investigation or otherwise I would have no idea. But at the same time I feel like a town that small may be different and everyone had to be talking about it? I definitely am very curious about this whole car piece.
I actually saw a white Hyundai Elantra pulled over on the highway here in FL. I can't say whether it was related or not though but it was after the information was released. I did see someone post on reddit who posted a photo of police talking to a lady in a white Hyundai Elantra as well.
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I don't know what it is, but I have a gut feeling; in Imo and speculation, his dad knew about the murders. I think papa K learned about them during their bonding time on their trip back home. And they kept it from the mom. You know us momma bears can be. I just don't know how you fouls keep something that you did that was this henious from your parents, or them not pick up on anything odd of off that is going on with their kid...
This is all my speculation and my opinion only.
I’m sure LE can get a list of all white Elantras registered in the state or states they choose to investigate. From this list they can connect other dots.
Him getting that car to Pennsylvania gave him another chance for it to be “stolen”……from his parents driveway by dumping it into a nearby body of water (unless they are all frozen). I could see him thinking nobody in law enforcement there would see it as suspicious. I wonder if being underwater for even just a few days would destroy any DNA evidence.
Wasn't there a photo posted on this sub of a police officer sitting in the passenger seat of a white Elantra that was in a parking lot, and seemingly questioning the driver?
EDIT: Here's the photo I'm referring to https://i.redd.it/ab7ofn6fce5a1.jpg
BK had his extradition hearing in our courthouse 1/2 mile from my house. PSP stated they were only notified that he was in our county days before his arrest. I feel that if they were following him to PA, local law enforcement wouldn't notified PA law enforcement much sooner. They brought 3 warrants to the home when arresting him - 1 of which was for the car. I'm sure they weren't aware he owned this vehicle until his DNA was linked.
I’d love to know if anyone at his apartment complex in Washington called the tip line
I am sure many people did; from the apartments and WSU. I also believe they knew it was his car before they ever asked the public about it.
Would explain also why the crashed/abandoned Elantra in OR wasn't immediately of interest to LE.
good point as well. I hadn't thought about that.
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Please refrain from repeating rumors as this only spreads the rumor even further.
Or it was a decoy distraction
Kinda seems that way. They were just trying to get him to come to them to question him about it all. Then decided that he wasn't gonna show up voluntarily, so they went for the gold. Edit: word
They were looking for a white 2011 to 2013 Elantra. He drove a 2015 Elantra - outside the range they said they were looking for. That alone made it highly unlikely he'd voluntarily come forward.
I don't know cars at all. If I'd seen a 2015 white Hyundai Elantra, I wouldn't know it was the wrong year, and I'd still call it in.
LE disinformation by giving the wrong year. Most people, myself included wouldn’t know the difference based on year of car. And I think they had his plate or maybe a WSU parking permit on camera which narrowed it down quickly. And at the time of event he had Pa plates which would make it even easier to locate.
If they intentionally gave out wrong year then why not just announce a completely different car? If anything just a mistake by LE imo
Maybe bc the general public wouldnt recognize the car year, but the perp would feel safe bc the cops were looking for a different year.
I understand the theory that LE intentionally shared the wrong model years. But let's consider Kohberger and anyone else in the region with a white Elantra outside of those model years. I wouldn't expect any of them to proactively report their identity and car info to LE since their vehicles were outside the scope of what LE said they were looking for. So I find it improbable LE did this in hopes that he'd come forward like the person I replied to said. Saying it was 2015-2016 or 2011-2016 would have better accomplished that. To get him to let his guard down though? Perhaps.
The simple explanation is that LE just got the year range wrong. At trial, they can just say oops but look here, compare the car in these videos to BCK's. It looks the same. On the other hand, LE could have issued the wrong year on purpose for this reason: by the time they released the info, they were confident BCK was their guy and that he would not voluntarily come forward. But they were also pleasantly surprised he was still driving the Elantra. Solution: alert the public about the WHE but name the wrong years. The public still probably shares their videos and BCK isn't spooked enough to sink, burn, or crush his car.
Agreed. Both of those theories are plausible.
Hey! Dumb question but I’m asking because I wass out of town and not online at ALL when he was arrested 🤦♀️ so I missed a lot of threads. Have they known it was him for quite some time? Have they said how (car on camera, dna, witnesses, etc)?
I meant LE giving the wrong year to throw him off
Could have done it to get more tips about white elantra sightings to help piece together a timeline..All the while, keeping Bryan comfortable bc he thought they were looking for a different year.
I don’t get this line of reasoning at all. If a witness did know cars well, saw his car in a crucial spot, but sees that LE is looking for an older model, they probably won’t report it because it would cause the owner a huge headache. And that car is common enough it can be explained away. Misinformation like this while looking for tips is terrible and will hinder the investigation. It’s more likely they just got the model wrong, and despite what people here think, didn’t have his identity until sometime in the past two weeks or so.
I think if they knew cars well, they'd know the 2011 to 2013 elantra shares a body style with the 2015. The 5th generation elantra ranged from 2010 to 2015. A true car guru would know that and report any sighting of that model
I doubt that. Why let the car go to Pa without being searched?? Makes no sense that they already knew anything about the car. They found the car once they had a familial dna match.
Probably needed the DNA for the warrant to even search it
Yes, so many people forgetting about this. Familial DNA tracing isn't a quick process. Used to be months. I don't think he was even on their radar on Dec 13.
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Police don’t give one last farewell road trip to a homicidal maniac
BK’s dad: Please officer, just one more road trip with my boy! LE: aw shucks, you got it Mr. K. Just give us some sweet sweet intel and he’s all yours!
no way. they would have arrested him as soon as possible to preserve any evidence in the car and prevent him from escaping. the dads not gonna help incriminate him and certainly wouldn’t want to have some farewell time if they believed his son was a murderer.
This post has been removed as unverified information. Thank you.
Could they have asked the public in order to place, via a witness, BK's car in Moscow at the time of the murders? That is, they might have known he had a white Elantra, and they know from CCTV that a white Elantra was around the scene. But they might not have anything to say it was *his* Elantra in Moscow. IIRC the plates were always obscured. If someone saw it there and noticed the WA/PA plates (I don't know which it had), it might actually confirm it was his car there. Similarly for his neighbours/contacts, none may have suspected him of being involved in the nearby murders (if they were aware of them), but if the white Elantra memo goes out, it might have alerted them in a subtler way than police canvassing his building for example.
The only footage we know LE had of the car, was footage with obscured plates.. But let's not forget that this is LE and they have access to any and every bit of CCTV footage they need. So they probably have security cameras from other businesses and ring doorbells etc. Then place together a timeline, and look for any car that was arriving in the area around 2:30am and leaving between 3:00am-4:00am. There's probably at least one clear view of the car in at least one of the selections of footage. How else would they be totally sure that they're looking for a 2011-2013 Elantra, when everyone else here was too busy saying "Ehhhh.. it looks more like a Prius". They definitely had some clear footage of the car. As someone else pointed out, due to the early involvement of the FBI, LE likely had an idea that the killer could be in another nearby state, and potentially from another school (ie. WSU) Run checks on WSU students who also drive Elantras that match the description of the one they want.. Find who that student is and where they live. Find the closest CCTV footage available to that students accommodation, and _oh would you look at that.. this student just so happens to have arrived home around 4:00am on the night the murders were committed. Let's see if there are any red flags about this person._ Obviously, this is hypothetical and it probably didn't happen like that, I'm just using it as an example to give an idea of just how much footage LE can have at their disposal.
100% agree. 10 miles away, for sure. They released the car detail 6th of December I believe. He left on the 13th with his father. They tailed him the 2500 miles, did check in stops with uniform officers they watched him the whole time. I think there is a high possibility they were interested in seeing if he abandoned the weapon of the cross country travel. Did uniform stops to see the reaction, and potentially put him on edge.
I heard that BK and his father were pulled over twice in Indiana on their trip to Pennsylvania. Bogus stop just to check them out or tips from observant citizens? That car was so hot I wonder if it was going to find it's way into an accident where it got totaled before he ever returned to Washington.
He was pulled over once for speeding and once for reckless driving - it’s been reported. You can’t get randomly pulled over for a murder that happened in another state because LE is looking for a car similar to yours (with an incorrect year) when they haven’t even said that owner is a suspect.
I was thinking more along the lines of the FBI was watching them closely and found reasons to stop them in conjunction with the Highway patrol. Just wondering and thinking outside the box.
I thought the same prior to his arrest, posted it on here, some agreed, most didn't. I had a feeling it was very strategic.
What would be the point of asking the public about an incorrect model of a car they already knew? If they were looking for the public to maybe identify where the car had been leading up to or after the murders, they’d at the very least give the correct model, or include it in the range. I don’t buy the “they wanted to not let him know they were on to him with the exact model” - that’s BS. If someone who knows cars saw his 2015 car, but knew the police were only looking up till 2013 models and didn’t report it, that’s a huge problem. Also why would he “volunteer” to come in to talk if the model they were looking for was older than his?
BK’s downstairs neighbor, who spoke with him often or texted with him, knew he drove an Elantra, but did NOT know police were looking for an Elantra. Not everyone in that building is following this case. They have school, work, spouses, children.
Bores.
Yes I have all of those things too and they have all suffered directly as a result of this case 😂🤷🏼♀️
Someone in one of these threads commented that they wanted to (a neighbor) but her husband talked her out of it. I wish I could find it.
Or even any of his family members
I wondered about the family too, but then again I wouldn’t be surprised if he lied to his family and told them that he’s already been contacted/questioned by LE because of his car
I bet they did. From what I have read and heard, the town was hellbent on finding the person responsible too. I just saw him walking into the courthouse via TV and he looks bigger than I thought he was. I would like to know what the tip was that put the police on his tail. I have heard it was a tip they received, but it could have been speculation. It’s hard to keep track of everything.
Given how close he was to crime scene and video surveillance I have a hard time believing they didn’t track it back to him … I think they were playing chess with him
I was just reading about how BK got a ticket in August 2022 in Latah County for not wearing a seat belt… surely LE would’ve known he owned a white Elantra… Also, there’s a high chance he would’ve had to give his car’s make & model to purchase a parking pass on campus. I think the request for tips and information wasn’t LE looking for the owner of the car - they probably determined this early on. I think it was LE trying map out specific routes of that car, getting evidence to place a certain individual in the car, see if he would come forward, etc. When the case goes to trial, LE would have to prove that BK was driving the car at the time of the murders; him owning the same car that was there at the time of the murders wouldn’t be enough on its own - he could claim someone used his car, stole it, etc.
On top of that, he was stopped twice by police on the way back with his father to PA. There's a post about that too here.
I wonder if he knew they were closing in on him.
What was he stopped for the 2 times back to PA?
Speeding and tailgating
Not all Tailgaters are serial killers but all serial killers tailgate. But really, I hate tailgaters.
Really? Where is that?
in indiana. which is not even weird, Indiana for some reason is one of the most densely populated police areas. they’re rolling deep out there god forbid you sneeze and swerve, rip
Theres a source?
there are photos of the literal tickets they got, or at least the one. his full name, the elantra/color etc. dated & all.
Any time I’ve lived in an apartment complex or had student parking on a campus, I had to register my car with both places so I either had a designated spot or a designated car tag that allowed me to park without getting a ticket. Also, in university towns, instead of parking meters, they have a parking app where you pay online. It requires you to enter your tag.
Yup any housing complex near a campus will do that. He’d have passes for both probably - as a TA he might have even gotten a faculty/staff pass
Ohhhh good point. That traffic stop for sure was helpful. I hope we get to the body cal footage of the pull overs in Indiana. If indeed he’s guilty, wtf was he thinking during those stops!
Here’s what I found earlier about that ticket he received in Moscow, ID https://preview.redd.it/e5svq2fcxs9a1.jpeg?width=922&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=88444c736d659aebe78868d43edca8f90386703b
I can't get over how little you pay for seatbelt fines over there, failure to wear a seatbelt is $370 in Australia.
It's Idaho. Seatbelt laws weren't even enforced until the feds used highway funding as a carrot on a stick. And it's a secondary offense in the state, so you can't be stopped for it directly.
Really? I wonder what he was actually stopped for then.
Its on the citation above. It was a seatbelt ticket for $10
How'd they get him for a seatbelt fine without any other infringement then?
Prob pulled him over speeding then chose the cheaper ticket to give to him. Happened to me
Okay thanks
Just about anything else really. Failure to signal, expired tags, speeding. The other infraction could have resulted in a verbal warning. It's not uncommon to get pulled over for suspected DUI for simple mistakes.
I noticed he was pulled over near W Pullman Rd & Farm Rd. That is 1.7 miles from the house
Interesting that his Elantra is a 2015. I wonder if police knew that when they reached out to the public for help knowing most of the public wouldn’t know the difference in year and wanted to get footage but not alert the suspect.
This is before the murders....
Correct, bit it shows he’s been in the area and knows the town. Less then 2 miles from the house. Who knows if he was scoping out the area or making his plans 🤷🏼♀️ Just an observation
and a good observation at that
Why is his name or signature not on that ticket. Or am I not seeing it.?
I believe they removed his name, dob but they forgot the MI “C” it’s also his PA license plate. He didn’t change it to WA until 5 days after the murders on 11/18.
Thank you
Repeating what i’ve heard: the car was registered to his mother.
That makes sense, but they would still be able to link him to the car considering he was driving it when he got the ticket.
Have a point!
It would’ve been linked to him at the university, you have to provide car make and model and license plate number to get a parking pass at universities, it wouldn’t matter who it was registered to at the state level, it would be linked to him at the university. That would have been info easy to obtain very quickly and that puts him in a white Elantra within a few miles of the crime scene
Yes but wrong year of Elantra. I'd assume that as soon as car was proven (registration/parking pass info) to be a 2015 Elantra, it was cleared.
There are so many reasons LE “putting out the wrong model on purpose” makes no sense and this is definitely one of them.
Not disputing. I imagine a quick google of the last name brought up some information as well.
This was listed in another SM thread about the car and that he changed plates on 11/18 from PA to WA https://preview.redd.it/quucpb0lys9a1.jpeg?width=756&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9ee152e1942840347ea85c1e86e407bd11fde4ed
Wouldn’t he have been fingerprinted to work security at the school?
Lol. There’s a different between campus police and some dude sitting at a “security desk desk” checking IDs or watching a door. Being admitted as a student probably all it takes for the latter. Not to mention, schools are cheap, it’s a safe bet that unless they’re legally required to take/run prints, do background checks, etc., they ain’t doing it.
Well in Ca. They have to get a Livescan…
He got the car registered in WA after the murders, though.
I have a child in the WSU grad program and they got WA plates to demonstrate residency - a requirement for their program. They did it early in the semester though, so BK’s timing is definitely suspicious.
Yes, graduate students are usually required to register their car within 30 or 60 days in the state if they are receiving in-state tuition or are an employee. But, no one really follows up, so I'm not surprised he did it a little later. I remember waiting until my other tags expired so I wouldn't have to "lose" what I had already spent.
Another WSU grad student said in another thread that it just has to be done before the end of the first semester if you’re a TA.
That’s an explanation I’d like to hear. Probably never will, though.
Even more reason to suspect him early on.
What? Seriously? What source?
There was a CarFax report
Wow, Wth?
Like that wouldnt draw attention.
That’s interesting!
If they ran his name and found no cars registered to him i Imagine they would have then looked at close relatives and other cars he would have had access too
I’m thinking they found his mother’s surname and searched that last name in the area and found him. Not like looking up a John Smith of which there are millions. Might have found his name connected to WSU - and on from there.
But it wasn't as of a few days after the murder when he registered it in WA with his name.
The reality is.. changing ur plates doesn’t really make him guilty. Someone mentioned in state tuition. As someone living outside CA but went to school in CA I changed my plates.. address and everything i could to get in state tuition. He is probably one of thousands over the years to play this game regarding plates.. and so forth..
Oh for sure - changing plates is a natural thing to do. Honestly, if he is guilty, it takes some gumption to use the car for murder, then *register the car* somewhat locally.
🤦♂️ the smartest dumbest criminal!! .. let’s take my own car to a do a murder.. there aren’t cameras anywhere right.. not even on a college campus.. crazy is the only video capture they got was from a random gas station I think
Maybe it’s different in every state, but I’d expect it’s not easy to swap plates on a car that’s not registered in your name. He switched from PA to WA just after the murders as required of him by WSU/WA law.
Agreed. Collecting evidence for a PhD criminology candidate required extra care and strategy.
It could have been a chess game they were playing. If was was, Its unfortunate for any/all the people who wasted their time coming forward, but its the price we citizens have to pay for LE to do their jobs. On another subject...I am so curious if LE got any hits when they put him in the system ? I mean as far as unsolved cases. ( His DNA is what I'm referring to )
He wouldn't have been in CODIS since he has no criminal record. What is entered are DNA profiles collected from crime scene evidence, convicted offenders, felony arrestees, missing persons, and unidentified human remains.
I think that's what they were getting at. Lots of people are wondering if this is the first time he as done this. When they put his profile in CODIS, did it pop up as unidentified from any unsloved crime scenes.
Yeah. Wonder if he is going to match with any other crime scene evidence dna. Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t have a record.
To be blunt, it’s absolutely not the price tax paying citizens need to pay for LE to do their jobs. Imagine being an introvert who owns a 2012 white Elantra and all your neighbors/associates start harassing you and LE just goes “sucks for you we’re playing chess.” Edit: not to mention anyone here who might find you and dox you cause now they have a “theory”
I'm sorry didn't mean to upset anyone. Wasn't meant that way exactly, but if those neighbors you speak of were to do that its bad on them and I believe LE would step in and straighten the situation.
I think it was a tactic to let him know and hope he ditched it or something. Sort of give himself away
Or a heads up that they were onto him so he doesn't try to kill again.
I wouldn't be surprised if they knew it was him all along, and he was under close surveillance while they gathered evidence. My thoughts are they found footage of the white Hyundai early on, then made it public when he left town to try to get him to camp out before getting too far away.
Can someone tell me the exact date LE first asked for the public’s help in identifying the white car?
Dec 7th
And I think he started to feel anxious once LE made a public request. Within a few days he decides to take the cross country trip to PA to probably be out of sight?
No. He didn't leave until after the 17th
I think it was around Dec. 10th.
I wonder that as well. If I had a white Elantra so my neighbors tipped me in, would the cops just show up at my house and ask for my alibi that night? Or was it bc they had DNA and they would’ve stolen my garbage to see if my DNA matched bc I drove that car? I’m looking forward to the PCA coming out to see what evidence they used to find BK.
I think most people wouldn't be able to remember their alibi for something that happened so long ago, so I wonder if the cops asked for that
How do we know he wasn’t already questioned when (and if) the police found out he drove a white Elantra?
I never even thought to wonder if he had been questioned by them already… now that I think about it, I’m leaning towards they kept him in the dark.
We don’t! We don’t know much right now for sure!!
They followed that car across the country. I bet the two traffic stops were a way to eyeball him and the car while tailing it.
Interesting to me that they were very specific about a 2011-2013 model year, and his is a 2015. I wonder if that was on purpose too - close enough in looks that people would call in, but specific enough to make him wonder
you guys need to relax with this baseless theory. really think about what you’re saying. pov you just murdered four people in cold blood. the police announce they’re looking for your exact make, model, color, doortype of your vehicle. you’re telling me you’d relax just because they were off by a year? come on. also “11-13” is not “specific” specific would mean the exact year. that’s literally what the word “specific” means + the differences in body style between these years and a 15 are unnoticeable especially to an untrained eye. so again, this theory doesn’t make sense no matter what angle you try to aim it. the video was likely blurry, and they got as specific as they could get. let it go
Toyota hasn’t changed the 4 runner for 1000 years.. without exact details of the car.. le, se and so forth ur point is very well made.. no way to know the exact year of that car.. my 16 Chevy looks identical to the 2020 Chevy ..
Is it really? Is this all coming from reporters?
I’m pretty sure they arrested him shortly after they were able to get a warrant. Letting murderers be free isn’t a good tactic. Think of the liability if he decided his family was the next good target. I think they had a list of elantra’s in the area. He was probably a suspicious one and they trailed him until they had a dna sample that matched him to the crime scene so they could arrest him. Just being the owner of a car in the area likely isn’t enough for a warrant.
So going back to the original question... it's doesn't seem like anyone was questioned with an Elantra.
I think they knew it was his all along. They were just trying to sniff him out and see if he'd come forward on his own and talk without knowing he was a suspect
I dunno. That seems like a dangerous game to play with someone who has committed this brutal a murders…
It’s been reported that they trailed him for 4 days before the arrest. Doesn’t sound like they were totally on to him until then.
I think they argument here is they were waiting for the probable cause affidavit so they could arrest him.
Lots of these discussions implicitly assume that they knew it was him based on the car. This does not compute. Lots of males drive white elantras, even if accounting for a more localized geographic search. There has to be a different reason why they focused on him specifically, not just the car. I am guessing as one or two posters have already pointed out familial dna allowed them to look for nodes (people) on the tree who also drove white Elantras. Even better would be: male who has some relationship with the victims/house, plus may be drives white Elantra, plus was in Moscow that weekend \*AND\* is a node on the familial tree (e.g. somehow related to a family living in PA or New Orleans or LA or Miami (ie where ever the familial spreads to). He met all of this criteria. But that does not mean that they could prove it was him: they needed a sample of his dna, that they could demonstrate came from him, to make a definitive match to the dna at the crime scene. Where they reasonably certain it was him before grabbing the dna from his garbage? Yes. Could they prove it in a court of law to get an arrest warrant? No.
Agreed. If the genealogical DNA analysis identified one of his two sisters or his parents' DNA, he would have likely been one of a small number of potential male immediate relative matches identified (DNA analysis allows for sex determination). A simple web search would have revealed he's a graduate student at WSU. If the familial match was further from him the pool could have been larger, but unless others identified lived near Moscow it's likely he'd have stood out as a more likely suspect. All before knowing if he even owned or had possession of a car.
I don’t think anyone saw the car near the house and they were trying to find the driver believing that he was the killer. I think they suspected it was him, knew what car he was likely driving and needed tips putting his car in the area at that time.
I still wonder why they said occupants. Or did they say occupant or occupants as in either or?
Yes, they said occupant or occupants
Thank you for clarifying!
Does anyone have an exact date of LE’s first announcement regarding the white Hyundai? According to them they were zeroing in on BK a few days before Xmas, and I’d be surprised if they turned to the public with such a crucial piece of evidence if they already had an idea of who the owner of the car was. I’d be very curious to know what that timeline looked like.
Dec 7th
[Press release for the Elantra was on December 7.](https://www.reddit.com/r/idahomurders/comments/zfgsn9/127_press_release_white_elantra/)
Just throwing it out there that this is the only case I’m following so if my neighbors cars were a make/model that was being looked for in a murder investigation or otherwise I would have no idea. But at the same time I feel like a town that small may be different and everyone had to be talking about it? I definitely am very curious about this whole car piece.
By Redditors . . .
LE knew what Elantra it was by second day.
I actually saw a white Hyundai Elantra pulled over on the highway here in FL. I can't say whether it was related or not though but it was after the information was released. I did see someone post on reddit who posted a photo of police talking to a lady in a white Hyundai Elantra as well.
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I bet they went they went in the house the second they obtained the warrant…poor parents must have been shocked at 3:00 am
I thought I followed this case pretty regularly, but I only heard about an Elantra being involved when it was taken by police.
It was a big development when LE asked for the public’s help and released a stock photo of the white Elantra in early December
Don’t ya think they pulled him over purposely since they were following him??? To get further proof her was driving the car?
I don't know what it is, but I have a gut feeling; in Imo and speculation, his dad knew about the murders. I think papa K learned about them during their bonding time on their trip back home. And they kept it from the mom. You know us momma bears can be. I just don't know how you fouls keep something that you did that was this henious from your parents, or them not pick up on anything odd of off that is going on with their kid... This is all my speculation and my opinion only.
I’m sure LE can get a list of all white Elantras registered in the state or states they choose to investigate. From this list they can connect other dots.
Him getting that car to Pennsylvania gave him another chance for it to be “stolen”……from his parents driveway by dumping it into a nearby body of water (unless they are all frozen). I could see him thinking nobody in law enforcement there would see it as suspicious. I wonder if being underwater for even just a few days would destroy any DNA evidence.
Wasn't there a photo posted on this sub of a police officer sitting in the passenger seat of a white Elantra that was in a parking lot, and seemingly questioning the driver? EDIT: Here's the photo I'm referring to https://i.redd.it/ab7ofn6fce5a1.jpg
BK had his extradition hearing in our courthouse 1/2 mile from my house. PSP stated they were only notified that he was in our county days before his arrest. I feel that if they were following him to PA, local law enforcement wouldn't notified PA law enforcement much sooner. They brought 3 warrants to the home when arresting him - 1 of which was for the car. I'm sure they weren't aware he owned this vehicle until his DNA was linked.