Idaho killings latest: Motive unknown but ‘new information could come out,’ former chief says

Idaho’s Boise Despite the fact that the reason behind the violent attack on Bryan Kohberger at the University of Idaho is still unknown, the former police chief thinks “new information could come out still.”

James Fry, the head of the Moscow police at the time of the killings, told ABC News shortly after Kohberger was given a life sentence on Wednesday, “There’s always cases that, you know, ten years later, somebody says something.”

Fry acknowledged that he wished he had more information on the motivation after an extensive, costly study that lasted over three years. According to Moscow police, they have not discovered any connection between Kohberger and the victims and are unsure of which victim was the precise target.

Listen to Fry, the former police chief, discuss the case:

“You re always wanting to get the families the why,” he stated, but “sometimes they don t get to have the why.”

In his first network interview after the nondissemination order was lifted, Fry spoke candidly with ABC News about the killer who frightened his neighborhood and the department’s years-long investigation.

On November 13, 2022, the victims—roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Xana Kernodle, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin—were fatally stabbed at the girls’ off-campus residence.

The crime scene was extremely graphic, according to police files that were made public for the first time on Wednesday. They also mentioned that Goncalves and Kernodle had defensive wounds.

“Unrecognizable as her facial structure was extremely damaged,” according to the investigation, Goncalves was stabbed 34 times. A report stated that Kernodle had been in a “intense struggle” and sustained more than fifty stab wounds.

The person who does that is “cold, filled with rage,” according to Fry. “Angry, very angry.”

Fry remarked, “I think it was a fight for their life,” adding that Kernodle might have run into Kohberger after receiving her meal delivery and entering the kitchen.

Dylan Mortensen, one of the two surviving roommates, told police she saw a man wearing a mask and having “bushy eyebrows” in the residence the night of the killings.

There are several hypotheses as to why Mortensen might have been spared, according to Fry. One of them is that Kohberger might have felt he had been in the house for too long or that he was worn out from the stabbings.

“I don t know — only he has that answer,” Fry replied.

Weeks before the trial was scheduled to begin, Kohberger entered a guilty plea to all counts on July 2. Kohberger was given the maximum penalty of 10 years for the burglary count and four consecutive life sentences on the four first-degree murder convictions on Wednesday.

The first time Fry saw Kohberger in person was when he sat down in the jury box during sentencing, right across from him.

“He should be ashamed of what he did,” stated Fry. “He ruined communities, families, and lives. altered my university and everyone who has worked on the case.”

He declared, “It’s not human what happened,”

Fry stated that he feels somewhat vindicated in the end. He had assured the relatives of the victims and his community that this matter would not be abandoned. That became a legitimate worry during the nearly seven-week manhunt, during which the department provided little to no information. In addition to sleeping with a loaded shotgun close to his bed and covering office windows with butcher paper to block out intruders, Fry was getting death threats. All the while looking for and eventually locating the murderer, who will now be imprisoned for the rest of his life.

ABC News was the first to publish this story.