Bryan Kohberger mugshot. Credit: Monroe County Office of the District Attorney
Today, Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of four University of Idaho students on Nov. 13, 2022. The brutal crime shook not only the small college town, but the entire nation.
With sentencing now complete, more details about the forensics of the case have come to light. Specifically that Othram—a forensic genetic genealogy company very active in cold cases—were the ones to develop the SNP profile that pointed to Kohberger as the sole suspect in the horrendous crime.
Not a cold case
At the crime scene, a Moscow Police Department officer recovered a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed near one of the victims. Forensics subsequently found a single source of male DNA on the button snap of the knife sheath. This information, in combination with surveillance footage, pointed to Bryan Kohberger. We now know that Othram scientists were the ones to develop the high-resolution SNP profile that helped lead investigators to Kohberger.
According to Othram, representatives from Idaho State Police Forensic Services and the Moscow Police Department personally transported the forensic DNA evidence to Othram’s laboratory in The Woodlands, Texas. Using the same forensic DNA evidence that had previously been used to generate the STR profile, Othram scientists applied Forensic-Grade Genome Sequencing to develop a high-resolution SNP profile in a matter of days.
“This was an unprecedented process at the time, demonstrating that high-resolution forensic DNA profiles could be generated real-time to support active investigations,” said Dan Miller, Director of Customer Service at Othram.
On Dec. 27, 2022, investigators recovered trash from outside the Pennsylvania home of Kohberger’s parents, where he was visiting during winter break. The next day, the Idaho State Police Forensic Services lab reported that a male DNA profile obtained from the trash was 99.9998% likely to be the biological father of the DNA profile Othram recovered on the knife sheath left at the crime scene. This link was the last step to retaining an arrest warrant for Bryan Kohberger, who was taken into custody on Dec. 30—a month and a half after the murders.
At the time of the crime, Othram had an existing contract with Idaho State Police Forensic Services (ISPFS) to support forensic DNA analysis, and the organizations had successfully collaborated on cold cases in the past. However, the Kohberger case marked the first time ISPFS considered applying Othram’s technology to an active, real-time homicide investigation.
In general, forensic genetic genealogy and familial searching is used almost exclusively in violent crime cold cases. Typically, the decision to use genetic genealogy is made after the CODIS pipeline is exhausted. And while that held true in the Kohberger case, investigators turned to Othram and its associated technology much faster than is typical.
“This case exemplifies why Othram was built—to overcome the limitations of traditional forensic DNA technology and bring certainty to investigations, whether current or cold. It marks the beginning of a new era in criminal justice, where answers are possible for everyone, regardless of circumstances, origin, geography or time,” said Miller.
Now the question becomes, will investigators start turning to forensic genetic genealogy at the earliest stages of recent violent crimes, or will it continue to be exclusively used in cold cases?