MOSCOW, ID - Investigators revealed that Bryan Kohberger left behind "catastrophic" evidence that led to his speedy arrest as experts reportedly worked through Thanksgiving 2022 to process large DNA samples.
Genetic genealogists who worked on the University of Idaho student murders case found "hundreds of times" more DNA than a typical case as they raced to solve the quadruple stabbing that left four students dead, Fox News reported.
"It was a catastrophic deal," said David Mittelman, the Othram founder and CEO, whose work generated leads that helped police track Kohberger from a DNA sample he left on a Ka-Bar knife sheath discarded at the crime scene. "That's why the defense didn't want to talk about it."
Thanks to the sheer amount of DNA police found, Othram's investigators were able to hone in on Kohberger's family tree almost immediately.
Speaking with Fox News Digital at CrimeCon's 2025 conference, Mittelman said that while their early leads didn't include his identity, the DNA showed that the sample came from a "multigenerational" American family mixed with Italian ancestry. He then pointed to a multigenerational Pennsylvania family that intersected with Italian heritage only twice. It was more than "trace" DNA, too.
"The DNA evidence was amazing," Mittelman said. "There was tons of DNA by the way ... I don't know why it's been reported it was "trace" DNA. It was not. It was tons of DNA." He also said that the DNA was of high caliber.
"There was certainty in the quality of the DNA, there was certainty in the analysis, and there was certainty that there was more than enough information in that [family] tree to get to a person," he said.
Separately, police had identified a suspect vehicle, a white Hyundai Elantra just like the one Kohberger drove. He was from Pennsylvania, but was attending Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, at the time of the murders. That is just 10 miles away from the crime scene.
While police did not find the murder weapon, they did find a Ka-Bar knife sheath next to Madison Morgan, 21, one of the four victims. After they identified Kohberger as a suspect, they got a search warrant for his Amazon activity and discovered that he purchased a Ka-Bar knife, with sheath and sharpening.
The four victims were killed on November 13, 2022. Othram received the DNA sample on Thanksgiving and worked through the holiday, generating a DNA profile within 48 hours. On December 19, 2022, the FBI sent Moscow police Kohberger's name. On December 20, 2022, police shocked the world when they announced an arrest in the case after a raid on Kohberger's parents' house in Pennsylvania.
Although police recovered an ample sample from the snap on the sheath, Kohberger's DNA wasn't in the government's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) because he hadn't been implicated in any prior crimes.
The investigative genetic genealogy helped investigators find Kohberger with the sample, and it turned out to be a key part of their case. Jeff Nye, chief of the criminal division at the Idaho Attorney General's Office, who was tasked with arguing in court against Kohberger's attempt to have the evidence tossed, said that "everything hinged" on his performance in court that day.
He won. After Kohberger's defense failed to have the DNA evidence tossed, he entered a surprise guilty plea in early July in order to avoid the potential death penalty. Kohberger is serving four consecutive life sentences, plus another 10 years. He waived his right to appeal and to seek a future sentence reduction under Idaho law.
Genetic genealogists who worked on the University of Idaho student murders case found "hundreds of times" more DNA than a typical case as they raced to solve the quadruple stabbing that left four students dead, Fox News reported.
"It was a catastrophic deal," said David Mittelman, the Othram founder and CEO, whose work generated leads that helped police track Kohberger from a DNA sample he left on a Ka-Bar knife sheath discarded at the crime scene. "That's why the defense didn't want to talk about it."
Thanks to the sheer amount of DNA police found, Othram's investigators were able to hone in on Kohberger's family tree almost immediately.
Speaking with Fox News Digital at CrimeCon's 2025 conference, Mittelman said that while their early leads didn't include his identity, the DNA showed that the sample came from a "multigenerational" American family mixed with Italian ancestry. He then pointed to a multigenerational Pennsylvania family that intersected with Italian heritage only twice. It was more than "trace" DNA, too.
"The DNA evidence was amazing," Mittelman said. "There was tons of DNA by the way ... I don't know why it's been reported it was "trace" DNA. It was not. It was tons of DNA." He also said that the DNA was of high caliber.
"There was certainty in the quality of the DNA, there was certainty in the analysis, and there was certainty that there was more than enough information in that [family] tree to get to a person," he said.
Separately, police had identified a suspect vehicle, a white Hyundai Elantra just like the one Kohberger drove. He was from Pennsylvania, but was attending Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, at the time of the murders. That is just 10 miles away from the crime scene.
While police did not find the murder weapon, they did find a Ka-Bar knife sheath next to Madison Morgan, 21, one of the four victims. After they identified Kohberger as a suspect, they got a search warrant for his Amazon activity and discovered that he purchased a Ka-Bar knife, with sheath and sharpening.
The four victims were killed on November 13, 2022. Othram received the DNA sample on Thanksgiving and worked through the holiday, generating a DNA profile within 48 hours. On December 19, 2022, the FBI sent Moscow police Kohberger's name. On December 20, 2022, police shocked the world when they announced an arrest in the case after a raid on Kohberger's parents' house in Pennsylvania.
Although police recovered an ample sample from the snap on the sheath, Kohberger's DNA wasn't in the government's Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) because he hadn't been implicated in any prior crimes.
The investigative genetic genealogy helped investigators find Kohberger with the sample, and it turned out to be a key part of their case. Jeff Nye, chief of the criminal division at the Idaho Attorney General's Office, who was tasked with arguing in court against Kohberger's attempt to have the evidence tossed, said that "everything hinged" on his performance in court that day.
He won. After Kohberger's defense failed to have the DNA evidence tossed, he entered a surprise guilty plea in early July in order to avoid the potential death penalty. Kohberger is serving four consecutive life sentences, plus another 10 years. He waived his right to appeal and to seek a future sentence reduction under Idaho law.
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