Bryan Kohberger is escorted to an extradition hearing at the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg
Reuters

KEY POINTS

  • An ex-cop said Bryan Kohberger thought he could outsmart police by throwing out trash bags in his neighbor's bin
  • The former homicide detective suggested that Kohberger thought police would search his trash bins
  • A former NYPD sergeant said the contents of the trash bags could be the key to solving the Idaho murders case

A former homicide detective suggested that Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, may have felt he could outsmart the police by throwing his trash bags in his neighbor's bin.

Pat Diaz, a former Miami-Dade homicide detective and now a private investigator, shared this assessment after ABC News and CNN reported, citing a law enforcement source, that federal investigators saw Kohberger allegedly attempting to conceal his trash in the middle of the night sometime between Dec. 22 and his arrest on Dec. 30 last year.

Kohberger, 28, allegedly placed trash bags in the bin owned by a neighbor of his parents in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.

"I think he knew they could search his trash cans – that's why he did that," Diaz told Fox News Digital.

"Remember, he thinks he's smarter than the cops, and they will fight evidence collected," the investigator added.

Another former law enforcement officer, retired NYPD sergeant Joseph Giacalone, told the outlet that the contents of the trash bags that Kohberger threw out in his neighbor's bin could be the key evidence in the ongoing murder investigation.

Giacalone, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said that Kohberger "may have had evidence in his trunk that he took back with him."

"I'm sure he was under surveillance when he was packing up to leave," the former cop added,

Last month, ABC News and CNN learned from unnamed law enforcement sources that FBI agents allegedly saw Kohberger putting trash bags in his neighbors' garbage bins while surveilling the suspect.

Kohberger was also allegedly seen by federal investigators wearing surgical gloves outside his family home.

Court documents revealed that Pennsylvania law enforcement authorities recovered the trash from Kohberger's residence and turned it over to the Idaho State Lab for DNA testing.

According to the Idaho State Lab, the results showed that "a DNA profile" from the trash matched the DNA sample recovered from a tan leather knife sheath found near the body of one of the murder victims at the crime scene.

What was observed being placed into the neighbors' bins was also recovered and sent to the Idaho State Lab, the source told CNN.

The former police officers' remarks came after a report revealed alleged details about the gruesome killings.

Two unnamed sources familiar with the investigation told News Nation that the murderer allegedly killed first Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, who were sleeping in the same bed. The report alleged that the attacker then killed Ethan Chapin in the doorway of the room of his girlfriend, Xana Kernodle.

Kernodle, who was reportedly the last of the four victims to be killed, allegedly put up a "fierce fight" by attempting to grab the knife from the killer, News Nation sources claimed. Kernodle reportedly suffered deep cuts to her fingers as a result.

International Business Times could not independently verify the information.

Kohberger is facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the slayings of the four college students at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.

Kohberger, who was extradited to Idaho from his home state of Pennsylvania, is set to return to court on June 26.

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