In Part 2 of this series, I review the King Road crime scene and determine which aspects stand out to a criminal profiler and why.
Leaving survivors—There are several possible reasons why the suspect left the survivors at the scene. Given the lack of forced entry, it could point to a connection between the suspect and one or both of the roommates left alive. If that were the case, you would think the suspect would have been warned about the presence of a dog at the scene. Kaylee often posted Murphy on her social media accounts. If the suspect had been stalking her, one would think they would have anticipated there would be a dog in the house on the night of the attack. According to the PCA, a security device picked up the sound of Murphy barking at 4:17 am. Three minutes later, at 4:20 am, a white Elentra is seen leaving the area of the house at a high rate of speed. Murphy’s barking may have spooked the killer. Leaving the house in a rush could explain why he left Dylan and Bethany alive.
Murphy— By all accounts, this was a well-researched and planned crime. I find it difficult to believe that the suspect would have taken an even bigger risk by entering a home with a dog when there were four cars out front. Dog’s senses of smell and hearing are powerful. They would be alerted to an intruder right away and bark. If the suspect knew any of the house's inhabitants and knew what was to happen, why wouldn’t they have told him about Murphy? Why would they let him walk into a situation knowing a dog might create a disturbance and attract attention?
Crime scene dynamics—We don’t have much data regarding the state of the crime scene. We’ve heard descriptors like “blood bath” and “gruesome,” but without context, it’s impossible to determine. We’ve been led to believe there was no blood trail outside of the house, which suggests the offender may have prepared to clean the crime scene.
Blood spatter—This is one aspect I can’t speculate on because we do not have any information. Spatter can assist investigators in determining the suspect’s height and positioning during the act. The location of the blood can also be an indicator of the intensity of the violence.
Pre- and Post-Crime Behavior—There’s little data in this area. We do know that Bryan Kohberger’s phone stopped connecting to the network at around 2:40 a.m. on November 13th, soon after his car was seen leaving the lot of his apartment building. It then reconnected to the network around 4:50 a.m. This time frame coincides with the time of the murders. Cellular history would tell a profiler if sporadic disconnection from a network was a habit and if it was typical for the suspect to be awake at those times. If it was, their sleeping habits could be a data point for determining possible mental health issues. Bryan Kohberger’s cell data revealed he’d been “in the vicinity” of the King Road House late at night/early in the morning on 12 occasions leading up to the killings. Depending on how close he was to the house, it could be posited that he was watching the house and its occupants to get an idea of their schedule and other pertinent behavior. We know that a white Elantra was seen circling the house for about 30 minutes. Initially, I thought that meant he was waiting for the lights in the house to go out. I now think the lights were already out when he took his first lap around the house. He needed the victims to be deep asleep to avoid detection. He was relying on the element of surprise. He wouldn’t strike so quickly. He’d wait to ensure little to no activity in the house. Most damning, in my opinion, is the fact the current suspect claimed to be on a scenic drive at the time of the murders. He was new to the area, having moved to Washington from Pennsylvania three months earlier. Most people would want their phone available to use should they get lost and need directions or call for assistance.
What aspects of the crime scene would help you build a profile of the suspect?
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