Current:Home > InvestAuthorities probe Amazon 'click activity' for possible knives in Idaho killings -PrimeWealth Guides
Authorities probe Amazon 'click activity' for possible knives in Idaho killings
View
Date:2025-04-16 16:36:54
Investigators probing the murders of four University of Idaho students sought records of Amazon purchases, Apple data and communications and payments made through PayPal/Venmo, according to newly released records.
Among the Amazon click history that investigators sought was information concerning knives, the search warrant shows. Police say they believe Bryan Kohberger, 28, the suspect charged in the Moscow, Idaho, killings on Nov. 13, 2022, used a knife to commit the murders. Although a knife sheath was found near the body of one of the victims, authorities say the murder weapon has not been found.
In a series of search warrant documents posted late Tuesday to the court docket, though they are dated Sept. 8, authorities requested purchase history and payment method details for an Amazon customer whose identity has been redacted.
The warrant also included a request for "all detailed customer click activity pertaining to knives and accessories," as well as a long list of information that could flesh out the customer's full shopping movements and interests on the site, including items saved to the cart, suggestions for future purchases and items reviewed by that customer.
The Moscow Police Department did not immediately respond to ABC News' request for comment.
The warrant requests all details from the account for two precise time periods: March 20, 2022, through March 30, 2022, and Nov. 1, 2022 through Dec. 6, 2022.
It was served in mid-May, several months after Kohberger's initial arrest, and just a week before a North Idaho grand jury handed up an indictment against him.
The requested data was received by law enforcement by the beginning of July, inventoried, and placed into evidence at the Moscow Police Department, according to an affidavit included in court documents.
MORE: Idaho college murders: The complete timeline of events
Also included in the newly posted documents are search warrants for Apple and PayPal/Venmo, for account identities that were also redacted.
In the Apple search, authorities requested extensive account information, including all devices, addresses and numbers linked to the account, means and source of payment, all emails associated with the account and attachments "in order to locate any materials referencing the planning or commission" of the quadruple murders, according to the warrant.
The warrant also requested the contents of any instant messages associated with the Apple account, as well as the contents of all files and other records stored on iCloud.
The warrant for the Apple search was served on Aug. 1, and the data was received by law enforcement on Aug. 9, according to a Moscow police detective's affidavit.
The documents for the PayPal/Venmo warrant show that authorities asked for records specifically from June 22, 2022, to Dec. 31, 2022, requesting subscriber details like billing information, payment records, all financial transactions and to whom those payments went, geo-location data, screen names, and all associated email addresses and phone numbers.
Law enforcement received the data on Aug. 1, a week after the warrant was served, according to an affidavit from a forensic detective with the Moscow Police Department. An inventory was prepared and the information was placed into evidence at the police department.
PayPal/Venmo declined to comment when reached by ABC News.
Representatives for Amazon and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
MORE: Idaho college killings suspect Bryan Kohberger's trial will start Oct. 2
Prosecutors allege that in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, broke into an off-campus home and stabbed to death four University of Idaho students: Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
After a six-week hunt, police zeroed in on Kohberger as a suspect, tracking his white Hyundai Elantra and cell phone signal data, and recovering what authorities said was his DNA on the button snap of a KA-BAR knife sheath found by one of the victims' bodies at the crime scene.
He was arrested on Dec. 30 and indicted in May, charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. At his arraignment, he declined to offer a plea, so the judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
In court filings, lawyers for Kohberger have said that on the night of the killings, their client was driving around, alone -- which, they said, had long been a habit of his -- adding he is "not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time; at this time there is not a specific witness to say precisely where Mr. Kohberger was at each moment of the hours between late night November 12, 2022, and early morning November 13, 2022." Kohberger was "out, driving during the late night and early morning hours" on the night in question, his attorneys added.
Though the trial was initially set for Oct. 2, Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial in August, postponing the trial indefinitely.
ABC News' Julie Scott contributed to this report.
veryGood! (3)
Related
- B.A. Parker is learning the banjo
- For IRS, backlogs and identity theft are still problems despite funding boost, watchdog says
- Ukraine’s Zelenskyy says Russia can be stopped but Kyiv badly needs more air defense systems
- YouTuber Trisha Paytas Reveals Sex of Baby No. 2 With Husband Moses Hacmon
- SFO's new sensory room helps neurodivergent travelers fight flying jitters
- Paul Giamatti's own high school years came in handy in 'The Holdovers'
- Gov. Laura Kelly calls for Medicaid expansion, offers tax cut plan that speeds up end of grocery tax
- Paul Giamatti's own high school years came in handy in 'The Holdovers'
- As Trump Enters Office, a Ripe Oil and Gas Target Appears: An Alabama National Forest
- German software giant SAP fined more than $220M to resolve US bribery allegations
Ranking
- 'Vanderpump Rules' star DJ James Kennedy arrested on domestic violence charges
- Mega Millions January 9 drawing: No winners, jackpot climbs to $187 million
- Biden’s education chief to talk with Dartmouth students about Islamophobia, antisemitism
- Kentucky is the all-time No. 1 team through 75 storied years of AP Top 25 college basketball polls
- Scoot flight from Singapore to Wuhan turns back after 'technical issue' detected
- Report: Netflix working on NBA docuseries in style of 'Quarterback' featuring LeBron James
- Israeli military says it found traces of hostages in an underground tunnel in Gaza
- Tickets to see Iowa's Caitlin Clark are going for more than $1,000. What would you pay?
Recommendation
Pregnant Kylie Kelce Shares Hilarious Question Her Daughter Asked Jason Kelce Amid Rising Fame
Alabama can carry out nation's first execution using nitrogen gas, federal judge says
Ranking NFL's six* open head coaching jobs from best to worst after Titans fire Mike Vrabel
Ready to vote in 2024? Here are the dates for Republican and Democratic primaries and caucuses, presidential election
Selena Gomez's "Weird Uncles" Steve Martin and Martin Short React to Her Engagement
ESPN's Stephen A. Smith Defends Taylor Swift Amid Criticism Over Her Presence at NFL Games
Natalia Grace's Adoptive Mom Cynthia Mans Speaks Out After Docuseries Revelation
Houston Texans owner is fighting son’s claims that she’s incapacitated and needs guardian