Idaho killer left behind 'catastrophic' evidence that fast-tracked his capture, investigators reveal

FIRST ON FOX DENVER Genetic genealogists working on the University of Idaho apprentice murders event uncovered hundreds of times more DNA than a typical occurrence as they raced to solve the quadruple stabbing which rocked the college town of Moscow Idaho as well as the nation as a whole It was a catastrophic deal reported David Mittelman the Othram founder and CEO whose work generated leads that helped officials 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 Not only did police recover plenty of DNA to work with it allowed Othram's investigators to hone in on Kohberger's family tree almost promptly BRYAN KOHBERGER PLEADED GUILTY TO IDAHO ASPIRANT MURDERS BUT THESE KEY QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWEREDSpeaking with Fox News Digital at CrimeCon's conference in Denver Mittelman mentioned that while their early leads didn't include his identity the DNA manifested that the sample came from a multigenerational American family mixed with Italian ancestry The genetic genealogy 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 David Mittleman stated There was tons of DNA by the way I don't know why it's been revealed It was traced DNA It was not It was tons of DNA IDAHO VICTIMS' FAMILIES TO ADDRESS KILLER DIRECTLY AT KOHBERGER SENTENCINGNot only that but it was also of high caliber he added 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 mentioned Separately police had identified a suspect automobile -- 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's just miles from the crime scene READ BRYAN KOHBERGER'S SIGNED KILLER CONFESSIONWhile police did not find a murder weapon they did find a Ka-Bar knife sheath next to Madison Mogen one of the four casualties 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 on the shopping app The other casualties were Ethan Chapin Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves They were killed on Nov Othram received the DNA sample on Thanksgiving and worked through the holiday generating a DNA profile within hours On Dec the FBI sent Moscow police Kohberger's name On Dec police shocked the world when they publicized an arrest in the affair after a raid on Kohberger's parents' house in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains Detectives on the matter advised reporters after Kohberger's guilty plea that without the DNA evidence they believe they would have eventually located him by examining thousands of leads regarding Hyundai Elantras BRYAN KOHBERGER ACCEPTS PLEA DEAL IN IDAHO NOVICE MURDERS CASEIt's unclear how long that would have taken 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 known as CODIS because he hadn't been implicated in any prior crimes The investigative genetic genealogy helped investigators find him with the sample anyway And it turned out to be a key part of their development 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 narrated Fox News Digital last month 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 promising death penalty Kristen Mittelman Othram's chief advance officer believes that the genealogy techniques should be applied to more cases We are advocating with the families to change that to make sure that people have access to this real time so that people like Kohberger are caught before they commit that next crime she reported Fox News Digital I'm certain that there's someone at Thanksgiving with their family this year last year they wouldn't be if Bryan Kohberger wasn't caught in real time Kohberger is serving four consecutive life sentences plus another years He waived his right to appeal and to seek a future sentence reduction under Idaho law