A Pennsylvania prosecutor had disclosed what police discovered when they entered the family home of alleged Idaho triple murderer Bryan Kohberger at 1:30 a.m. on December 30: Kohberger was in the kitchen, wearing latex gloves and dividing his garbage into Ziploc bags while wearing latex gloves.

The assistant district attorney in Monroe County, Michael Mancuso, implied to BRC13 that Kohberger, a former Ph.D. criminology student, was hiding his trash because it contained DNA that could link him to the murders of college students Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kayla GonCalves, 21. Mancuso stated that officials had frequently combed through the garbage at Kohberger’s residence but found only family DNA traces. Mancuso believed Kohberger’s ability to avoid investigators for so long was due to his meticulous efforts to conceal his DNA. “That could explain some of the other characteristics of the Idaho case, including the lengths someone would go to avoid leaving their DNA behind,” he explained.