THE motive behind the brutal quadruple homicide of four University of Idaho students may never be revealed after suspect Bryan Kohberger reached a plea deal with prosecutors, an expert has warned.

The stunning plea reversal came less than two months before Kohberger, a former graduate student at Washington State University, was set to go on trial in Boise, Idaho, in August.

7 From left to right: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders) Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle Credit: Instagram / @kayleegoncalves

7 Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho, in May 2023 Credit: Getty – Pool

7 Steve Goncalves talks about his daughter, Kaylee Goncalves, during a vigil for the four students in Moscow, Idaho, on November 30, 2022 Credit: AP:Associated Press

7 Objects left for a makeshift memorial sit at the off campus home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, where the four University of Idaho students were killed Credit: Getty Images – Getty

As part of the potential agreement, prosecutors would remove the death penalty from the table while Kohberger, 30, would plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, felony burglary, and waive his right to an appeal.

Kohberger would serve four life terms without the possibility of parole.

Additional details about the plea deal have not been revealed; however, Judge Steven Hippler still has to sign off on the agreement to make it official.

Eric Faddis, a criminal trial attorney in Colorado who is not associated with the case, believes the public may never know Kohberger’s motive behind the brutal stabbings.

“I’m not sure we’re going to get there. I’m not sure that would be required for the plea agreement,” Faddis told The U.S. Sun.

“In most plea agreements it wouldn’t. Usually, just the plea of guilty is all that the defendant is required to give.

“I’m not sure we’re ever going to know about the motives behind these gruesome killings of four students.

“I would mention too at the sentencing hearing, although the court will receive input from the victims’ families, that likely is not going to change what will be the ultimate outcome for Bryan Kohberger, which is life behind bars without the possibility of parole forever.”

As part of the deal, Kohberger will reportedly not have to explain why he’s changing his plea or disclose why he committed the crimes, sources told Fox News.

BOXED IN

Up until Monday, Kohberger – the only suspect arrested in the brutal quadruple homicide case – and his defense continued to push his innocence and even sought to delay the projected August 18 trial start date.

Idaho victim’s sister shares gut-wrenching open letter slamming Bryan Kohberger’s last-minute plea deal & begs for trial

However, as his day in court approached, Kohberger’s defense strategy was slowly being chipped away by Judge Hippler, who denied an array of motions by the defense team.

The latest blows came after the judge ruled against Kohberger’s alternate perpetrators theory and the ability for the defense to present an alibi.

Kohberger’s defense team offered four individuals as alternate perpetrators who could have committed the crime – a theory Judge Hippler ruled was only based on “wild speculation” and not proof.

“Nothing links these individuals to the homicides or otherwise gives rise to a reasonable inference that they committed the crime,” The judge wrote in his ruling.

“Indeed, it would take nothing short of rank speculation by the jury to make such a finding.”

Idaho law requires that a judge approve an alternate perpetrator defense before a trial begins.

I’m not sure we’re ever going to know about the motives behind these gruesome killings of four students. Eric Faddis, trial attorney based in Colorado.

The defense also failed to meet the deadline to present an alibi to support their claim that Kohberger was not in the area of the off-campus house on King Road on the night of November 13, 2022.

Since no one was able to vouch for where Kohberger was on the night of the murder, his defense team argued the defendant was “stargazing at night,” driving around alone.

They argued Kohberger would often go alone on “hikes, runs, and/or see the moon and stars.”

‘FAMILIES SPLIT’

The news of a plea deal received mixed reactions from the families of the victims, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

The families of Mogen and Chapin were relieved when they learned about the plea deal, according to CBS News and NewsNation.

However, the families of Kernodle and Goncalves lashed out at the prosecution, saying the state of Idaho “failed them.”

The Kernodle and Goncalves families said prosecutors briefly spoke to them about a potential plea deal on Friday, but admitted they were blindsided when the news of the agreement broke on Monday afternoon.

The Goncalves family bluntly said the talks about a plea deal was a “HARD NO” for them.

“We are beyond furious at the state of Idaho. They have failed us,” the family wrote in a statement on Facebook.

“NOTHING in our conversation prepared us for the next steps. Sunday night we received an email that sent us scrambling.

“We immediately jumped into panic mode and started making phone calls and sending emails. Unfortunately all of our efforts did not matter.”

Kristi Kernodle, the mother of Xana, “strongly opposed” the plea deal, according to TMZ.

Prosecutors said the plea deal was proposed to Kohberger as an attempt to “seek justice” for the families.

“We cannot fathom the toll that this case has taken on your family,” the letter signed by Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson read, according to the Idaho Statesman.

“This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family.

“This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals”

7 The families of Madison Mogen (right) and Kaylee Goncalves (left) are split on the proposed plea deal Bryan Kohberger agreed to Credit: Alamy

7 Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were dating at the time of their deaths Credit: AP:Associated Press

7 Flowers, notes and stuffed animals sit along the University of Idaho’s entrance sign on Pullman Road in Moscow Credit: Getty Images – Getty

‘KOHBERGER’S ADMISSION’

A hearing for the plea change has been set for Wednesday.

The hearing could mark the first time Kohberger addresses the court directly and enter a guilty plea on his behalf.

“I think he has to. I think the judge will require that to come from his mouth,” Faddis, the Colorado-based trial attorney, added.

“Certainly it has legal effect. It’s an admission to the most serious crime there is.

“But it also kind of has a broader social effect, certainly an effect for the community, certainly an effect for the victim’s families.

“To hear it come from his mouth, to say, you know, after all the months of pleading not guilty and talking about alibis and everything else, now he’s really coming to the table and saying, ‘Hey, look I did this. I killed those four college students. I’m pleading guilty to it.’

“This is what’s going to happen at the plea hearing.”

Author Howard Blum suggested Washington State University graduate student Kohberger’s alleged obsession with former professor Dr. Katherine Ramsland drove him to allegedly murder Xana Kernodle, 20, Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves , 21, at their off-campus home in the early morning hours on November 13, 2022.

An author and “murder expert” has made a stunning claim about the potential motive for University of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger , RadarOnline.com can reveal.

As her student, Kohberger reportedly read several of her books, including Inside the Minds of Serial Killers: Why They Kill and Confessions of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer.

At DeSales, he pursued the study of forensic psychology – and was taught by famed professor Ramsland, who specializes in the psychology of serial killers. Ramsland has authored dozens of books on the subject and has routinely been featured on true crime programs.

Before enrolling at Washington State University , Kohberger was working towards his Master of Arts in Criminal Justice at DeSales University, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology.

Blum alleged his “hypothesis” was “that Dr. Ramsland became the idealized object of Kohberger’s respect and affection, which, in the uneven landscape of his mind, tipped into a toxic obsession.”

The author suggested the alleged suspect’s motive was born out of a desire “to prove that the pupil was ready to become the teacher. He was determined to demonstrate to the professor that he had learned all her lessons well.

“And while her academic journey into hell had been judicious – reaching out in letters and interviews to convicted killers – in this scenario he would charge full speed into the belly of the beast. Theoretically, he would kill and get away with it. He would prove how smart he was. He would show her how much he had learned.”

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A professor who taught accused Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger criminology in college and took him inside the mind of serial killers fears she may have inspired him as she reveals she may like to study his ‘dark side’.

Dr. Katherine Ramsland, who has long been an expert in the field of serial killers and once wrote a book with the BTK strangler, taught four different undergraduate and graduate courses to Kohberger at DeSales University in Pennsylvania.

Ahead of Kohberger’s scheduled appearance in court on Wednesday when he’s likely to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison and no death penalty as part of a plea deal, Ramsland is finally speaking out on her pupil.

Ramsland – who called Kohberger ‘a promising student who could have made a mark’ on the field of forensic psychology – refused to believe he could be capable of killing, even after his arrest.

But as she investigated the case more, Ramsland began to believe he may be responsible and was forced to ask herself a tough question.

‘I have to look at the framework of what I taught and wonder: Did I inspire him?’ she said.

Ramsland continues her studies and teaching students, but accepts she must avoid the possibility the influence of his education, explaining ‘unfortunately, in this field, that’s what we live with.’

She admits that given her research into the minds of the most vile of people, she knows a rare few of her students may turn out this way.

A professor who taught accused Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger (pictured) college classes that took him inside the mind of serial killers fears she may have inspired him

Dr. Katherine Ramsland (pictured), who has long been an expert in the field of serial killers and once wrote a book with the BTK strangler, taught four different undergraduate and graduate courses to Kohberger at DeSales University in Pennsylvania

‘We know that there’s always a risk that we’re attracting somebody that’s going to do something terrible,’ she revealed.

‘I know, everyone in this field know that we could have students who might become offenders but we also know the vast majority of our students will not and will go into a field like law enforcement that will make the world better,’ she added.

Despite her disgust, Ramsland – who wrote the literal book on BTK killer, Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer – admits she’s interested in potentially studying Kohberger to help better understand how he got away with it.

‘This is my work. If he wanted to do that, I would,’ she said, adding that the study would be to try and learn ‘developmental trajectories’ and ‘red flags’ so killers can be sussed out faster.

‘If he wanted to do that, I know that he’s got the intellectual capacity to do it, to be self-reflective. I would definitely do it if he were willing. It would be hard but I think because I have so much material for him, I have questions for him that I think nobody but me could ask.’

Ramsland, who taught Kohberger courses ranging from an intro to forensic psychology to one titled ‘Dangerous Minds: the psychology of anti-social behavior,’ at first was skeptical her former student could be capable of such heinous acts.

‘I really thought Bryan was a promising student who really could have made a mark in this career in a very positive way,’ she said.

She added that ‘he was polite, he was respectful, intense and curious. There was no reason for me to think that he was anyone other than someone interested in this potential career.’

Ramsland – who called Kohberger ‘a promising student who could have made a mark’ on the field of forensic psychology – refused to believe he could be a killer even after his arrested

Kohberger, 30, was due to face a capital murder trial in August for the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves (pictured top left), 21; her best friend Madison Mogen (pictured bottom right), 21; as well as their housemate Xana Kernodle (pictured top right), 20; and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin (pictured bottom left), 20, in November 2022

‘His demeanor was that he was confident that he was going to prove his innocence,’ she told NewsNation. ‘I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.’

However, in March, when Kohberger revealed his excuse was that he was being framed by a real killer who planted evidence at the scene of the crime, Ramsland began to consider he could in fact be the right suspect.

‘When he said his alibi – and it was clearly not an alibi and he would’ve known that through his classes and undergraduate work – that was when I was floored that this is my student who has done these things.’

Kohberger’s willingness to admit to these crimes in accepting the plea deal has left his ex-advisor Ramsland stunned, despite all her years working in this field.

The professor expressed sympathy for the families of Kohberger’s four victims.

‘I’m disappointed, angry and shocked that this is who he turned out to be and horrified for the victims and their families.

Kohberger, 30, was due to face a capital murder trial in August for the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; her best friend Madison Mogen, 21; as well as their housemate Xana Kernodle, 20; and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, in November 2022.

But it was revealed on Monday that Latah County prosecutors have offered the former criminology graduate student a deal in which he would plead guilty to the murders and a burglary charge, in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Kohberger is now expected to appear in court on Wednesday to have the deal signed off by a judge.

Despite her disgust, Ramsland – who wrote the literal book on BTK killer, Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer – admits she’s interested in potentially studying Kohberger to help better understand how he got away with it

The family of Kaylee Goncalves was quick to condemn the agreement, declaring on Facebook that the State of Idaho ‘failed us’ as they hit out at prosecutors for failing to notify them that a plea deal was going through.

‘We weren’t even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached,’ family members said in a statement. ‘That’s how Latah County’s Prosecutor’s Office treats murder victims’ families.

‘Adding insult to injury, they’re rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2.’

Steven Goncalves, Kaylee’s father, is urging the judge overseeing the case to reject the plea deal.

‘If anyone knows Judge [Steven] Hippler… reach out to him and ask him to put his foot down and not accept this offer,’ the grieving father begged members of NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield’s audience Monday night.

‘This is not justice,’ he continued, declaring that it goes against what the victims’ families want.

‘This isn’t the will of the victims’ [families]. This is just one person making a decision, and it doesn’t reflect what we’re calling for,’ Goncalves said of Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, whom he claimed, ‘decided to play God and decide what this man’s decision should be and not a jury, not his peers.’

He then called for ‘no plea deal,’ saying, ‘Let’s go for this guy 100 percent. Let’s do it,’ as he argued that Thompson didn’t ‘have the courage to hold [Kohberger] accountable.’

The route allegedly driven Bryan Kohberger allegedly drove on the night of the brutal Idaho murders, based on cellphone data

Investigators have claimed Kohberger went directly upstairs to Mogen’s bedroom, where he killed her and Goncalves (pictured together, left) on the night of November 13, 2022. He then allegedly turned his attention to Kernodle on his way back out the house, and then targeted her boyfriend, Chapin (right), whom Kohberger allegedly ‘carved’

Kaylee’s sister, Aubrie, also called the last-minute plea deal ‘shocking and cruel,’ saying it ‘feels less like an act of justice and more like an afterthought.’

The family explained that they met with prosecutors on Friday, when the attorneys ‘vaguely mentioned a possible plea.’

They claim prosecutors then moved forward with the deal without seeking any input from the victims’ families and presented the arrangement on Sunday.

At that point, the victims’ families received an email from prosecutors explaining why they decided to stop pursuing the death penalty against their wishes.

‘We cannot fathom the toll that this case has taken on your family,’ the letter, seen by the Idaho Statesman, reads.

‘This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family,’ prosecutors continued, noting that they, ‘weighed the right path forward and made a formal offer’ to the murder suspect, according to ABC News.

‘This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction, appeals.

‘Your viewpoints weighed heavily in our decision-making process, and we hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice.’

Kohberger is accused of murdering University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20. Two other roommates survived

The extraordinary picture taken hours after the alleged crime shows Kohberger smirking and offering a ‘thumbs up’ to the camera

It was signed by Thompson and his deputy Ashley Jennings, and noted that Kohberger would be sentenced to life in prison in late July should he accept the plea deal on Wednesday.

But if he does not plead as expected, the scheduled trial will continue as planned.

After receiving the letter, the Goncalves family said they were left ‘scrambling’.

‘We immediately jumped into panic mode and started making phone calls and sending emails,’ they said in a statement. ‘We met with prosecution today to reiterate our views on pushing for the death penalty.

‘Unfortunately all of our efforts did not matter,’ the family lamented, claiming they had been ‘branded adversaries’ after they questioned the police investigation into the students’ stabbing deaths.

‘The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office’s treatment of our family during this process is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone,’ the Goncalves family concluded, arguing that county residents ‘should be ashamed of its Prosecutor’s Office’.

‘After more than two years, this is how it concludes, with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the pleas details,’ they wrote.

‘Our family is frustrated right now and that will subside and we will come together as always and deal with the reality that we face moving forward.’

Goncalves’ father urged the judge overseeing the case to reject the plea deal as he spoke on NewsNation’s Banfield Monday night

The Goncalves family was not the only one upset by the news of the plea deal, however, as Xana Kernodle’s aunt was reportedly so enraged that she was brought to tears.

Kim Kernodle explained to TMZ that prosecutors told her Kohberger’s defense team approached them with a plea deal and prosecutors agreed to go along with it to ‘spare the families’ the pain of a trial.

She claimed the prosecutors were especially concerned that the families would have to see gruesome crime scene photos of their loved ones – though Kernodle said, ‘We know the graphics. They were not trying to spare us.’

Kernodle also claimed that prosecutors did not mention they were taking death penalty off the table when they met on Friday, when she said prosecutors acknowledged they have enough evidence to secure a guilty verdict.

The State has previously laid out how Kohberger purchased a balaclava from Dick’s Sporting Goods store months before the savage murders inside the victims’ off-campus home.

Surviving housemate Dylan Mortensen later told police she saw a man wearing ‘the same kind of mask’ during the crime spree. She also described seeing a man with ‘bushy eyebrows’ – which fit Kohberger’s appearance.

The murder suspect also bought a Ka-Bar knife, sheath and sharpener from Amazon back in March 2022, according to a prosecution filing, and was ultimately linked to the murder of the four students by DNA found on the sheath of a knife found at the scene of their off-campus home.

Data from Kohberger’s cellphone also showed it connected to a cellphone tower near the victims’ off-campus house a total of 23 times over the course of four months leading up to the grisly murders, according to court documents.

Touch DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath (seen in a stock image) left behind at the scene. Ramsland was stunned at Kohberger’s alibi that alleged the real killer planted his DNA at the scene

The victims’ families claim Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson moved forward with the plea deal without their input

Then, on the night of the November 13, 2022, prosecutors say Kohberger broke into the University of Idaho students’ home on King Road shortly after they had gone to bed from a night of partying and stabbed them all to death.

His white Hyundai Elantra was allegedly caught on a neighbor’s home security footage at around 3.30am, and was seen circling around the block multiple times over the next half hour.

By 4.07am, the vehicle came back drove by once again – then didn’t come back into view until 4.20am, when it was seen speeding off.

During that 13-minute window, sources close to the investigation told NBC’s Dateline that Kohberger went directly upstairs to Mogen’s bedroom, where he allegedly killed her and Goncalves.

He is accused of the turning his attention to Kernodle on his way back out the house, killing her as she was up ordering food, and then targeting her boyfriend, Chapin, whom Kohberger allegedly ‘carved’.

Meanwhile, data from Kohberger’s phone indicate he turned it off before 3am that morning, and when he apparently turned it back on at around 4.48am, it connected with a cellphone tower south of Moscow.

But the phone also appeared to be briefly back in the city shortly after 9am, when Kohberger reportedly returned to his apartment in Pullman, Washington, where he took a chilling selfie, giving the thumbs up pose in a bathroom mirror.

In the aftermath, Kohberger allegedly searched to buy a replacement knife and sheath.

He was ultimately arrested nearly six weeks after the students were found dead at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania where he had returned for the holidays.

Kohberger has remained behind bars ever since, and has been desperately trying to get the death penalty off the table over the past few months – even arguing at one point that his autism diagnosis precludes him from facing the ultimate punishment.

In more recent efforts, Kohberger’s defense attorneys tried to get his purchase of the balaclava deemed inadmissible to the upcoming trial, but prosecutors argued it was crucial to their case.

It now appears that the defense moved to reach a plea deal after Judge Hippler slapped down their efforts to point the finger at four alternate suspects – blasting his legal team’s evidence as ‘entirely irrelevant’ and ‘wild speculation.’

‘Nothing links these individuals to the homicides or otherwise gives rise to reasonable inference that they committed the crime; indeed, it would take nothing short of rank speculation by the jury to make such a finding,’ the judge wrote in his decision last week.

Just hours before news of the plea deal broke, the defense faced another setback after they apparently called the wrong witness and other witnesses expressed their bewilderment at being called at all.

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New court filings in the Idaho student murders case could severely handicap suspect Bryan Kohberger’s defense, according to legal experts – he allegedly purchased a Ka-Bar knife on Amazon months before the murders and then shopped for a replacement days after they took place.

Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former criminology Ph.D. student, is accused of using a large, bladed weapon to kill four University of Idaho undergrads – Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20.

According to Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt, all four victims died with multiple stab wounds. At least two of them were so intoxicated at the time of the attack that they were unable to resist at all, prosecutors wrote in court filings.

Under Mogen’s body, police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath, stamped with a United States Marine Corps logo and allegedly containing Kohberger’s DNA on the snap.

PROSECUTORS CLAP BACK AT BRYAN KOHBERGER’S ‘BUSHY EYEBROWS’ DENIAL BY SHARING ALLEGED SELFIE FROM DAY OF MURDERS

Prosecutors revealed in court filings this week that he allegedly bought a Ka-Bar, a sheath and a sharpener on Amazon in March 2022, months before the murders. Then, in the weeks after the murders, his Amazon app “click activity” allegedly shows he was browsing for a replacement.

Experts say the shopping list will be difficult for the defense to explain away, especially based on the timing and the specific details about what Kohberger was allegedly looking at.

That is a catastrophic fact for his defense. — Edwina Elcox, Boise defense lawyer

“There’s always kind of this lore around that using a knife in a murder is particularly personal,” said Edwina Elcox, a Boise defense attorney who has been following the case. “And then the time frame of the search that links him, if this is correct, to this murder weapon shows a significant level, or at least I’m sure the prosecution would argue, shows a significant level of premeditation.”

She said that the slate of newly revealed evidence against Kohberger indicates prosecutors may have a stronger case than previously known.

Read the filing:

IDAHO COURT RELEASES SURVIVING ROOMMATES’ TEXT MESSAGES FROM NIGHT OF STUDENT MURDERS

Kohberger’s defense team has asked the court to keep his Amazon records out of the trial.

“The information that is publicly available is that …the murder weapon, other than the sheath, has never been recovered,” Elcox told Fox News Digital. “And then he is searching for this very, very specific item. This is beyond a catastrophic fact to the defense…I do not know how you explain that away.”

For Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and cold case investigator, the Amazon business records are yet another tool in the digital era that he believes will increasingly help law enforcement solve crimes going forward.

“Electronic evidence is gonna bring this case to a head for sure – it’s amazing,” he told Fox News Digital. “I said cellphone records, internet records and video surveillance are things that are gonna solve most cases going forward, but having this type of information is extremely damaging.”

WATCH: Father of slain Idaho student speaks out on new evidence in the case

Prosecutors made the revelation in response to Kohberger’s defense team trying to have evidence of his Amazon activity kept out of the trial, arguing in part that the retail giant’s algorithm “shapes user behavior” by serving up items it predicts shoppers want.

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“Applying the test for relevancy, first, Kohberger’s click activity which shows a purchase of a Ka-Bar knife and sheath before the homicides, makes it more probable (than it would be without the evidence) that the Ka-Bar sheath found at the crime scene was Bryan Kohberger’s,” Latah County Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Jennings wrote in a court filing made public Wednesday evening.

“Second, Kohberger’s click activity after the homicides makes it more probable (than it would be without the evidence) that Kohberger had a reason to search for a Ka-Bar knife and sheath after the homicides.”

GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB

Judge Steven Hippler this week denied Kohberger’s request to have an expert testify about the Amazon data at a hearing next month. He has not yet ruled on the motion to exclude the evidence.

FBI’S KOHBERGER DNA TACTICS DIDN’T VIOLATE LAW, BUT THEY RAISE ANOTHER PUBLIC SAFETY CONCERN

“This is the smoking gun evidence in the case,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor in Los Angeles who has been following the case.

WATCH: Former prosecutor breaks down Bryan Kohberger’s Amazon history

The DNA connects Kohberger to the crime scene, and his Amazon history undermines a defense theory that it could have been planted, he said.

“This was a big mistake by Kohberger, who was otherwise very careful about covering his tracks,” he added.

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Kohberger was pursuing a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University, just 10 miles down the road from the University of Idaho crime scene .

“I think he fancies himself…as remarkably intelligent, but as somebody who has studied this field, you know that law enforcement and their searches cast a wide, wide net,” Elcox told Fox News Digital. “Having this in a searchable history format is…OK, you just have to wonder, I don’t think you’re maybe as smart as you thought you were.”

Prosecutors have also alleged they traced his car, a white Hyundai Elantra, to and from the crime scene, that an eyewitness saw a masked man inside the home just after the murders, and that phone records also corroborate their alleged timeline of events. But Kohberger was not identified as a suspect until more than a month after the slaying with the help of investigative genetic genealogy.

While legal experts say the Amazon history is damming evidence, it also raises new questions for people who study the criminal mind, a topic Kohberger himself had studied at the graduate level. Was a suspect looking to replace a missing sheath, after leaving one behind at the crime scene, or a budding serial killer taking steps toward another kill?

“I don’t think this killing was a one off – I think…whoever did this, they were likely to kill again,” Dr. Kris Mohandie, a criminal psychologist, told Fox News Digital. “If it was him, why would he kill like that unless he enjoyed it? Further, he was interested in serial killers.”

And although whoever committed the crime is believed to have taken steps to conceal their tracks, he added killers always make a mistake that catches up to them.

“I’ll guarantee you that scene didn’t have one fingerprint of his on it, nor did it have anyone else’s,” said John Kelly, a criminal profiler who has been following the case. “Because whoever did it wiped it down so well.”

BRYAN KOHBERGER DOESN’T WANT AMAZON SHOPPING LIST REVEALED AT TRIAL

While search warrants show police recovered knives after Kohberger’s arrest, none have been publicly identified as a potential murder weapon.

Kohberger’s trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11 in Boise.

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He could face the death penalty if convicted. A judge entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf at his arraignment in May 2023.