Criminal Probe Continues into Gag Order Leaks in Bryan Kohberger Murder Case

A criminal investigation into leaks that violated a gag order in the murder case against Bryan Kohberger remains active after law enforcement took it up, sources told the Idaho Statesman.

The probe centers on the source of information aired in a May 2025 NBC Dateline episode about the murders, which included details unknown to the public. An Ada County Sheriff's Office investigator, tasked with tracking the leak, sought interviews with individuals who had access to digital files featured in the episode.

Brent Turvey, a forensic scientist working with Kohberger's defense team, said investigators from the Ada County Sheriff's Office contacted him twice. "A detective with the Ada County sheriff’s office reached out to me twice for an interview — stating that he was tasked with investigating the NBC leak. Anne Taylor also gave me permission via email to speak with law enforcement just over a month after they first reached out to me— by phone and email," Turvey told Fox News Digital. "So yes, they are investigating her office for related criminal charges."

Sy Ray, a digital forensics expert and former police officer who consulted for the defense, said he spoke with investigators more than once. "It’s probably the most expensive misdemeanor case in the history of Ada County," Ray told the Statesman. "Trying to investigate this was probably tough."

One Sheriff's Office investigator contacted an attorney for families of two victims in April, the Statesman reported. The court conducted a separate administrative review of the leaks last summer.

The Dateline episode featured surveillance video from near the off-campus house at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, where four University of Idaho students died on Nov. 13, 2022. It showed pictures from Kohberger's phone and crime scene specifics.

FBI cellphone tower data in the episode indicated Kohberger's phone pinged nearly a dozen times to a tower covering an area within 100 feet of the house. The pings came from late-night drives starting in July 2022 and running through mid-August 2022.

The program also reported sightings of a white Hyundai Elantra like Kohberger's turning onto King Road several times in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022.

A timeline from that day showed the suspect arriving at the house at 4 a.m. The murders occurred between 4 and 4:17 a.m. At 4:19 a.m., a roommate called three victims with no answer. Surviving roommates texted each other from inside the house between 4:22 and 4:24 a.m. Another unanswered call to the victims came at 4:27 a.m. A roommate texted Kaylee Goncalves at 4:32 a.m., "Pls answer." Further unanswered texts and a call to her father followed before a 911 call from a roommate's phone at noon.

Kohberger pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, to killing Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves in a deal that dropped the death penalty.

Steve Goncalves, Kaylee's father, said the leaks pushed the plea deal, which he opposed, and backed the criminal probe. "They’re working on figuring this out, and hopefully they have more than they’re letting on," he told the Statesman. "I think it did cost us. It definitely took the focus off the trial and seating a jury."

Fox News Digital sought comment from Anne Taylor, the Ada County Sheriff's Office and the Latah County Prosecutor's Office.