Kena Whitworth
Appearances
20/20
American Catastrophe: LA Burning -- Special Edition of 20/20
Oh, David, you're so kind. Look, my boys are doing well. We're not able to return home yet, but I did have the opportunity to check on my house. And there is active firefight going on right near my home, water drops and the like. But I stand here tonight in utter gratitude to firefighters that my boys still have something to go home to because of scenes like that.
20/20
American Catastrophe: LA Burning -- Special Edition of 20/20
I want to pass along to people watching that we are in this with you and we are in this for you. And we will continue to tell these stories, David, because as you know, this is far from over.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah, it's so hard, Brad. You know, you hear this male voice. He was also one of the friends that came over and you hear him sort of yelling, Ethan, Zanna. Yeah. kind of calling out to them. And then you kind of make out almost, it almost sounds like a get out, get out, you know, real frantic.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And then people are running and there's heavy breathing and panting and, and panic at that point starts to set in. And then that male voice takes the phone and is asked, is she breathing? And he says, no, the composure is in that young man is remarkable, especially given what we know happened. And so I do still think that there's questions about the layout of this house.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And I did ask, I asked Kaley Gonsalves' parents, was Zanna's door open? And at this point, they tend to think that it's open. But what they're telling me, Brad, is that by just kind of poking your head in there, perhaps you still couldn't make out the horror of what really happened.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Well, one thing also is that the surviving roommate at one point told authorities, you know, she thought maybe this person was a firefighter or something. At one point, this person she saw was carrying a vacuum type object. There's just a lot of confusion here. And according to the defense, the surviving roommate had been drinking. She also is the kind of person who had lucid dreams.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
But then also there's these new court filings, Brad, that paint a picture sort of minute by minute of what happened based on the communication between these two surviving roommates. Initially started calling, you know, all the girls in the house, Kaylee, Maddie, Zanna. And then she finally connects with the surviving roommate there on the first floor and they start texting back and forth.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And their text messages are, you know, that of young girls that are very confused.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Exactly. One is on the first floor. One is on the second floor. This is also the floor where Zanna and Ethan were killed. And then there's a third floor where Kaylee and Maddie were killed. And this roommate on the second floor is the one that starts all these communications, right? Calling all the girls, texting everyone. And she finally hears back from that roommate on the first floor.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And they have this whole text exchange. Yeah.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah, I mean, so again, a reminder here, these are young college girls. And, you know, they're saying, like, what's going on? And then there's some confusion because, you know, they're saying, wait, Zanna was in all black earlier. And then the roommate says, no, but it was like a ski mask almost. And then describes something over his forehead and mouth. And then they start to get scared.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And then she says, my phone's going to die. And the roommate on the first floor says, come to my room. Run. Come down here now. And the first filing that we got, Brad said there wasn't a lot of communication after that. There was a few texts where she was pleading with the victims to answer their phones and they weren't.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And then at 10.23 a.m., she again is pleading with them to answer their phones and they don't. And then she contacts her dad. And then, you know, then the 911 call is made. It just paints a really horrifying picture.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And it's interesting because the way these filings come out in this story, the defense has entered a new filing in saying, no, these roommates were communicating a lot more than you think. And they were up at 7 a.m. and they were on social media. And if they were so afraid. Why didn't they leave? Why didn't they call 911?
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
You know, I try to get the perspective here from Kaylee's dad. He's spoken with all of these kids. And generally, what he thinks here is that what this goes to show is the innocence of these young kids who were partying and never in a million years could have imagined that that is what happened to their friends.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
So this was a six-week manhunt. They had no suspect for a really long time. This community was on edge. What happened, according to authorities, is that this knife sheath was left behind. They swabbed it. They found DNA on it. And they tried to make a profile of this DNA. So what they first do is they run it through the law enforcement system.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
But if you're not in the law enforcement system, nothing's going to ping. And What happened, according to authorities, is that they used investigative genetic genealogy. Now, some consider this to be very controversial to link Brian Koberger to these crimes. And they build out a family tree and a profile. And this got linked to Brian Koberger's dad.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah, sure. You know, if anyone knows anything about fall in Northern Idaho, it's heavenly. And that's when all of this started to unfold. It was late in the football season. I think it was the Vandals' last home game. They'd had a great season. And these four students... went with all of their friends to the football game like you do in college. They went out that night.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
In the meantime, in this six weeks, Brian Koberger, a former Ph.D. student at Washington State University, has left Pullman, Washington, driven across the country to with his father in a white Hyundai Elantra.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Mm-hmm. Gets pulled over twice. Makes it home just around Christmas time. Well, once authorities make this link to Brian Koberger's dad, they start surveilling the house. Around that same time, A Washington state police officer in Pullman is looking for white Hyundai Elantras and he finds one and he pulls up the driver's license and he says, huh, this person has bushy eyebrows.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And as authorities are surveilling Brian Koberger, what we know from a recent filing here from the judge in Boise is that they had to move in quick for this very dramatic late night arrest because they thought perhaps he was destroying evidence. in the car that they believe to be linked to this case.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
So they move in quick and he is arrested and he is very quickly extradited to Idaho because according to his lawyers at that time, he was eager to be exonerated. And, you know, so authorities want to say that it was very clean cut how they used this genetic genealogy and made their way to Brian Koberger. But Koberger's lawyers have really fought this.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
First of all, the FBI worked with this trash collection company that went through the Coburger neighborhood, which is a gated neighborhood in the Poconos in Pennsylvania, and collect trash and that they brought the trash to the FBI.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And the thing is, Brad, The judge isn't buying it in Boise right now. OK, so he's going to let this go in. And after the judge made that decision, there was another really interesting filing that came down from the state. And that filing indicated that Brian Koberger's defense team plans to argue that this key piece of evidence, this knife sheath, could have been planted at the scene
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
by the real perpetrator. And perhaps that's why it contained Brian Koberger's DNA.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah. So this is a capital case. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. And Brian Koberger's lawyers have tried to have it taken off the table multiple times. But their most recent argument is that it should be taken off the table because they say he has autism spectrum disorder. And they say that it could create a bias within the jury based on his general mannerisms.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Sure, like he might not be reacting the way someone without ASD would to something in court and that that could potentially bias the jury. They talk about his rocking back and forth and they feel like all of these mannerisms are sinister in a way, that they can be perceived that way. And so they're worried about how that comes off in the media, how that jury would see that.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
The ones that were 21 went to some bars, got some late-night food. The younger ones went to some parties at a frat house. Greek life is huge on campus at the University of Idaho. It's a big deal. These four students were generally beloved by everyone that we spoke with, and they were all heavily involved in Greek life as well. And then...
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And they also say, Brad, that... Him being described as socially awkward shouldn't be a surprise to anyone because that, according to his lawyers, is a hallmark of his disability.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And so they're pushing back on that and they're doing that at the same time that a law was just signed by the governor in Idaho that makes Idaho the only state in this country where execution by firing squad is the main means of execution.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
I think we just finally have a lot of information now. And I think we have a lot more information than we thought we would have. And the thing that we don't want to overlook right now, Brad, is the most recent filing in which prosecutors allege Brian Koberger purchased a K-bar style knife in and a sheath on Amazon eight months before these murders.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
It's also important to point out here that this murder weapon has never been found. So there's still so many outstanding questions, Brad.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah, Brad, glad to be back with you. And that's the thing about this case right now is this is fascinating because there's been a lot of focus on Brian Koberger's education throughout all of this. And what we're hearing from the state now buried in this filing that was released is this homework assignment. that Brian Koberger did. It's called the crime scene scenario final.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And this was done when he was at DeSales University in Pennsylvania. So this was prior to him being at Washington State, prior to him pursuing his PhD. But this sort of lays out what he was doing there at DeSales. And It's really, really detailed. What this homework assignment essentially is, is Brian Koberger describing how if you were an investigator, how you would analyze a crime scene.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And Brad, it's eerie because this crime scene that Brian Kober has laid out for his final involves a white woman who's dead. She's 35 years old as he writes it out. And Brian Kober talks about the steps you would take. to make sure that you don't contaminate the crime scene, right?
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
How to make sure that you don't leave fingerprints, how you take photos, mostly how you would notice the bruises on the victim's face, the marks on her neck, specifically a bloody shirt, because this was a stabbing murder.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Exactly. And he also talks about the things that you have to notice in the crime scene, especially on the victim and the surrounding areas. Things like defense wounds or what he writes in here is hesitation marks on her related to the knife. or trying to find out if there are multiple stab wounds. And he talks about Brad doing things like making sure you're wearing gloves, right?
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
You know, by Sunday morning, everyone was shook to their core. And at the time when we started to learn that these four students had died, there were questions. But then, Brad, when we learned how they died is when this story got really scary because we learned that all four of them had been stabbed to death.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Making sure that you're completely covered and that it can't be a fibrous material that you're covered in, that you have to bring forceps and small tweezers and a pair of scissors. The detail is just fascinating. I'm going to read directly
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
To you, if I can, it says, I must ensure that myself and my fellow crime scene personnel are wearing gloves and other protective equipment as to avoid contaminating the scene with latent fingerprints. And that's when he goes into the fiber-free stuff, right, Brad? Covering your mouth, covering your hair because you don't want to get saliva, skin cells, any bodily fluids.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
In this scene, it's several pages long. And one other thing that stood out to me, I should make sure to swab under her fingernails to see if the DNA of the offender is there. She likely dug into their skin. And he notes in his homework that if there's not forced entry, it may be suggested that the woman knew her killer.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And then he actually uses the words crimes of passion are rooted in emotionality and impulsivity. And Brad, when these murders happened on King Road, investigators right away talked about this.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
just how personal a crime like this is when you stab someone you have to get up close and personal to them and it really haunted investigators from the beginning and in fact the mayor took a lot of heat because he questioned openly had it been a crime of passion It's a little bit eerie, Brad, but also this is part of what they have to do. This is part of their final.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
This is part of their responsibility as a student.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
I think prosecutors are probably going to use this to showcase his knowledge and the things that he understood about how a crime scene would be analyzed. I think it's also important to remind everybody that when he was arrested his professor at DeSales told the Daily Mail about what a brilliant student he was. that she had never really recommended all but one other student for a PhD program.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
So there's just so many wild facts to be dug up about his time at DeSales.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Brad, thank you, and thanks for your dedication.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Kaylee Gonsalves and her lifelong best friend, Madison Mogan, were found stabbed to death in the upstairs bedroom of this house that was located just off campus on King Road. And on the second floor of this three-level home, Zanna Kernodle and her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were also found stabbed to death in her bedroom. No murder weapon has ever been found. And at the time, there was no suspect.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
There was no lead. But what there was, was these two surviving roommates in the home. And when we learned that one of the surviving roommates that night actually told authorities she saw a man clad in black with bushy eyebrows walk past her that night.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And then really from there, the other big surrounding question that we're starting to get some answers to finally is this 911 call that was placed nearly eight hours after authorities think these four students were murdered.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah. You know, when people are listening to this, I hope that everyone is reminding themselves of what they were like when they were 19, 20, 21, especially if you were in college at the time. Kaylee and Maddie went to one of their favorite bars. It's called the Corner Club. And Moscow is such a neat place. It's a beautiful college town. And it kind of has this one main street.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And the corner club is sort of at the very end of the main street. And so they were there and they were hanging out with their friends. And then you actually see them later on a street camera. And they're walking down the street. And when I talked to their friends... Oh, my heart was beating fast all of a sudden thinking about this. When I talked to their friends after this...
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
They all kind of giggled and laughed about how much they miss the girls and these mannerisms that they could see in this video that they love so much. Maddie's wearing somebody else's huge sweatshirt and she's kind of like swinging her arms, you know, and really playful.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And they go down and they go to this grub truck and it's that late night food, you know, really popular with all these college students. And you see them on camera. They're sort of giggling and laughing. And they go home. And so far, that video from that food truck is the last time that we see Kaylee and Maddie alive.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
We know that Zanna and her boyfriend Ethan had also gone to a frat party earlier that night. And then they eventually made their way home as well to the house on King Road. And the other two roommates, the ones that survived, that lived on the first and second floor, were already home at the time.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
They get home pretty late. Maybe it's normal time for college kids. And what authorities are telling us is that Kaylee and Maddie stayed up till really late, till about 3 a.m. And they were calling Kaylee's.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
ex-boyfriend it's hard to call him an ex-boyfriend though if i'm being honest with you brad because he was so involved in her life still they shared a dog together and they had been friends for most of their lives right so he's a huge factor in her life and they were calling him until like three o'clock in the morning and then zanna which i've been told by her friends is a total zanna move ordered late night delivery food from doordash and that arrives around 4 a.m and
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
It's 12 minutes later that authorities think someone came into that house. And after that is where things get pretty hazy there.
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The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
For a long time, we've really had to rely on court documents to try to figure out what happened there. So one of the roommates told authorities, and this was all in the probable cause affidavit, told authorities that she thought she heard Kaylee playing with her dog upstairs. Then she heard a voice say, there's someone here.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And according to this surviving roommate, she opened her door to check, but kind of didn't see anything. And then she hears crying. She opened her door again. And at that point, Brad, according to these documents, she heard a male voice say something to the effect of, it's okay, I'm going to help you.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Well, around that same time, Brad, a surveillance camera that's next door to this home hears the audio of what authorities think are voices, maybe a whimper, and it's followed by a loud thud and then a dog barking. So the next time this roommate opens her door, this is the third time now, she tells authorities this person walked essentially right past her towards their sliding glass door.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And really, Brad, you know, up until recently, that was all we knew was nothingness after that.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Well, for a long time, we didn't know. And there was all these questions because the thing is, Brad, that authorities think the murders happened between 4 and 425 in the morning. And nobody called 911 until almost noon the next day. I mean, I talked to a neighbor who told me he got up that morning and went to work and drove past the house and came back home. Wow. Like all in that time frame.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah, look, we have been asking for this 911 call for so long because it doesn't make sense to us why there would be this nearly eight hour gap in between someone seeing someone in the house, hearing all of that stuff and finally alerting 911. We first got a readout of this call.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And that was one thing, Brad, to read it, but to hear it is so different because you hear this panic and this confusion. And there's so many people on the call because these surviving roommates called their friends over that morning for help before they called 911. And they're passing the phone around and the dispatcher's frustrated.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And one of the things that has really stuck with me, Brad, is that, you know, I've spent a lot of time speaking with Kayla Gonsalves' parents. And her mother, Christy, has told me for a really long time that she didn't want this 911 call to be released. She didn't want to have to hear it. She knew that it would just break her heart. And it is heartbreaking. It is hard to listen to.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
But what Kaylee's dad, Steve, also points out is that the confusion for him also paints a picture of innocence around these roommates.
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
Yeah, that's the thing, Brad, is there's so much confusion surrounding all of this, right? And the calm person that you heard on the call, by the way, was a friend from across the street. She says, I live in the Whites. They're these apartment buildings that everyone in Moscow knows right across the street. So she came over and she's calm on that call because the surviving roommate is so upset. I
20/20
The Crime Scene: New Details in Idaho Murders Case
And then she's sort of pleading with the dispatcher. Let me tell you what happened. We almost get a clear account from the surviving roommate of what happened. And the dispatcher sort of interrupts her because from the dispatcher's perspective, she needs to know right now what's happening. Is someone passed out? And it is clear that they don't understand the condition of anybody.