Fact Check: Did Bryan Kohberger attend the vigil for University of Idaho’s slain students? Viral rumor debunked

A video from November 30 was recently shared by internet detectives who initially claimed that Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the murder of the Idaho University students, attended a vigil held for the four victims. However, the rumor has now been debunked by another footage that recently emerged where the man who everyone thought to be Bryan was proven to be someone else.

Bryan Kohberger was arrested from his family home on December 30 on four counts of murder. He is the prime suspect in the murders of Kaylee Gonclaves, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, and Madison Mogen - all of whom were students from University of Idaho.

Kohberger was extradited to Idaho. In his arrest statement, it was later revealed that the police linked him to the crime scene using genealogy DNA.

The four victims in the Idaho University murders (Image via Instagram/@kayleegonclaves)

Netizens who have been following every update of the Idaho murder case and focused on a specific clip from the vigil that went viral.

In the clip, the back of a man apparently resembling Bryan Kohberger was spotted, leading many to allege that the suspect may have attended the vigil held for the slain students.

However, the speculation has been discredited by new footage shared by Inside Edition. In it, everyone could see the face of the same man who was thought to be Bryan from his height and hair color.

It was made clear in this video that the man in question was not Bryan Kohberger.

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Why did some netizens think Bryan Kohberger might have attended the vigil? Reasons explored

After rumors of Bryan’s presence in the vigil spread across the internet, victim Kaylee Gonclaves’ family raised their fears that the suspect could come to the memorial, due to which they were uncertain of holding a funeral.

But in the 11 days since Bryan was arrested, there hasn’t been any information indicating that he was attending any public events held in honor of the victims.

In the wide-shot static video, a tall, thin white man wearing a blue jacket and gray pants was seen walking. The man also had his glasses on and had dark blonde or brown hair. As per the New York Post, one user tweeted:

"The blue coat guy at the vigil for the slain Idaho college students appears to have identical profile as Bryan Kohberger being escorted into court today. Same weak chin, same long nose same, hollowed out eyes and same height of hairline. It's Bryan at that vigil! #BryanKohberger."

A few others also posted a still shot of the man and asked others if they thought it was Bryan.

User @tcosint shared a side-by-side parallel between the mystery man and Bryan and compared their receding hairline from the side. The user wrote that the side angle view of Bryan's hairline does not match the man in the blue jacket's hairline.

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How was the rumor debunked?

However, amidst all the speculation and allegations, the truth was served by Jim Moret, the Chief Correspondent of Inside Edition who was present at the vigil.

Moret, or one of his videographer colleagues, recorded a video at the scene where a closer view of the mystery man in the blue jacket was seen. That video confirmed that the man was not Bryan.

After the video from Inside Edition debunked the rumors, some people who previously alleged that the mystery man was Bryan Kohberger, retracted their claim on Twitter.

One person said that they knew it wasn’t Bryan from the get-go because of the different hairlines, different ears, and different noses. The user stated that the blue jacket guy also walked differently and was thinner than Bryan.

Bryan Kohberger (Image via AP)

Others were displeased by the false rumors and said that people should be careful before making such claims. One user also thanked Inside Edition for reporting the facts with proof and debunking the rumors surrounding the vigil sighting.