() In a hastened plea deal hearing Wednesday, Bryan Kohberger admitted he killed four University of Idaho students in 2022, avoiding both the death penalty and a publicized trial for the murders.

The families of victims Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin are divided on the plea. The Goncalves family has criticized the deal, calling it hurried and secretive.

During the Wednesday hearing, Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson outlined the evidence the state of Idaho planned to use against Kohberger.

Kohberger’s phone consistently pinged near victims’ Idaho house

When still living in Pennsylvania in March of 2022, Thompson said Kohberger purchased the knife used in the killings online using an Amazon gift card.

In June, he moved to Pullman, Washington, to pursue a doctorate in criminal justice at Washington State University.

Kohberger’s phone pinged to a tower coinciding with the victims’ home in Moscow, Idaho, as early as July 9.

Between July and Nov. 7, “the defendant’s phone connected to that particular tower during late night, early morning hours 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. approximately 23 times,” Thompson said.

In August, Kohberger was pulled over around 11 p.m. in Moscow a traffic stop that ultimately gave authorities details about his vehicle.

Surveillance footage placed Kohberger’s vehicle in Moscow night of murders

Thompson said a combination of surveillance videos from businesses and residents in Moscow showed Kohberger’s vehicle entered the town just after 3 a.m.

By 3:30 a.m., surveillance footage placed that same car circling the street where the four victims lived.

Kohberger’s vehicle stopped appeared stop at an intersection and do a U-turn before returning to park “behind and above” the residence, Thompson said.

“The state believes that its evidence would then show that the defendant entered the residence … through the kitchen sliding door on the backside of the residence, which is the side of the residence that would face the area above where the defendant’s car was parked,” he said.

Prosecutors lay out timeline of Idaho murders

Here’s how the state thinks the murders happened.

• Kohberger killed Mogen and Goncalves first, leaving the sheath for his knife on a bed
• As he was coming down the stairs or leaving, he encountered Kernodle and killed her
• Kohberger then entered Kernodle’s bedroom, where Chapin slept, and killed him

Two other roommates in the house were already asleep, Thompson said.

“During the course of this, one of those roommates awoke, looked out her door, not knowing what was going on, and saw the defendant, who was dressed in black … and she saw him leave the house through the direction of the kitchen, where that sliding door is that I mentioned before,” Thompson said.

Kohberger’s exit from the house is estimated to be around 4:20 a.m. Roughly 15 minutes later, surveillance footage on the victims’ road showed showed Kohberger’s vehicle “leaving the area at a high rate of speed.”

To avoid main roads, prosecutors believe Kohberger took “very rural, isolated” back roads out of Moscowwhere his phone was turned on around 4:50 a.m.

Kohberger was home in Washington by 5:30 a.m., though his phone pinged near the victims’ house once again around 9 a.m. the same day. It’s unknown what he did.

The sheath left behind was later tested by the Idaho State Police forensic lab, and single source male DNA was found on it, Thompson said.

Kohberger tried to buy new knife, clear search history

After Nov. 13, Kohberger’s phone records showed he attempted to replace his knife and sheath.

“The evidence also will suggest that there were at least attempts by the defendant … to delete or alter his purchase history on Amazon, where all these transactions had occurred later that week,” Thompson said.

Kohberger also attempted to change his vehicle registration from Pennsylvania to Washington. Thompson described Kohberger’s car and Washington apartment as spotless.

“Spartan would be a kind characterization. There was nothing there, nothing of evidentiary value was found,” Thompson said of Kohberger’s apartment, adding that his vehicle “had been essentially disassembled inside.”

One Q-tip led to Kohberger’s arrest

Over the holidays, law enforcement officials “were aware of Mr. Kohberger” and began looking for ways to close in on him.

FBI agents working on the case rifled through Kohberger’s trash in Pennsylvania, where he was home for the holidays, and located a Q-tip they identified as “coming from the father of the person whose DNA was … on the knife sheath that was found by Madison Mogen’s body on the bed,” Thompson said.

Ultimately, Kohberger was extradited to Idaho for prosecution and his case ended in a plea deal on Wednesday.

‘s Sean Noone and The Associated Press contributed to this report.