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Bryan Kohberger was a chatterbox in class -- often speaking up to talk shop -- but he clammed up whenever the U. of Idaho murders were mentioned, so says one of his former peers.

Washington State University student Ben Roberts -- who was in the same graduate program with Kohberger last fall -- tells the Idaho Statesman the man prosecutors allege is a cold-blooded killer wasn't shy when it came discussing criminology theory ... that is, until 4 University of Idaho students were killed in November.

Roberts says he recalls Kohberger as incredibly engaged when it came to classroom discussions about their subject matter -- especially on forensic psychology (understanding a criminal's mindset). According to him, Kohberger would talk during every session of theirs.

However, Roberts also says he remembers Kohberger suspiciously going radio silent in the later fall months of the semester -- around the time the quadruple murder happened, which was brought up in at least 4 different classes he says they shared.

In all instances, it sounds like Kohberger didn't wanna chime in like he normally would ... something that gives Roberts, and an anonymous ex-classmate, pause now.

One other thing ... Roberts says he remembers Kohberger eager to debate and talk down to female students in his program, as opposed to being more measured and nonconfrontational with the guys. Aside from that, Roberts says he was pretty normal.

As we reported ... Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the 4 Idaho deaths. He has yet to enter a plea, but his attorney has said he'll be exonerated.

Brazil appears to be going through its own January 6th moment -- just a couple days after the 2-year anniversary of our own, no less -- all because Jair Bolsonaro lost the election.

The ex-Brazilian Prez -- who helmed a conservative first term, and was seeking a 2nd in the 2022 Brazilian general election -- was top of mind Sunday for thousands of his supporters ... who descended upon the National Congress in Brasilia during what quickly became a riot.

Tons of video is surfacing online that shows the mob breaching barriers and storming past officers to break into the Congress building, as well as the Supreme Federal Court and even the Presidential Palace itself, where just-sworn in President Luiz Lula da Silva now resides.

It seems all the buildings in question were empty prior to the break-ins, but this sight is an ugly one to say the least -- and very reminiscent to what happened at our Capitol.

The rioters are turning the grounds upside down ... destroying property and entering areas where they would obviously never be able to reach under normal circumstances. Just like here in the States, they seem to have busted through windows and locked doors -- and are making themselves at home in a chaotic scene. A lot of them are draped in Brazilian flags.

Some reports indicate that a good amount of these folks are actually armed, and threatening to occupy the premises for as long as it takes for their demands to be met -- which seem to lie in the fact that they think the election was stolen. Why does that sound familiar?

As for the response ... Brazil's Minister of Justice, Flavio Dino, is reported to have said he'll use the full extent of the law to prosecute these vandals -- but at the moment, it doesn't look like the police on the ground are having much luck in getting 'em the hell out of there.

Just like they were here, law enforcement is completely outnumbered and being overrun by civilians ... and some of the clashes have turned quite violent.

It's actually astonishing how much this parallels what happened here in the States -- some of the snapshots are almost identical -- with rioters entering offices, taking computers and posing for selfies all throughout the area and celebrating their unlawful infiltration.

Remember, we saw this exact type of behavior ourselves ... the only difference being that our lawmakers were in the middle of a live session, and had to go into hiding.

This current attempted coup is taking place on the weekend -- when federal workers and elected officials aren't around, it seems -- but it's no less discomforting to watch unfold live.

Time will tell what comes of this in Brazil. As we know, there was a special congressional committee formed that dug into the origins of Jan. 6 -- and they concluded by pointing the finger at Donald Trump ... claiming he incited the insurrectionists and should be prosecuted.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries was feeling musical on the House floor after being elected House Minority Leader for the Democratic Party ... and he let his song be heard by all, from A to Z.

The New York congressman -- who was the clear favorite among his peers for House Speaker as 15 rounds of voting were held -- delivered his speech early Saturday morning after Rep. Kevin McCarthy finally won the gavel among a divided Republican party.

We'll get to him in a minute, but first ... listen to Jeffries' ABCs of red, white and blue. He went through the entire alphabet to compare and contrast the core tenets of his caucus.

It starts with American Values over Autocracy, Benevolence over Bigotry, the Constitution over the Cult ... and finally ends with Zealous Representation over Zero Sum Confrontation, covering every letter in between. It's got good rhythm to it, much like the real alphabet song!

Jeffries got huge applause throughout, and what sounds like a standing O at the end.

You could argue there was just as much enthusiasm within the GOP, when now-House Speaker McCarthy delivered his remarks to cap off the long night ... when he promised to push a strong conservative agenda and to reign in a lot of Pres. Biden's policies.

McCarthy's win came after an excruciating 15 rounds of voting over 4 full days ... during which he slowly started to flip enough Republican votes in his favor among holdouts.

The notorious BTK serial killer is pouring cold water on the idea -- floated by his own daughter -- that he has a link to Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger.

BTK fired off an email to TMZ from prison after we reached out to him about a recent NewsNation article ... claiming Kohberger may have communicated with him through DeSales University professor Katherine Ramsland.

Kohberger, a Washington State University grad student, had previously studied at DeSales under Ramsland, who's also a famous true crime author and penned a book about the BTK killer.

In his January 5 message to us, BTK says, "No on Kohberger all around," in response to his daughter, Kerri Rawson, telling NN reporter Brian Entin she was "pretty shocked" there was "potentially a connection to my father."

Rawson also said she thought Bryan was likely influenced by BTK since he studied under Ramsland.

On this point, BTK agreed, stating, "I had thought some one may have study me." He also gave props to the Idaho investigators for nabbing a suspect, meaning Kohberger.

BTK went on to share his personal torment about not connecting with his family. "My family don't communicate with me at all. I love them all very much and [would] be happy if one did."

As you know ... BTK (real name: Dennis Rader) killed ten people during his sexually motivated, sadomasochistic rampage in Wichita, Kansas, from 1974 to 1991. He wrote taunting letters to the media, giving himself the moniker, "Bind, Torture, Kill."

He was finally captured in 2005 and confessed to the slayings, leading to his conviction. He is currently serving ten life sentences -- one for each of his murders.

Bryan Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath at the scene of the Idaho murders ... and authorities made a match by rooting through trash at his family's house and finding his dad's DNA, which had enough of a match to the DNA taken from the sheath for cops to pin the murders on Bryan.

According to the arrest warrant affidavit just released, authorities had Kohberger in their crosshairs less than 2 weeks after the murders. As we reported, cops were on the hunt for a white Hyundai Elantra. On November 13 -- the date of the murders -- there were several videos showing the white Elantra making 3 passes by the murder house before finally stopping at 4:04 AM.

Multiple surveillance videos show the car leaving the area of the murder house at 4:20 AM at a high rate of speed.

Police initiated a video canvas around the murder scene and it appears the car traveled toward Washington State University, which Kohberger attends -- 10 miles from the murder house.

On November 25, cops released info to law enforcement that they were on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra. On November 29, a WSU cop pulled up a hit on Kohberger's vehicle and license plate number. Cops went to his apartment in the middle of the night and observed a white Elantra sitting in the driveway.

Now, what we didn't know -- one of the survivors in the murder house says she saw a man 5'10" or taller, not very muscular but athletically built with bushy eyebrows, wearing black clothing with a mask.

Her description is absolutely chilling ... she says the man walked right past her as she stood in a "frozen shock phase," and then he walked past her and left the house.

She had only looked out of her bedroom because she'd heard a female voice, possibly murder victim Kaylee Goncalves, say something like "there's someone here." She also heard a male voice say, "It's ok, I'm going to help you."

Cops got a driver's license picture of Kohberger who had a listed height of 6', 185 lbs and the pic shows he has bushy eyebrows.

Cops say they have WSU cams showing Kohberger's car leaving the campus area at 2:44 AM on Nov. 13. They also have a cell phone number and the records show on the night of the murders, at 2:47 AM the phone left his residence and traveled south through Pullman, Washington. It then stopped reporting, but picked up again at 5:30 AM and showed the phone traveling back to his residence. Cops think he deliberately disabled the phone to conceal his travels.

They also have WSU camera footage of him returning at 5:25 AM.

The cell records also indicate Kohberger returned to the scene of the crime just a few hours later -- between 9:12 AM and 9:21 AM. Worth noting is the fact police were not called to the home until 11:58 AM.

BTW ... the cell phone records also show since June 22, he had been near the murder house at least 12 times prior to the murders, and they were typically in the late evening or early morning hours.

And, there's this ... Kohberger applied for an internship with the Pullman PD in Fall 2022.

Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger stalked his victims for months before he allegedly murdered 4 innocent college students, according to the investigators who took him down.

Court records, obtained by TMZ, reveal Kohberger's cell phone was pinged close to the murder house at least twelve times between June 2022 and the date of the murders, November 13, 2022.

Investigators note that in all but one of those instances, the cell phone data was picked up in the late evening and early morning hours.

In one of the most chilling details from the murders, documents reveal one of the roommates told detectives she heard victim Kaylee Goncalves -- who lived a floor above -- around 4 AM the morning of the murder say "there's someone here."

The roommate says she looked outside, and didn't see anyone, but opened her door and heard what she thought was crying coming from victim Xana Kernodle's room. She then says she heard a male voice say something to the effect of, "It's ok, I'm going to help you."

What's not clear is who the male voice was, whether it was Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, who was also killed -- or whether it was Kohberger.

Investigators say a security camera on a neighbor's home picked up distorted audio of voices or a whimper followed by a thud starting at 4:17 AM.

The surviving roommate says when she opened her door a third time after she heard crying, and saw a man dressed in black clothing and a mask covering the man's mouth and nose walking towards her. The roommate says he was 5'10" or taller, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows.

She says she was in a "frozen shock phase" as he walked toward the sliding back door. The roommate says she locked herself in her room, and investigators believe the man left the residence at that time.

It's no coincidence Indiana cops pulled over Bryan Kohberger, the alleged murderer of 4 University of Idaho students, twice in one day -- the stops reportedly happened at the FBI's behest, as they built a case against him.

As we've reported, Kohberger and his father were pulled over on December 15 in Indiana as they were driving cross-country. Police body cameras captured audio and video of Kohberger, who was stopped for driving too close to a truck ... but oddly wasn't ticketed either time.

According to Fox News, that's because the FBI had been tracking the duo's trip from Washington State University to Pennsylvania, and needed more evidence. Specifically, the feds reportedly wanted the local cops to get images of Bryan's hands.

During the first traffic stop, a Hancock County Sheriff's Deputy had what seemed a strangely extensive convo with Kohberger and his father about their trip -- they even discussed a shooting that had occurred that day on the WSU campus.

However, all the while, the cop's body camera was capturing images of Kohberger. Pretty slick surveillance move by the FBI and the officer.

Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger is now in the company of 22 people who've allegedly committed crimes ... and some of the inmates are facing serious charges themselves.

Nearly 2 dozen inmates are locked up at the Latah County Jail in Moscow, where Kohberger's also landed  ... and while some are locked up for minor crimes like petty theft and driving without privileges, others are facing very serious charges.

One of his fellow inmates is Micah James DeMoss -- who's facing 8 counts of video voyeurism, 2 counts of child sexual exploitation material and a charge of rape, where the alleged victim is 16 or 17 and the alleged perpetrator is 3 years older.

Brandi Lea Holland is also spending time at Latah County ... charged with aggravated assault, possession of a controlled substance and misdemeanor drug paraphernalia.

Jesse Allan Irby is behind bars for domestic violence with traumatic injury, DUI and unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.

Jesse Eugene Burnett is also in for lewd conduct with a child under 16 and 4 counts of promoting, publishing or producing child sexually exploitative material.

As for Kohberger, Latah County Sheriff Richard Skiles says he'll get a cell to himself and will be treated like the rest of his inmates -- adding that he can talk to his family on the phone.

As we reported, Kohberger is in ID just days after his arrest because he waived extradition from Pennsylvania ... pics obtained by TMZ showed him and a handful of armed officers stopping to refuel the plane Wednesday in Champaign, IL ... en route to Idaho.

Bryan Kohberger, the man arrested for the murder of 4 University of Idaho students, was pulled over by cops 1.5 miles away from the murder house a couple months before the killings.

The Latah County Sheriff confirms to TMZ ... Kohberger was stopped by police in late August, less than 2 miles from the home where the murders happened, and ticketed for not wearing a seat belt.

And, get this ... Kohberger was driving a white Hyundai Elantra when he was pulled over near the University of Idaho campus, just down the road from where the murders took place only a few months later.

According to the traffic citation, Kohberger was pulled over August 21 at 11:40 PM and he was driving a 2015 white Hyundai Elantra with Pennsylvania license plates.

Remember ... the quadruple murder happened the night of November 13, and during the investigation police eventually asked the public for help finding a white Hyundai Elantra.

Kohberger was arrested December 30 at his parent's home in Pennsylvania ... he drove there from Washington State with his father before the holidays. He's since been charged with first-degree murder and is on his way back to Idaho.

TMZ broke the story ... Kohberger and his father were stopped twice in Indiana on December 15 during their cross-country trip, and they were driving a white Hyundai Elantra with Washington plates.

Bryan Kohberger is on his way back to Idaho to face murder charges, a day after he told a Pennsylvania judge he would not fight extradition.

Kohberger was moved from the Monroe County Correctional Facility at around 6 AM ET. Pennsylvania State Police said he will fly back to Idaho, although no one has said if he'd fly commercial.

He already has a public defender in Idaho, so the legal process will immediately kick in. He should face a judge in a day or 2 to answer to the 4 charges of first-degree murder. Idaho has a death penalty, although the prosecutor has not said if he'll seek it.

TMZ broke the story, Kohberger and his father were stopped twice in Indiana on December 15 by patrol officers for following too close ... this, on their way from Washington to Pennsylvania. Kohberger, who was driving, was just given a warning and allowed to proceed.

What's interesting ... Moscow, Idaho cops put out a bulletin the week before, asking everyone to be on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra, which Kohberger and his dad were driving. As you see, their car had Washington plates, and Washington is contiguous with Idaho.

Bryan Kohberger was stopped by Indiana cops back in mid-December in that white Hyundai Elantra, but they let him go -- and we have video of the encounter.

It happened December 15th ... a trooper with the Indiana State Police pulled the car over for following too closely. There were two men in the car -- Kohberger was driving, and the passenger presumably was his father, who accompanied him from Washington State to Pennsylvania.

Police officials say at the time of the stop they knew nothing related to the license plate or state in which the car was registered. However, more than a week before, cops asked the public's help in finding a white Hyundai Elantra -- the car in which Kohberger was driving.

Police let them go with a verbal warning. BTW, during the stop, the cop asks where they're going, and they reply, Pennsylvania ... to which the cop says, "That's a long haul. Are you guys scared of airplanes?" The cop then laughs.

During the encounter, Kohberger's dad mentions a shooting near Washington State University, adding that's where his son went to school. A man had barricaded himself in an apartment near the University and threatened to kill his 2 roommates ... he died in a police shootout.

The Indiana State Police say just minutes before that traffic stop, the 2 men were stopped by a Deputy from the Hancock County Sheriff's Dept. ... and again they were released with a verbal warning.

Kohberger was arrested 2 weeks later -- December 30th -- at his parent's home in Pennsylvania.

Barbara Walters -- one of the biggest and most recognizable news anchors in the world -- has died.

We're told she died at her home, surrounded by loved ones. Barbara had been in declining health for several years.

The legendary ABC broadcaster passed away Friday in New York City. Barbara had receded from public view the past several years, opting to live a private life. She hadn't been seen out and about since at least 2016.

Barbara's 60-plus-year career was in part catapulted by her coverage of President John F. Kennedy's assassination in 1963. She came on-air to report on the story alongside anchor Hugh Downs, giving a man-on-the-street perspective from New York City.

Of course, she went on to become one of the longest-serving journalists in the game -- first working for NBC's "Today" show as a writer and researcher, and working her way up in the network through the '60s and early '70s, eventually becoming their first female cohost.

In 1976, Barbara jumped over to ABC ... landing a job on their "Evening News" program. She was the first woman to anchor a network news show, but her cohost was not having it and it made success almost impossible. Not long after, she became a fixture and regular contributor and the eventual host of the network's "20/20" newsmagazine program and appeared on the show for decades.

Some of her biggest interviews were featured on "20/20," as well as other shows, which included notable face-to-face convos with folks like Katharine Hepburn, Fidel Castro, Monica Lewinsky, Michael Jackson, Patrick Swayze, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, Oprah, Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, China's ex-secretary of the Communist Party, Jiang Zemin, Vladimir Putin, John Wayne, Mike Tyson, Barbra Streisand, Lucille Ball, Muhammad Ali, Fred Astaire, Henry Kissinger, Ringo Starr, Walter Cronkite, Willie Nelson, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christopher Reeve, Hugo Chavez, Tom Cruise, Anna Wintour, Justin Bieber, Syrian Prez Bashar al-Assad and every single American President. The list goes on and on and on.

If you can think of a famous person, Barbara probably interviewed them, plain and simple.

Her achievements go well beyond just that though -- Walters also co-created and cohosted ABC's popular daytime talk show, "The View," which became one of her main focuses professionally after semi-retiring from hosting "20/20" in 2004. She stayed on "The View" through mid-May 2014, and continued to make guest appearances after her official send-off.

Barbara's final on-air interview was with Donald Trump for ABC News in 2015. Her last public appearance was reportedly in 2016 -- she hadn't been seen much since then. The last time we got her on camera was in 2014 when she graciously signed autographs.

She'd been married four times and had dated some very high-profile people, including notorious McCarthy-era attorney Roy Cohn, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, U.S. Senator John Warner, Senator Edward Brooke, Pulitzer Prize winner Robert Neil Butler.

She had one daughter with Lee Guber, Jacqueline Dena Guber.

Barbara was a staple in pop culture too -- often portrayed on 'SNL' by several different cast members over the years. She also once spoofed herself by appearing on 'Weekend Update.'

She was inducted into the Television Hall of Fame in 1989 and received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in '07. Barbara has won countless Daytime and Primetime Emmy Awards over the course of her career, as well as many other lifetime achievement accolades.

Barbara's publicist, Cindi Berger, tells TMZ ... "She lived her life with no regrets. She was a trailblazer not only for female journalists but for all women."

Barbara Walters was 93.

Moscow PD seems to still be struggling to find significant leads in the case of the slain college students ... but the cops investigating have been offered counseling as pressure to get answers ramps up.

The counseling services have been activated in the department as a way to take "care of our officers," according to department spokesman Captain Anthony Dahlinger ... who told DailyMail the resources are there "for anyone who needs them, and our priority is to keep our force healthy as we work until we get this investigation to its conclusion."

Capt. Dahlinger says morale is still high, however ... adding, "We're all committed to seeing this investigation through to the end – it being the holidays is kind of moot. We're just focused on that goal."

A rep for the department confirms the news with TMZ, and says "Our officers and their families are continually offered support through several avenues including our regional Peer Support Team," adding counseling will continue to be offered on an as-needed basis.

We're also told patrols around Moscow and Univ. of Idaho are constant and will continue -- thanks to the help from Idaho State Police.

It's lookin' like hell on Earth this holiday season for Southwest passengers, and cancelations still aren't easing up -- but it looks like the CEO is hoping to encourage his employees to get the job done during this nightmare.

The Dallas-based air transport company nixed another 2,500 flights Tuesday, according to CNBC ... or roughly 63% of its flights. For those unaware, Southwest also killed 70% the day before.

CEO Bob Jordan reportedly sent a message to his employees after customers were getting stranded at airports ... saying, "We’ve got to get out of this. We’ve got to get to the point where we’re reliable and we get our Customers, our Crews, our aircraft, everything on track."

Southwest is gunning to fly on a third of its schedule throughout the week -- with the goal of simply getting planes and crews where they're needed. Jordan says, however, "Obviously that will have even more impact on our Customers."

The company says it'll "honor reasonable requests for reimbursement for meals, hotel, and alternate transportation,” according to its website ... as long as passengers can provide a receipt to match.

FYI -- the U.S. Department of Transportation announced an investigation into Southwest Monday ... saying it's going to look into the "unacceptable rate of cancellations and delays & reports of lack of prompt customer service."

A man who lived in the house where 4 University of Idaho students were brutally killed is baffled no one heard the sounds of death, because the house itself had to give off signals something terrible was happening.

Cole Alteneder, who graduated from the University, told ABC News, "It's definitely an old, creaky house ... You can't walk up any of the stairs or on any of the floors without everybody in the house knowing it."

As we reported, there were 6 people in the house at the time of the quadruple murders ... 2 people were spared and say they heard nothing. Police have said the 2 survivors are not suspects.

Cole says the house and the area surrounding it were well-known places to party, adding, "... people would hop the fences and just, like, walk away if the cops came."

Lots of people in the area knew the house and had access, and cops say they have been chasing down leads since the brutal murders.

A dog that was separated from her owner during a hike during the winter blast got a precious Xmas present -- life -- thanks to a determined owner and a rescue team.

Nala was hiking with her owner Christmas Eve in Ogden, Utah ... near Waterfall Canyon. Somehow the pooch and owner got separated. The owner searched high and low, but no Nala in sight. At nightfall, the frustrated and worried owner went back home.

On Christmas Day, the owner returned to the trail -- 2.4 miles from start to finish -- and spotted his dog. Thing is ... the owner's family didn't have a clue because cell service sucked, so they became worried he might be in trouble and called the cops.

A rescue team spotted the owner, who told them he spotted Nala at the top of a frozen waterfall, but couldn't reach her because of ice and steep terrain.

With the help of a drone, the rescue team spotted the dog and they then began a difficult hike to save the animal. Nala was a little freaked out at first, but eventually realized the team was there to help and she cooperated as they brought her down the mountain.

Nala had a few injuries, but nothing life-threatening. She's back with her fam.