Authorities say a 28-year-old criminal justice graduate student was detained Friday in Eastern Pennsylvania as a suspect in the shady stabbing murders of four University of Idaho students last month.
A law enforcement official said officials matched Bryan Christopher Kohberger’s DNA with genetic material found during the investigation, identifying him as a suspect in the death. Not authorized to discuss the details of the ongoing investigation publicly, the official spoke anonymously.
on Nov. 13 Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were fatally stabbed in a rental house close to campus in Moscow, Idaho. According to Moscow Police Chief James Fry, Kohberger is a student at Washington State University, which is just a few miles across the state line from Moscow.
Fry stated at a press conference that detectives are still looking for a weapon. He announced the arrest while very upset and addressed the victims by their first names. Law enforcement officials were initially baffled by the deaths, which also upset the small farming town of 25,000 as it had not had a murder in five years.
However, the information flowed to the police called for help locating a white Hyundai Elantra sedan sighted near the home around the time of the murders. The official, who did not wish to remain identified, stated that in addition to the DNA evidence, officials discovered that Kohberger had a white Hyundai Elantra.
Federal agents had been watching Kohberger recently and picked him up early Friday at a residence in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania. The official added that federal and state investigators are currently studying his past, bank records and Internet conversations to determine motivation and strengthen their case.
According to the official, the detectives also spoke to people who knew Kohberger, including those from Washington State University. Investigators suspect Kohberger entered the sorority house “to commit murder,” according to Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, who made the statement at a news conference.
According to Thomson, he is being held without bond in Pennsylvania and will be held without bond upon his return to Idaho. As required by state law, the affidavit for four counts of first-degree murder in Idaho remains sealed until he returns.
According to Thompson, Kohberger is also charged with criminal burglary in Idaho. There is an extradition hearing on Tuesday. At Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Kohberger recently completed his first semester as a Ph.D. candidate.
According to WSU’s online directory, he also serves as a teaching assistant for the university’s criminal justice and criminology program. According to the university, campus police assisted the Idaho Police Department in enforcing search warrants at Kohberger’s apartment and office.
In response to a request for comment regarding Kohberger’s role as a teaching assistant, WSU officials did not immediately respond. WSU provost Elizabeth Chiltonreferring to the picturesque rolling hills surrounding both universities, said in a prepared statement that “this heinous act has affected everyone in the Palouse region.”
In the Moscow-Pullman community, “We will forever mourn the loss of these young people and hope today’s announcement will be a step toward healing.” Students occasionally attend classes, participate in seminars, or work at nearby universities because WSU and UI collaborate in many academic initiatives.
It doesn’t seem to be the case with Kohberger: Scott Green, the president of the University of Idaho, said in a statement Friday night to faculty, staff and students that the institution has no records of him.
This is reported by the campus spokesperson Mia Rossi-Marino received Kohberger an associate of arts in psychology from Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania in 2018. According to DeSales University in Pennsylvania, he graduated with his undergraduate degree in 2020 and graduate school in June 2022.
They were good friends and members of the university’s Greek community: Goncalves, 21, from Rathdrum, Idaho. May, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington. The three-story rental house housed Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle, and two other roommates. Chapin stayed at the residence that night since he and Kernodle were dating.
According to autopsies, all four were most likely asleep when they were attacked. Some were stabbed many times and some had defensive wounds. Police reported that there was no evidence of sexual assault. To collect evidence, the police announced on Thursday morning that the rental home would be evacuated “potential biological hazards and other hazardous materials.”
Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, is being represented by Shanon Gray, who claims law enforcement called the family last night to notify them of the arrest, but provided no other information about how or why they suspect he may be related keep up with the murders. .
Kohberger was assertive and outgoing, but Ben Roberts, a graduate student in WSU’s criminology and criminal justice department, said it seemed “He was always looking for a way to fit in.”
“I had assumed he was extremely clumsy,” Roberts uttered. Along with Kohberger, he added, Roberts began the program in August and shared several lessons with him.
According to him, Kohberger was trying to come across as an intellectual. He noted that one thing he always did was “find the most complicated way to explain something.” He had to make sure you knew he was conscious.
After the press conferenceEthan Chapin’s family has emailed a statement. “The conclusion of this chapter gives us some closure. That’s why we’re glad it’s coming to an end. It doesn’t change the outcome or lessen the suffering,” the family noted. “Our family is forever changed and we miss Ethan.”
Online detectives were drawn to the case and made assumptions about possible perpetrators and motives. Due to security concerns, the university hired a second security company to escort students around campus, and the Idaho State Police sent troopers to assist with street patrol.
Kohberger was arrested in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania. Court records did not name Kohberger’s attorney, and calls to the attorney general’s office were answered on Friday.
Balsamo reported from Washington, while Boone reported from Boise, Idaho. Rhonda Shafner, a New York news researcher, Mark Scolforo, Brooke Schultz, Michael Kunzelmana reporter in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Martha Bellisle, a reporter in Seattle, all contributed to this article.
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