The suspect in the shocking murder of four students at the University of Idaho has been identified by authorities using DNA found in public genealogy databases. ABC news.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested Friday in Pennsylvania. He is accused of murdering roommates Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, as they slept in their off-campus home.
Police haven’t said much publicly about how they linked Kohberger to the murders in Moscow, which is home to about 25,000 people. ABC News said unnamed law enforcement sources said DNA found at the crime scene matched DNA in a genealogy database, leading investigators to Kohberger.
Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger seen for the first time since his arrest. via /r/photos https://t.co/43Ob3oSnev pic.twitter.com/LiFApU2klz
— Bogdan Duman (@BogdanDuman) January 3, 2023
When the likely reason for Kohberger’s arrest is made public after he moves from Pennsylvania to Idaho, we’ll know more about why he was arrested.
His attorney said Kohberger will not fight to be sent back to Idaho and could be there as early as Tuesday night. Kaylee Goncalves’ father said his family is looking forward to the Kohberger trial.
“I want him to be tired of seeing us and tired of knowing that these people aren’t going to let it go,” told Steve Goncalves NBC news on Monday. “You know, it’s a battle of wills and we’ll see who wins.”
Take a look at:
When Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle, and Chapin were killed on November 13, it looks like a long knife was used. Kohberger was a graduate student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University, located 9 miles from the University of Idaho.
Later, local law enforcement and a group of 60 FBI agents focused on Kohberger after learning he owned a white Hyundai Elantra that had been seen near the crime scene. They also found information on his mobile that showed that he was often in the same place as the victims.
A month after the murders, Kohberger and his father drove from Washington to their home in the Poconos Mountains of Pennsylvania in that Elantra. Indiana police pulled them over twice as they drove across the state.
I’ve been anxiously waiting for them to arrest a suspect in the Idaho murders of those 4 college students. I hope there is evidence that this is the culprit. pic.twitter.com/FnOoKf5yzV
— Jaz🛡️🌐🔗 (@Jazzie654) January 3, 2023
The traffic stops were spaced about an hour apart. One was to follow too close and the other to go too fast. Police monitored Kohberger’s home in the Poconos for four days before catching him on December 30.
Before he was caught, Kohberger earned a master’s degree in criminal justice from DeSales University in Pennsylvania and studied with a forensic psychologist who wrote a book about the so-called BTK Strangler serial killer. His lawyer said in a statement that, despite the allegations against him, Kohberger expects to be “exonerated”.
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