What we know about the man arrested in connection with the Idaho quadruple murders
More than six weeks after four college students were murdered in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, police have detained a suspect in the case, Bryan Christopher Kohberger.
The 28-year-old was apprehended on a fugitive from justice warrant, according to Pennsylvania State Police. The Moscow Police Department, the Idaho State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation were all assisting in the arrest, according to police. According to a law enforcement source, Kohberger was detained at his parents’ house in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.
On Friday, Kohberger went before a Pennsylvania court and was remanded without bond to the Monroe County Correctional Facility, where he is awaiting extradition to Idaho, according to authorities.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and criminal burglary, according to Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson at a press conference on Friday.
Who is Bryan Kohberger?
On November 21, 1994, Kohberger was born. He earned an associate’s degree in psychology from Northampton Community College in 2018, and will graduate with a bachelor’s degree from DeSales University in 2020. He subsequently pursued graduate studies at the university, which he will complete in 2022, according to a DeSales official. The representative did not specify his field of study or major.
Kohberger was a Ph.D. criminology student and teaching assistant at Washington State University’s Pullman campus at the time of his arrest, which is just about a 15-minute drive from Moscow, Idaho. WSU announced in a statement that Kohberger had just ended his first semester.
In a Friday afternoon press conference, Moscow Police Chief James Fry verified that Kohberger lived in Washington state, and the college stated that university police supported Idaho law enforcement officers in executing a search warrant at Kohberger’s on-campus residence and office on Friday.
Also read: Rishabh Pant, India’s cricket star, was hurt in a car accident.
“On behalf of the WSU Pullman community, I would want to express my heartfelt gratitude to all of the law enforcement agencies who have worked relentlessly to solve this crime,” said Elizabeth Chilton, chancellor of the WSU Pullman campus and WSU provost. “Everyone in the Palouse region has been shaken by this heinous deed.”
According to another graduate student in WSU’s criminology and criminal justice department, the news of Kohberger’s arrest came “quite out of left field.”
After the two began the program together in August, Ben Roberts said he took several classes with Kohberger. Kohberger “was always looking for a way to fit in,” according to Roberts.
Kohberger, according to Roberts, would “find the most complex way to explain things.”
“He had to make sure you knew he knew,” Roberts continued.
Where does the investigation stand?
During the press briefing on Friday, officials were cautious about disclosing many elements of the investigation. And including those that led to Kohberger’s detention. Fry stated that the material was not released in order to protect the integrity of the inquiry and to comply with Idaho law.
The police chief stated that some of the 19,000 tips received by police were instrumental in the arrest of Kohberger. But he would to disclose when he became a suspect or what brought him to their attention. According to law enforcement authorities, forensic investigation linked Kohberger to the crime site in Idaho.
According to those individuals, FBI agents conducted surveillance operations on Kohberger in Pennsylvania, tracking his movements in the days leading up to his arrest. Fry claimed it had been a “pretty sleepless couple days” leading up to Kohberger’s arrest.
“I have faith in those agencies around the country. And i believe in our cops, I believe in the FBI, and they did an excellent job,” Fry added.
Police, according to Fry, have not uncovered the murder weapon, but have recovered a Hyundai Elantra. Investigators announced several weeks ago that they were looking for the occupant or occupants of a white Hyundai Elantra from 2011 to 2013 that was “in the neighborhood” when the students were killed.
More details, including the factual basis for the allegations, will be released when a probable cause document is unsealed. Which won’t happen until Kohberger returns to Idaho and is served with an arrest warrant. On Tuesday afternoon, Kohberger is scheduled to appear in court in Pennsylvania.
Fry also refused to clarify whether there was any relationship between the victims and Kohberger. And he did not reveal a motivation for the crimes.
“These killings have shook our community, and no arrest will ever bring these young students back. However, we feel that justice will be served through the criminal court system “Fry stated.
