Authorities in Pennsylvania arrested a suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death in their beds more than a month ago, law enforcement officials confirmed in a Friday afternoon press conference.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, is being held for extradition to Idaho on a warrant for first degree murder and is expected to appear in court in Pennsylvania Tuesday afternoon, authorities said Friday.
Kohberger is a resident of Pullman, Washington, and is a graduate student at Washington State University, officials said.
“Since November, we have remained laser-focused on pursuing every lead in our pursuit of justice for the victims and their families,” Moscow Police Chief James Fry said in a Friday afternoon press conference. “I recognize the frustration with the lack of information that’s been released, however, [to] provide any details in this criminal investigation might have tainted the upcoming criminal prosecution or alerted the suspect of our progress.”
The Idaho students — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin — were stabbed to death at a rental home near campus sometime in the early morning hours of Nov. 13. Investigators did not name a suspect or locate a murder weapon for weeks.
The killings initially mystified law enforcement and shook the small town of Moscow, Idaho, a farming community of about 25,000 people that had not had a murder for five years. Fears of a repeat attack prompted nearly half of the University of Idaho’s over 11,000 students to leave the city and switch to online classes.
Officials on Friday said they had received more than 19,000 tips and conducted over 300 interviews during the course of their investigation.
The case broke open after law enforcement asked the public for help finding a white Hyundai Elantra sedan seen near the home around the time of the killings.
Officials on Friday said they found the Elantra, but were still looking for a potential murder weapon.
“These murders have shaken our community and no arrest will ever bring back these young students,” Fry said. “However, we do believe justice will be found through the criminal process.”
“This was a very complex and extensive case,” he added.
While officials are limited in the information they can provide due to the ongoing nature of the case, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said Kohberger “has the opportunity to either waive extradition and return voluntarily to the state of Idaho, or if he prefers not to waive extradition then we will initiate extradition proceedings through our governor’s office.” ‘
Thompson asked the public for continued support, encouraging anyone who knows Kohberger to Please ask the public anyone who knows about this individual to “come forward, call the tip line, report anything you know about him to help the investigators and eventually our office and the court system understand fully everything there is to know about not only the individual, but what happened and why.”
Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington, were members of the university’s Greek system and close friends. Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle lived in the three-story rental home with two other roommates. Kernodle and Chapin were dating and he was visiting the house that night.
Autopsies showed all four were likely asleep when they were attacked. Some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times. There was no sign of sexual assault, police said.
Police said Thursday the rental home would be cleared of “potential biohazards and other harmful substances” to collect evidence starting Friday morning. It was unclear how long the work would take, but a news release said the house would be returned to the property manager upon completion.
Shanon Gray, an attorney representing Goncalves’s father, Steve Goncalves, said law enforcement officials called the family last night to let them know about the arrest, but gave no additional information about how or why they believe he might be connected to the murders.
“Obviously they’re relieved that someone has been arrested,” Gray said. “You guys know about as much as we do right now.”
The case also enticed online sleuths who speculated about potential suspects and motives. In the early days of the investigation, police released relatively few details publicly. Safety concerns also had the university hiring an additional security firm to escort students across campus and the Idaho State Police sending troopers to help patrol the city’s streets.
Kohberger was arrested in Monroe County, located in eastern Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains. The county seat, Stroudsburg, is about 100 miles north of Philadelphia.
When asked whether the small Idaho community was safe or if they are looking into further suspects, Chief Fry responded: “I do believe our community is safe but we still need to be vigilant right, we still have talked about this in the past, we always need to be aware of our surroundings, and make sure that we’re aware of what’s going on.”
Fry added that any motive is “part of the investigation,” adding: “What we still ask is for people to continually send us things in the tip line, we are still looking for more information. We’re still trying to build that picture.”
