CNN
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Authorities carefully tracked the man accused of murdering four Idaho college students as he drove across the country around Christmas and continued to monitor him for several days before finally arresting him on Friday, sources said. at CNN.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of first-degree murder, as well as burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University students. from Idaho in November, according to Latah County. Attorney Bill Thompson.
Still, investigators have not publicly confirmed the suspect’s motive or whether he knew the victims. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.
In the nearly seven weeks since the students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus house, investigators have conducted more than 300 interviews and scoured approximately 20,000 tips in their search for the suspect. News of the murders – and the long period without a suspect or significant developments – shook the University of Idaho community and the surrounding city of Moscow, which had not seen a murder in seven years.
Investigators identified Kohberger as the suspect through DNA evidence and by confirming he owned a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.
Kohberger, who authorities say lived minutes from the scene of the murders, is a doctoral student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, the school confirmed.
He drove across the country in a white Hyundai Elantra and arrived at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania around Christmas, according to a law enforcement source. Authorities were following him as he drove and were also monitoring his parents’ home, the source said.
An FBI surveillance team followed him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said. .
Genetic genealogy techniques were used to link Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the matter told CNN. The DNA was analyzed in a public database for potential matches to family members, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led him to be the suspect, the source said. .
Kohberger was arraigned Friday morning in Pennsylvania and is being held without bail pending his Jan. 3 extradition hearing, records show.
The suspect has the option of waiving the extradition and voluntarily returning to Idaho. But if he chooses not to, Moscow police will have to initiate extradition proceedings through the governor’s office, which could take some time, Fry said.
Even with one suspect charged, law enforcement’s work is far from done, prosecutors said.
“It’s not the end of this investigation. In fact, it’s a new beginning,” Thompson said Friday night.
Thompson urged people to keep submitting information, asking anyone with information about the suspect “to come forward, call the tip line, report anything you know about him to help investigators “.
Since the murder of the four students – Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20 some community members grew frustrated as investigators have yet to offer a full account of how the night unfolded. Authorities have released limited details, including the victims’ activities leading up to the attacks and who they have ruled out as suspects.
Fry told reporters Friday that state law limits what information authorities can release before Kohberger makes his first court appearance in Idaho. The probable cause affidavit — which details the factual basis for Kohberger’s charges — is sealed until the suspect is physically in Latah County, Idaho and has received the Idaho warrant for his arrest, said Thompson.
Kohberger is a resident of Pullman, Washington, a town about nine miles from the site of the murders, authorities said. His apartment and office on Washington State University’s Pullman campus were searched by law enforcement on Friday morning, the university confirmed in a statement.
In June 2022, he completed his graduate studies at DeSales University, where he was also an undergraduate student, according to a statement posted on the school’s website. He also earned an associate’s degree from Northampton Community College in 2018, the college confirmed to CNN.
In a Reddit post deleted after news of Kohberger’s arrest broke, a student investigator named Bryan Kohberger who was associated with a DeSales University study asked to participate in a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”.
“In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with a focus on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post reads.
CNN reached out to one of the study’s lead investigators, a DeSales University professor, but they declined to comment on the matter. The university did not respond to requests for comment.
