Bryan Christopher Kohberger was taken into custody on Dec. 30, 2022 in Monroe County, Pa. in connection with the killings more than six weeks after four college students were killed at a home off-campus in Moscow, Idaho. He is expected to waive extradition rights in a Pennsylvania hearing today.
“We have an individual in custody who committed these horrible crimes and I do believe our community is safe, but we still need to be vigilant,” Moscow police chief James Fry said at a press conference.
Kohberger, registered as a Libertarian in Pennsylvania, was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police at a Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County home, authorities said.
Kohberger was arrested in Monroe County, Pa. on Friday pursuant to a warrant issued by the Moscow, Idaho Police Department and Latah County prosecutor’s office, charging him with first-degree murder and burglary, according to the criminal complaint.
The 28-year-old is suspected of the deaths of 20-year-old Ethan Chapin, 21-year-old Madison Mogen, 21-year-old Xana Kernodle, and 21-year-old Kailee Goncalves – four University of Idaho students killed at a home near campus Nov. 13.
Kohberger used a Washington State University-issued email address and had attended graduate school at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where he graduated in May 2022. He was working towards a PhD in criminology at Washington State University at the time of his arrest.
The FBI had Kohberger under surveillance as detectives with Moscow’s Police Department, the Idaho State Police, and FBI worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to issue a warrant.
Officers executed a search warrant on Friday at the apartment where the suspect had been living in Pullman, Washington, according to NBC News.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry confirmed in a Friday afternoon news conference that the suspect lived at Washington State University, and university officials said college police assisted Idaho law enforcement officials with executing the search warrant, and the on-campus office of Kohberger.
Kohberger is expected to waive his extradition rights in a court hearing later today in Pennsylvania. Kohberger could then arrive in Idaho 72 hours later.
“Because of obviously the attention of this case, I assume Idaho is prepared and ready to transport him back already,” said Jason LaBar, Kohberger’s extradition public defender, noting that he expects “it’s going to happen pretty quickly.”
Ben Roberts took several courses with Kohberger after the two started the WSU program in August. Kohberger “was always looking for a way to fit in,” Roberts told the AP.
Roberts said Kohberger would “find the most complicated way to explain something.”
He added: “He had to make sure you knew that he knew it.”
“It’s pretty out of left field,” he said of the news Friday. “I had honestly just pegged him as being super awkward.”
Mr Kohberger’s former high school classmate Sara Healey told Fox News Digital on Friday about her former classmate.
“There was definitely something off about him, like we couldn’t tell exactly what it was. I remember one time when I was walking in the hallway, and he stopped me and was like, ‘Do you want to hang out?’”
LaBar described Kohberger as “very calm. He’s very intelligent, and he was fairly shocked” by the arrest.
He also said Kohberger’s parents are “just really shocked” and said this is “out of character” for their son.
