A 28-year-old graduate student in criminal justice was arrested on Friday as a suspect in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students last month. DNA evidence helped to identify Bryan Christopher Kohberger as a suspect in the killings, and officials were able to match his DNA to genetic material recovered during the investigation. The students were stabbed to death at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13th.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Bryan Kohberger attends Washington State University, which is only a few miles across the state line from Moscow. Investigators are still looking for a weapon, Fry said at a press conference.
Federal and state investigators are combing through his background, financial records, and electronic communications as they work to identify a motive and build the case.
What happened at the press conference?
During the press conference, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said investigators believe Bryan Kohberger broke into the students’ home “with the intent to commit murder.”
He is being held without bond in Pennsylvania, and will be held without bond in Idaho once he is returned. Kohberger is also charged with felony burglary in Idaho, Thompson said. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Kohberger just completed his first semester as a PhD student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University. He is also a teaching assistant for the university’s criminal justice and criminology program. University police assisted Idaho law enforcement in executing search warrants at Kohberger’s campus apartment and office.
History of Bryan Kohberger:
Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle, and Chapin 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 the rental home would be cleared of “potential biohazards and other harmful substances” to collect evidence starting Friday morning.
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.
Ben Roberts, a graduate student in the criminology and criminal justice department at WSU, described Kohberger as confident and outgoing, but said it seemed like “he was always looking for a way to fit in.”
Roberts started the program in August — along with Kohberger, he said — and had several courses with him. He described Kohberger as wanting to appear academic. Ethan Chapin’s family emailed a statement after the press conference.
