US police have released the name of the man arrested in connection with the murders of four students in Idaho in November.
On Friday it became known that a 28-year-old man was arrested and charged with premeditated murder four students were found stabbed to death in Idaho in November.
In a press release, the Pennsylvania State Police said they assisted the FBI and Idaho police in arresting Bryan C. Kohberger. The 28-year-old was arrested at a home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.
The state is thousands of miles from the city of Moscow in Idaho, where Kolhberger is said to have been involved in the murders of Madison Mogen (21), Kaylee Goncalves (21), Ethan Chapin (20), and Xana Kernodle (20).
Study of criminal law
The suspect is said to be a student at Washington State University, which is just 15 minutes from the town where the students were killed.
He recently completed his first semester as a doctoral student in criminal law, according to a university news release.
The 28-year-old was charged with four counts of premeditated murder and burglary, the prosecutor’s office said at a news conference on Friday.
Authorities targeted the man after tracking a white Hyundai Elantra, which was seen in the area when the murders took place. The man’s DNA was also matched to genetic material found at the scene, reports CNN.
The 28-year-old was said to have driven the car across the country and back to his parents’ home, according to the paper. An FBI surveillance team followed him for four days before he was arrested.
He kept a low profile
Kohberger is said to have kept a very low profile in the student housing he rented in Pullman, Washington. Tell a neighbor Fox News that he rarely saw the alleged killer.
– I saw him go to check the mailbox, that’s it. Other than that, I’ve only seen it twice and have lived here since July 2021,” said Justin Williams.
The neighbor added that he hadn’t noticed anything unusual in the man’s behavior.
The man’s defense attorney, Jason LaBar, said in a statement Saturday that the defendant and his family are shocked. He says Kohberger was in Pennsylvania celebrating Christmas.
– Kohberger is eager to be cleared of these charges and looks forward to resolving the matter as quickly as possible.
In June 2022, Kohberger completed a doctoral degree from DeSales University, according to a statement on the school’s website. She also completed a bachelor’s degree from Norhampton Community College in 2018, the college confirmed to US media.
Killed while they slept
It has total confusion reigned surrounding the knife murders of the four American students. Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle themselves lived in the house in which they were found, while Chapin is said to have visited his girlfriend during the night.
Two other people lived in the house. They allegedly slept through the attacks, then called 911 the following morning when they found one of the victims apparently unconscious.
It is not known whether Kohberger had intercourse with any of the four victims.
Police have so far received 19,000 tips related to the homicides, he writes CBS News.
The murder weapon has not yet been found, says Moscow police chief James Fry.
– These murders rocked our local community and no amount of arrest will ever bring these young students back. But we believe that justice will be achieved through the criminal process.
The male suspect is in the custody of Monroe County Correctional Facility, awaiting extradition to Idaho. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3, reports the New York Post.
