Suspect arrested in Pennsylvania for killings of 4 University of Idaho students

A 28-year-old Pennsylvania man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students — in a case that captured national attention — was apprehended Friday in Monroe County, Pa., authorities said.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant early Friday morning at a residence in Chestnuthill Township, the Pennsylvania State Police said. Kohberger was arraigned before on-call Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth and then remanded to the Monroe County Correctional Facility, where he was being held without bail, pending the outcome of extradition proceedings.

Kohberger’s family lives in Monroe County, in the Poconos north of Allentown.

Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were stabbed to death — likely while sleeping, an autopsy report said — in the early morning hours of Nov. 13 in what police have called an “isolated” and “targeted” incident.

The four stabbing victims were friends and members of the university’s Greek system. The killings have left the close-knit community of Moscow stunned and grieving, shattering the sense of safety many had in the rural farming and university town. Mogen, Goncalves, and Kernodle lived together with two other roommates in a rental home just across the street from campus, and Chapin — Kernodle’s boyfriend — was there visiting.

At a news conference Friday afternoon, law enforcement officials in Moscow confirmed some basic details about the arrest of Kohberger, but they said they were prohibited by Idaho state law from releasing more until Kohberger is extradited to their state. Kohberger can still fight extradition.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry said law enforcement had received more than 19,000 tips in the case, and he encouraged anyone with information about Kohberger to continue to provide information.

“Be assured, the work is not done” in the investigation, Fry said, adding that the case has been complex and extensive with several hundred interviews so far.

Fry did confirm that the weapon used in the slayings had not been found. He also said that a white Hyundai Elantra had been recovered by authorities, but he did not say if it was the one that had been sought in connection with the case.

CNN reported, citing sources, that Kohberger’s DNA was found at the scene of the slayings, that Kohberger owned the white Hyundai Elantra seen near the scene, and that an FBI surveillance team from Philadelphia had been tracking Kohberger for several days while authorities prepared to obtain an arrest warrant.

Fry, when asked whether authorities were looking for other suspects, said only that the man accused of the murders had been arrested and “I do believe our community is safe.”

Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said the affidavit of probable cause, which contains the information supporting the criminal charges against Kohberger, was under seal and would not be released until Kohberger was physically in the county.

Thompson said that Kohberger, besides being charged with murder, also was charged with felony burglary for entering the residence with the intent to commit murder.

In Pennsylvania Friday afternoon, several state troopers, police, and private security guards blocked a gated entrance leading to the Kohberger family’s home in Monroe County.

Two security guards stopped cars, asking, “Are you a resident?” Only drivers with a key card to open the gate were permitted access to the Indian Mountain Lake private rural community.

A swarm of national and local news reporters turned the one-lane road at the foot of the entrance into a virtual parking lot.

Cara Northington, the mother of victim Xana Kernodle, told NBC News Friday she was relieved an arrest was made in the killing of her daughter.

“It’s been a nightmare. This whole thing has been a nightmare, literally,” Northington said. “But I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders.

“A lot of the grief was not knowing who this was, knowing that whoever was responsible for that is still out there,” Northington added. “This definitely takes a lot of the grief that we were experiencing off our shoulders.”

Kohberger is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, a short drive across the state line from the University of Idaho. He has a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., the school’s associate vice president, Carolyn Steigleman, told the Morning Call. Kohberger’s master’s degree, obtained this year, was in criminal justice.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this difficult time,” Steigleman said.

Boyce Jubilan, an associate professor and chair of the DeSales University psychology program, served as a research supervisor to Kohberger while he was an undergraduate psychology student at the Lehigh Valley campus in the late 2010s.

Jubilan recalled Kohberger had a great interest in forensic psychology and criminal profiling, and said he indicated he intended to pursue a doctorate in related fields.

The professor said he lost track of Kohberger after the student left for the Ph.D. program at Washington State.

Jubilan said he was stunned Friday morning when a fellow professor mentioned the slayings his former student is now suspected of committing.

“It was a shock. I didn’t really see anything regarding his personality that he was mean or nasty or anything,” Jubilan said. “He was just a little awkward with his peers. He liked to work alone.”

Staff writer Rob Tornoe and the Associated Press contributed to this article.