Recap: 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 the 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 details until Kohberger is extradited to their state. Kohberger can still fight extradition.
» READ MORE: Suspect arrested in Pennsylvania for killings of 4 University of Idaho students
» READ MORE: What we know and don’t know in the Pa. arrest of suspect in the killings of 4 University of Idaho students
— Robert Moran, Emily Bloch, Wendy Ruderman, Ryan W. Briggs
State troopers, security guards block gated entrance to suspect’s family home in Pa.
ALBRIGHTSVILLE — Several state troopers police and private security guards blocked a gated entrance leading to the Kohberger family’s home in Albrightsville. 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.
— Wendy Ruderman
Idaho law prevents investigators from sharing more info until suspect is in the state
At a news conference Friday afternoon, law enforcement officials in Moscow confirmed some basic details about the arrest of Bryan C. Kohberger, but they said they were prohibited by Idaho state law from releasing more details until Kohberger is extradited to their state.
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 tips.
“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 murder weapon was still being sought.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said that 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. Kohberger can still fight extradition.
Reiterating the call for new tips, Thompson asked the public to “report anything you know about him.”
In response to a reporter noting that remediation work at the scene of the murders had been halted, Fry said that the clean-up work was stopped because of a “legal request by the court.” Fry did not elaborate.
Also responding to a media question about whether authorities were looking for any other suspects, Fry said the man accused of the murders had been arrested and “I do believe our community is safe.”
— Robert Moran
Map: Where the arrest happened
— Steve Madden
Victim’s mother responds to suspect’s arrest: ‘A lot of the grief was not knowing who this was’
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 and three of her classmates at the University of Idaho.
“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. “So yeah, this definitely takes a lot of the grief that we were experiencing off our shoulders.”
Northington told NBC News she didn’t know Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old suspect arrested in Monroe County on Friday. Police in Moscow, Idaho, have scheduled a news conference for 4 p.m. Eastern to discuss the arrest.
— Rob Tornoe
Who were the victims? Details on four slain University of Idaho students
On Friday, Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested in connection with the murder of four University of Idaho students, who were stabbed to death last month in a home near campus most of them shared.
The four victims were:
Ethan Chapin, 20, was a member of the university’s Sigma Chi fraternity. He was one of three triplets, all three of whom were enrolled at the University of Idaho.
Xana Kernodle, 20, was a junior majoring in marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Kernodle and Chapin were dating.
Madison Mogen, 21, was also a member of Pi Beta Phi and a marketing student who ran social media for the Mad Creek restaurant in downtown Moscow, where she worked.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, was studying to become an elementary school teacher and planned to move to Texas after her graduation, according to her sister.
“We can’t go back and change the outcome. We really have to focus on just memorializing our own son,” Stacy Chapin told the Associated Press. “We’re grieving as a family, but I can see so many hurt kids...”
— Rob Tornoe
Suspect was student at DeSales University: ‘He liked to work alone’
Boyce Jubilan, an associate professor and chair of the DeSales University Psychology Program, served as a research supervisor to Bryan Kohberger while Kohberger was enrolled as a 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 the undergrad indicated he intended to pursue a doctorate in related fields.
The professor said he lost track of Kohberger after the student left for a PhD program at Washington State University.
Kohberger has a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree from DeSales, the school’s associate vice president, Carolyn Steigleman, told the Morning Call. Kohberger’s master’s degree was in criminal justice.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this difficult time,” Steigleman said.
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.”
— Ryan W. Briggs
Investigators begin cleanup of rental home where students were killed
Authorities in Pennsylvania arrested a suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death in their beds more than a month ago, a law enforcement official said Friday.
Arrest paperwork filed in Monroe County Court said Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was being held for extradition to Idaho on a warrant for first degree murder.
Police said Thursday the rental home where the students were killed would be cleared of “potential biohazards and other harmful substances” used to collect evidence starting Friday morning. It was unclear how long the work would take, but a news release said the house would be returned to the property manager upon completion.
The stabbing deaths shook the small town of Moscow, Idaho, a farming community of about 25,000 people — including roughly 11,000 students — tucked in the rolling hills of the northern Idaho’s Palouse region.
The case also enticed online sleuths who speculated about potential suspects and motives. In the early days of the investigation, police released relatively few details publicly.
Fears of a repeat attack prompted nearly half of the University of Idaho students to switch to online classes for the remainder of the semester, abandoning dorms and apartments in the normally bucolic town for the perceived safety of their hometowns.
— Associated Press
Police update set for Friday afternoon
Idaho’s City of Moscow Police Department will hold a news conference on Friday to provide an update on the ongoing investigation into a quadruple homicide that took place at an off-campus home along the university’s Greek Row.
Officials from the Moscow Police Department, Idaho State Police, the City of Moscow, and the University of Idaho will be present. The conference will take place at 4 p.m. Eastern and be live-streamed on YouTube.
— Emily Bloch
Pa. man taken into custody in connection with killings of Idaho college students
A 28-year-old Pennsylvania man was taken into custody in Monroe County, Pa., on Friday reportedly related to the murder of four University of Idaho students.
Arrest paperwork filed by Pennsylvania State Police in Monroe County Court said Bryan Christopher Kohberger was being held for extradition in a criminal homicide investigation based on an active arrest warrant for first degree murder issued by the Moscow Police Department and Latah County Prosecutor’s Office.
Public records show that Kohberger was booked locally Friday morning.
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.
— Emily Bloch and the Associated Press