New information is being revealed about thesuspect who has been arrestedin connection with the slayings of four University of Idaho students.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry confirmed during a press conference on Friday that Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with the murders of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.
Pennsylvania State Policeconfirmed Kohberger was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, and he is pending extradition to Idaho. Fry said that per Idaho law, information is limited until the suspect is extradited.
“This was a complex and extensive case,” Fry said. “We developed a clear picture over time … and be assured that the work is not done.”
Bryan Kohberger.Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility via AP
Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin were stabbed to death in an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, but no motive on the murders have been released at this time.
Kohberger is listed as a Ph.D student at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, according to thecollege’s website. Pullman is eight miles away from the 1122 King Road residence in Moscow where the four students were stabbed to death.
Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle.
In anow-deletedpost on Reddit, Kohberger — under the username Criminology_Student — asked ex-convicts to participate in a research project that “seeks to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.” The post goes on to read that the goal of the study is to “understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience.”
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up forPEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletterfor breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
According to the 2022DeSales Universitycommencement, Kohberger graduated in 2022 with a Masters of Art in Criminal Justice. In apublic statement, the university also confirmed he was once a student at the university.
It is not publicly known at this time if Kohberger knew the victims. Kohberger is currently being held without bond and is expected to appear in court on Jan. 3. It is unclear if he’s retained an attorney to speak on his behalf.
On Sunday Nov. 13, authorities received a 911 call about an “unconscious person” at the residence where the students were found. When they arrived at the home near campus, they found the bodies of Chapin, Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves on the second and third floors of the house.
They were all students at the University of Idaho and close friends. Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves were roommates. Chapin did not live at the home, but was sleeping over with his girlfriend Kernodle.
Twoadditional roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, were home during the attack but slept through it and were unharmed.
Kernodle was from Post Falls, Idaho. She was a junior majoring in marketing, theuniversity previously said, and she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
In a tribute on the sorority’s Instagram page, they called Kernodle “a magnet for positive energy.” Kernodle’s Instagram page is filled with photos of her with friends and Chapin.
Chapin, a triplet from Mount Vernon, Wash., was attending the university with his siblings.
“There was never an ounce of bad in that guy,” his friend Reese Gardner, whoplanted a tulip garden in his memory, previously told PEOPLE.
Mogen and Goncalves were life-long best friends. The Goncalves family previously told PEOPLE, “They were each others soulmates in a friend form. They spent day and night together and never got bored nor annoyed with each other.”
The Moscow Police Department is still asking anyone with information about the killings to call 208-883-7180 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
source: people.com
