The Idaho University of Idaho Student Deaths: A Seven Year Search for a Charged Criminal Advised by State Law Enforcement and a State Coroner

Two federal law enforcement sources told CNN on Friday that a person had been arrested in connection with the University of Idaho murders.

Fry told reporters Friday state law limits what information authorities can release before Kohberger makes an initial appearance in an Idaho court. The affidavit detailing the factual basis of the charges is not made public until the suspect in the case has been physically served with a warrant in Idaho.

A law enforcement source told CNN that the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police made an arrest in the fatal stabbing case.

In the seven weeks since the students were found stabbed to death, investigators have interviewed more than 300 people and scoured more than 20,000 tips in their search for the suspect. News of the killings – and the long stretch of time without a suspect or significant developments – have rattled the University of Idaho community and the surrounding town of Moscow, which had not seen a murder in seven years.

The arrest comes a day after police said they have received about 20,000 tips through more than 9,025 emails, 4,575 phone calls, and 6,050 digital media submissions, while having conducted over 300 interviews.

The students – Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20 – were likely asleep when they were each stabbed multiple times in the early morning hours, authorities have said. Some of the victims had defensive wounds, a coroner has said.

Search for the man arrested in the December 13 killings of four college students in Moscow, Idaho based on unidentified DNA evidence from a recent cross-country trip

Moscow police say they have worked with a property management services company to remove “potential biohazards and other harmful substances used to collect evidence,” the update said. The property management company will take possession of the home.

Fry told reporters that state law doesn’t allow the release of information before a person makes their initial appearance in Idaho court. The police chief thanked the public for their patience, and acknowledged that there was frustration with the progress of the case.

Authorities carefully tracked the man charged in the killings of four Idaho college students as he drove across the country around Christmas and continued surveilling him for several days before finally arresting him Friday, sources tell CNN.

Six people, including a University of Iowa student, were found dead in an off-campus home on November 13.

The investigator hasn’t publicly confirmed the suspect’s motives or if he knew the victims. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.

A source with knowledge of the case said that genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence. The DNA was run through a public database to find potential family member matches, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to his identification as the suspect, the source said.

He traveled cross-country in a car and arrived at his parents house in Pennsylvania on Christmas. Authorities began tracking him at some point during his trip east from Idaho.

An FBI surveillance team from the Philadelphia field office had been tracking him for four days in the area where he was arrested, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

The suspect has the option to waive extradition and return to Idaho voluntarily. But if he chooses not to, Moscow police will have to initiate extradition proceedings through the governor’s office, which could take some time, Fry said.

Thompson urged people to continue submitting tips, asking anyone with information about the suspect “to come forward, call the tip line, report anything you know about him to help the investigators.”

Kohberger, who was pursuing a PhD in criminal justice at Washington State University at the time of the killings, “cleaned his car, inside and outside, not missing an inch,” according to the law enforcement source.

In June of 2022, he finished graduate studies at DeSales University, a school that he also attended as an undergraduate. He received an associate degree from Northampton Community College, according to the college.

In the days since his arrest, there has been a heavy focus Kohberger’s study of criminal justice and criminology as a Washington State University student – a detail a former senior FBI profiler called “very interesting.”

“In particular,” it read, “this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience.”

CNN reached one of the principal investigators of the study, a professor at DeSales University, but they declined to comment on the matter. The university has not responded to requests for comment.

An attorney for Kohberger, the suspect in the U.S. College of Idaho killings, waives his hearing and is expected to return to Idaho

An attorney says that the suspect in the University of Idaho killings is planning to waive his hearing this week so he can return to Idaho to face the murder charges.

In a statement, LaBar stressed his client is presumed innocent until proven guilty, saying, “Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”

“It’s a procedural issue, and really all the Commonwealth here has to prove is that he resembles or is the person who the arrest warrant is out for and that he was in the area at the time of the crime,” LaBar said.

Three days after the arrest of a suspect in the fatal stabbing of four University of Idaho students, authorities have yet to release key details in the case, from whether the suspect knew the victims to what his alleged motive might have been and what finally prompted his arrest.

LaBar was unsure how quickly his client would be returned to Idaho following his intent to waive extradition at Tuesday’s hearing, saying it would be based on authorities. But LaBar expected Kohberger to be returned to Idaho within 72 hours of the proceeding.

CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson said that the document will tell them a lot. “It will speak to the issue of probable cause – why is he under arrest, what is the justification for holding him and for going after him from a prosecution perspective.”

According to a public defender, Kohberger’s parents and two sisters plan to attend the hearing. They will not be permitted to visit him while they’re there.

Authorities have not said publicly whether Kohberger knew any of the victims, who all were found dead hours after a Saturday night out: Chapin and Kernodle had attended a party on campus earlier that night, police have said, while Mogen and Goncalves went to a downtown bar before ordering food at a late-night food truck.

The Case of Kohberger, 25, in Goncalves’ Los Angeles, California, Oct. 21, 2017: He Came to the Vicinity

“No. 1: I’m looking for DNA,” he said. Was it his genetics in the house? … Is there any reason to explain the DNA, is there a basis to know or understand why he would be there?”

Families of the victims and law enforcement are going to “go back and look and see if there’s any connections between any of the victims and this defendant in this case,” Shannon Gray, an attorney for Kaylee Goncalves’ family, told CNN Monday.

“We would encourage the community to send any leads or information to the Moscow Police Department regarding any contacts or any information they may have about the defendant and any of the victims in the case,” the attorney said.

“He’s interested in this, but the ideation of committing a violent crime had to already be there in order to motivate him to commit the crime,” O’Toole said. This was a way for him to explore what he was interested in doing.

It is not known why he wasn’t arrested until after the victims were found dead. Fry would not reveal Saturday when Kohberger came onto law enforcement’s radar, saying details in the case would be released in time.

LaBar told CNN that the suspect and his father arrived in Pennsylvania around December 17th, after crossing the country on foot.

The same day as that event he was very excited, he told CNN. Goncalves said his wife “wanted to have this event behind us ideally before the event started so she could just focus on our girls, and that’s what happened.”

The man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2009 murdered with a tan leather knife sheath, saliva, and a male suspect

Looking at this guy, look him in his eyes. He is going to have to deal with us and he will have to appear in court. “He hasn’t been dealing with us for seven weeks, it’s not about to end.”

Fry said they wanted information on that individual. “We want that updated information so that we can start building that picture now. It’s every tip that matters.

The man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November is on a flight back to the state to face murder charges, a source familiar with the case said Wednesday.

A 15-minute drive west of Moscow, is where the suspect finished his first semester as a PhD student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University.

DNA: Trash recovered from Kohberger’s family home revealed that the “DNA profile obtained from the trash” matched a tan leather knife sheath found “laying on the bed” of one of the victims, according to a probable cause affidavit released Thursday. The man’s saliva was found in the trash and it was found to be the father of the suspect. “At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father,” the affidavit said.

“At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father,” the affidavit said.

A 911 Call to Kohberger, the Detective, explains the incident in the Twin Homes of a young man who had a knife

John Miller, CNN Chief Law Enforcement and Intelligence analyst, said that the suspect in the case is most likely an organized criminal who planned and prepared for the attack.

“Leaving behind the sheath of a knife was clearly a mistake … and could have happened for several reasons,” said retired FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole. The suspect may have had to use the knife right away and pulled the sheath off quickly, or the victims’ responses may have not been what the suspect anticipated, O’Toole said. The attention to detail would have waned, at least somewhat, causing him to make mistakes, since he was likely in a state of arousal during the commission of the crime.

The probable cause affidavit states that one of two roommates who were not harmed saw a masked man wearing black inside the house on the morning of the killings.

Identified in the document as D.M., the roommate said she “heard crying” in the house that morning and a male voice saying, ‘It’s OK, I’m going to help you.’”

“D.M. described the figure as 5’ 10” or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows,” according to the affidavit. The male walked past D.M. as she stood in shock.

Investigators learned that Kohberger received a new license plate for his Elantra five days after the killings, the affidavit said, citing records from the Washington State Department of Licensing.

The affidavit said that investigators were able to obtain a phone records that showed that the phone was near the victims’ residence at least 12 times.

According to an affidavit, a member of the interview panel for the Pullman Police Department gave us records showing that he had undergraduate degrees in psychology and cloud-based forensics.

A law enforcement source tells CNN that the man accused of the murder of four University of Idaho students was seen wearing surgical gloves multiple times before he was taken into custody.

In one instance prior to Kohberger’s arrest, authorities observed him leaving his family home around 4 a.m. and putting trash bags in the neighbors’ garbage bins, according to the source. At that point, agents recovered garbage from the Kohberger family’s trash bins and what was observed being placed into the neighbors’ bins, the source said.

The Pennsylvania State Police arrived at the house the next day. A law enforcement source told CNN that the tactic used to arrest high risk suspects was known as a “dynamic entry” and it is rare.

The public criticized the police in the weeks after the four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death, as the investigation appeared to be a standstill.

The court files show that a team of local and state law enforcement officers along with a slew of FBI agents were working diligently to catch the alleged killer during the holiday season.

In the days after the arrest, people questioned whether the police had the right man because a PhD candidate in criminal justice would be too smart. “You can teach a master’s class on how to do a complex criminal investigation based on this case.”

A Quadruple Homicide Investigation in Moscow, Idaho: The Case of Ethan Chapin and Kaylee Goncalves

Police found the door to the off-campus residence open and the bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin in rooms on the second and third floors. Two other young women were in the three-floor, six-bedroom rental at the time but were not injured, according to police.

The coroner says she found a lot of blood on the wall when she arrived at the scene. She said there were multiple stab wounds on each body, likely from the same weapon. One victim had what appeared to be defensive stab wounds on the hands.

Moscow police told the public the attack was targeted and they did not have a threat to the community. There is a threat to the community and the police chief can’t say there isn’t one. Many students began leave town.

Jim Chapin, the father of Ethan Chapin, said in a November 16 statement that the lack of information from the university and local police “further compounds our family’s agony after our son’s murder.”

The statement said officials to speak the truth, share what they know and protect the greater community in the wake of the murder of three friends in Moscow, Idaho.

An Idaho State Police spokesman said it took a while to piece together the events that happened on November 22. “A lot of this the public doesn’t get to see because it’s a criminal investigation. I assure you that there’s a lot of work going on.

When asked what the police had said to him, he said they were not sharing much with him. He thought Moscow police might be limited in what they share.

This was just part of the behind-the-scenes work in a complex quadruple homicide investigation where any hint to the public about a suspect or the various leads police are following can cause it to fall apart, according to experts.

“We don’t want to tip off suspects or spook them so that they end up going on the run. We don’t want them trying to get rid of evidence or destroy things,” said Joe Giacalone, adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a retired NYPD sergeant who directed the department’s homicide school and the Bronx cold case squad.

There are a lot of people apologizing to the police department. The Moscow, Idaho, police chief was beaten and didn’t let it affect him.

Miller said they were willing to take it on the chin from the public, the press, and local critics so as to keep the investigation going.

Source: https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/08/us/idaho-student-killings-investigation-bryan-kohberger/index.html

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The affidavit said that the driver’s license information turned out to be consistent with the description provided by the surviving roommate, and noted specifically his height and bushy eyebrows.

“For weeks before the arrest, so called experts, pundits and some in the press criticized the Moscow police for not being up to the task and for not having an arrest,” Miller said. “It’s not like ‘Law & Order,’ ‘Blue Bloods’ or ‘CSI.’”

The state police and FBI joined the Moscow police in their investigation after the murders were discovered.

The general public thinks the things happen overnight, says Mary Ellen O’Toole, a retired FBI profiler. “You have a group of investigators from different agencies coming together and working together. It is very challenging.