Man arrested in connection to University of Idaho murders booked into Latah County jail
MOSCOW, Idaho — The man accused of killing four University of Idaho students arrived in Moscow, Idaho, on Wednesday for booking.
Bryan Kohberger was transported to the Latah County Jail by both Moscow police and Latah County Sheriff's deputies, where he will be housed in his cell with no bond, visitation, or phone calls. His hearing is expected to be on Thursday, Jan. 5, but a specific time is currently unknown.
Kohberger will face first-degree murder charges along with a charge for burglary.
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Kohberger, 28, was a doctoral student and teaching assistant at Washington State University when the four students were killed on Nov. 13 at an off-campus home near the university. Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30 at his parents' home in Chestnuthill Township in eastern Pennsylvania.
DNA evidence played a key role in identifying Kohberger as a suspect, and officials were able to match his DNA to genetic material recovered during the investigation, a law enforcement official said last week. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
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Investigators have said they were still searching for a motive and the weapon used in the attack.
The bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington were found Nov. 13 at the rental home where the women lived. Kernodle and Chapin were dating, and he had been visiting the house that night.
The Moscow Police Department said Tuesday they will no longer provide updates on the case after a Latah County Magistrate judge issued a non-dissemination order, which prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and others involved in the case.
Jason LaBar, the chief public defender in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, said Kohberger is eager to be exonerated and should be presumed innocent and “ not tried in the court of public opinion."
After Tuesday’s hearing, LaBar described Kohberger as “an ordinary guy,” and said that after his extradition he would be represented by the chief public defender in Kootenai County, Idaho.
