Investigators have arrested Bryan Christopher Kohberger in connection with the quadruple homicide investigation in Moscow, Idaho, where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death on November 13.
Kohberger, 28 years old, was arrested in Pennsylvania on an active arrest warrant for murder in the first degree, issued through the Moscow Police Department and Latah County Prosecutor's Office. Kohberger was booked at the Monroe County Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania early Friday morning and awaits extradition to Idaho. Extradition paperwork was filed Friday.
The Moscow Police Department conducted a news conference to share the latest developments in the case on Friday:
Records from Washington State University show Kohberger was pursuing a Ph.D. in Criminology. WSU is just over the border in Pullman, Washington, about a ten-minute drive from the University of Idaho.
On the morning of November 13, police discovered the bodies of the four murdered students, stabbed to death in a house near campus where three of them called home.
Moscow police say they collected 103 pieces of evidence from the crime scene. They took 4,000 photographs and have received more than 1,000 tips.
The coroner says all four victims — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle — were likely asleep when it happened. All were stabbed several times, and police say some had defensive wounds.
A Reddit user who identified himself as Bryan Kohberger shared a request seven months ago asking people to participate in a research project "that seeks to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime."
A link to an online survey asks participants to detail their thoughts and feelings throughout the commission of a recent crime.
Questions in Kohberger's research survey via DeSales University included:
- How did you travel to and enter the location where the crime occurred?
- After arriving, what steps did you take prior to locating the victim or target? Please detail your thoughts and feelings.
- Why did you choose that victim or target over others?
- Before making your move, how did you approach the victim or target? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling.
- What was the first move you made in order to accomplish your goal? Please detail any thoughts and feelings at this point.
- Before leaving, is there anything else you did?
- How did you leave the scene?
- After committing the crime, what were you thinking and feeling?
We also know Idaho court records show Kohberger was in Latah County in August. He received a seatbelt infraction on August 21, and later paid a 10-dollar fine in September. The online records do not indicate what kind of car Kohberger was driving at the time. We have requested those documents and will update this article when we learn more.
As we previously reported, police have been seeking information regarding a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra they believe was in the immediate area of the crime scene at the time of the murders.
Bryan Kohberger's criminal complaint shows he was arrested in Pennsylvania on an active arrest warrant for murder in the first degree, issued through the Moscow Police Department and Latah County Prosecutor's Office. He awaits extradition to Idaho.#MoscowHomicides @IdahoNews6 pic.twitter.com/ecsbAivFkQ
— Karen Lehr (@KarenLehr) December 30, 2022
