BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The fatal stabbings of four students at the University of Idaho shook the college town of Moscow, a small community nestled in the rolling…
The fatal stabbings of four students at the University of Idaho shook the college town of Moscow, a small community nestled in the rolling agricultural hills of the Palouse region that hadn’t seen a murder for five years.
The Nov. 13 slayings seemed to mystify police, adding to the tension in town as the weeks went by without a break in the case. Then on Friday a suspect was arrested more than 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) away in Pennsylvania.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody in the early morning by the Pennsylvania State Police at a home in Chestnuthill Township, authorities said. Latah County, Idaho, Prosecutor Bill Thompson said investigators believe Kohberger broke into the students’ home “with the intent to commit murder.”
DNA evidence played a key role in identifying Kohberger as a suspect in the killings and authorities were able to match his DNA to genetic material recovered during the investigation, a law enforcement official said. In recent days, federal investigators had been watching Kohberger.
Kohberger is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, which is near the University of Idaho. He also is a teaching assistant for the university’s criminal justice and criminology program, according to a WSU’s online directory.
Federal and state investigators are now combing through Kohberger’s background, financial records and electronic communications as they work to identify a motive and build the case, the law enforcement official said. The investigators are also interviewing people who knew Kohberger, including those at WSU, the official said.
The official could not publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Kohberger is being held without bond in Pennsylvania and will be held without bond in Idaho once he is returned, Thompson said. The affidavit for four charges of first-degree murder in Idaho will remain sealed until he is returned, the prosecutor said.
