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A 28-year-old criminal justice graduate student was arrested in eastern Pennsylvania on Friday as a suspect in the mysterious stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students last month, authorities said.
DNA evidence played a key role in identifying Bryan Christopher Kohberger as a suspect in the killings, and officials were able to match his DNA to genetic material recovered during the investigation, a law enforcement official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the ongoing investigation.
The students — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin — were stabbed to death at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, sometime in the early morning hours of Nov. 13.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Kohberger attends Washington State University, which is only a few miles across the state line from Moscow.
Investigators are still looking for a weapon, Fry said at a press conference. He was emotional as he announced the arrest, calling the victims by their first names.
The killings initially confounded law enforcement and shook the small farming community of about 25,000 people, which hadn’t had a murder for five years. But tips began pouring in after law enforcement asked the public for help finding a white Hyundai Elantra sedan seen near the home around the time of the killings.
In addition to the DNA evidence, authorities also learned Kohberger had a white Hyundai Elantra, the official who spoke anonymously said. In recent days, federal investigators had been watching Kohberger and arrested him early Friday morning at a home in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania.
Federal and state investigators are now combing through his background, financial records and electronic communications as they work to identify a motive and build the case, the official said. The investigators are also interviewing people who knew Kohberger, including those at Washington State University, the official said.
During the press conference, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said investigators believe Kohberger broke into the students’ home “with the intent to commit murder.
