FAQ: Suspect named in University of Idaho stabbing case
FILE – Two people place flowers at a growing memorial in front of a campus entrance sign for the University of Idaho on Nov. 16, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. In a normal year, University of Idaho students would be bustling between the classes and the library, cramming for finals and looking forward to winter break. But on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, a little less than half the students appear to have switched to online classes after four of their classmates were brutally murdered. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
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(NewsNation) — Several weeks after four University of Idaho students were found stabbed in an off-campus rental home, a suspect has been named.
Still, there is still much information unknown about the killings of 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin. The three women lived together, while Kernodle and Chapin were dating. Here is what we know so far:
Who is the suspect?
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested in connection to the stabbings on Friday in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, which is near Scranton. The arrest was not made by the FBI, NewsNation sources confirmed. There’s a Ph.D. student with the same name listed at the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, which is just miles across state lines from Moscow, Idaho.
At the time of his arrest, Kohberger was a resident of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.
NewsNation’s Brian Entin was told that when he was taken into custody, Kohberger had a quiet, blank stare and asked “if anyone else was arrested.”
Has he been charged yet?
Documents filed in the Monroe County court in Pennsylvania revealed Kohberger was “awaiting extradition.” The Associated Press reports he is being held based on an active arrest warrant citing first-degree murder issued by the Moscow Police Department and the Latah County Prosector’s Office. Court records show an extradition hearing has been set for Jan. 3, 2023. However, it is unclear if charges have been filed as charging documents have not been made public by the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office.
Why was he in Pennsylvania?
Kohberger received a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice in June from DeSales University, which is in Pennsylvania, the school confirmed to NewsNation.
“As a Catholic, Salesian community, we are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this difficult time,” the university said in a statement.
Officials have not yet publicly disclosed further details about Kohberger.
What is his connection to the victims?
As of right now, this is unknown, as well as Kohberger’s potential motive.
Are there any other suspects?
As of now, there have been no other suspects named, but police have ruled out a number of people, including Goncalves, Mogen, and Kernodle’s other two roommates, and a history professor that was accused of playing a part in the killings by a TikToker. That professor, Rebecca Scofield, is now suing the TikToker, Ashley Guillard, who claims to solve high-profile cases using tarot reading.
Scofield said that none of the victims was ever in her class, and she does not remember meeting them.
“The statements made about Professor Scofield are false, plain and simple. What’s even worse is that these untrue statements create safety issues for the professor and her family,” Scofield’s lawyer said in a statement to NewsNation. “They also further compound the trauma that the families of the victims are experiencing and undermine law enforcement efforts to find the people responsible in order to provide answers to the families and the public.”
Guillard, however, has stood by what she said.
What are police doing now?
Police on Friday were planning to clean the victims’ residence Friday because of biohazards, and the chemicals used during law enforcement’s investigation, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said.
The 6-bedroom rental has been under guard and surrounded by crime tape since the quadruple murders on Nov. 13.
NewsNation’s Nancy Loo reported that the cleaning crew did show up, set up a tent, and put plastic sheeting between the tent and a door to the residence.
But then, suddenly everything came down, Loo said. The police captain got a call, and told everyone to halt all operations because of a new development.
“Everyone packed up,” Loo said.
Officials have not given a timeline for when the cleaning will be finished.
What have the victims’ families said?
Entin reports that Goncalves family feels “incredible relief.”
“And to think the arrest happened on the same day as Kaylee and Maddie’s celebration of life service,” he wrote on Twitter.
