Idaho suspect plans to waive extradition hearing: Public defender

Idaho suspect to waive extradition hearing: public defender

Updated: Dec 31, 2022 / 05:33 PM CST

FILE – Bare spots are seen on Nov. 29, 2022, in the snowy parking lot in front of the home where four University of Idaho students were found dead on Nov. 13, in Moscow, Idaho, after vehicles belonging to the victims and others were towed away earlier in the day. Police are asking for help finding the occupant of a car that was seen near where the students were stabbed, saying that person could have “critical information” about the case. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

(NewsNation) — Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students, intends to waive his extradition hearing, Jason LaBar, the chief public defender for Monroe County, Pennsylvania, said.

The Monroe County Public Defender’s Office has assumed representation for this hearing, a press release said.

“Mr. Kohberger has been accused of very serious crimes, but the American justice system cloaks him in a veil of innocence,” LaBar said in a statement. “He should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise — not tried in the court of public opinion.”

Kohberger, 28, was arrested in the early hours of Friday in Monroe County, where he is being held. He faces four counts of first-degree murder and a felony burglary charge in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students — 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin. They were found dead in a Moscow, Idaho, rental home near campus on Nov. 13.

Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle were roommates and Chapin was in a relationship with Kernodle at the time of their deaths.

Kohberger, police said, had an apartment in Pullman, Washington, where he is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University. The town is about 10 miles away, across state lines, from Moscow.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday during a news conference that his department had combed through 19,000 tips and interviewed 300 people over the course of their investigation.

Police have still not found the weapon used in the stabbings, but Fry said they located a Hyundai Elantra that had previously been named a vehicle of interest in the case.

Officials asked that people continue to use the tipline to provide tips, as the investigation is still ongoing even now that a suspect has been named.

If you have information that could be helpful to Moscow, Idaho, law enforcement, you can contact them at their Tip Line: 208-883-7180; email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us; or go online to fbi.gov/moscowidaho.