MOSCOW, Idaho — A 28-year-old graduate student arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with the killing of four University of Idaho students is the sole suspect in the high-profile case, authorities said.
“We believe we have our man who committed these murders,” Moscow Police Chief James Fry told ABC News on Saturday.
RELATED: A timeline of the murders of 4 University of Idaho students
Bryan Kohberger
Monroe County Correctional Facility
Fry said he does not expect any further arrests in connection with the murders of roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, all of whom were stabbed to death at the girls’ off-campus home on Nov. 13.
“He was home for the holidays”
The suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested early Friday at his parents’ home in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania, where Kohberger went a few days before Christmas, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar told CNN.
A white Elantra, which authorities were looking for in connection with the killings, was also at the parents’ home, the attorney added.
“He was home for the holidays,” LaBar said.
He is a graduate student at Washington State University, which is less than 10 miles from the University of Idaho, police said.
Washington State University identifies Kohberger as a Ph.D. Student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology. He completed his first semester in its criminal justice program earlier this month, the university said.
According to the public defender and a person who claims to have interacted with the father and son in early December, Kohberger’s father traveled to Pennsylvania with him from Washington state.
This person, who asked not to be identified, said she didn’t know the father and son but had a friendly chat with them at an auto repair shop in Pennsylvania on December 16 while the two were getting their Elantra serviced. (Another person also confirmed to CNN that the father and son did business at the location on Dec. 16.)
The father told the person he flew into Washington state and made the overland trip with Kohberger, adding his son will be traveling to the West Coast alone after the vacation. Police have not indicated that the suspect’s father is in any way implicated in the killings. CNN has attempted to contact the father for comment.
The person described the younger Kohberger as “a bit awkward” but not suspicious. The suspect reportedly told the person he wanted to go into the behavioral criminal justice field and become a professor.
Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were killed off campus at the University of Idaho.
Obtained from CNN
Kohberger expects to avoid extradition
Kohberger was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary and is being held without bond, Latah County District Attorney Bill Thompson said. Kohberger is scheduled to appear in a Pennsylvania court Tuesday to begin extradition proceedings, Thompson said.
Kohberger intends to forgo his extradition hearing to “expedite his transportation to Idaho” and is “very eager to be cleared of these charges,” said Jason Allen LaBar, a public defender representing the suspect at the hearing. on Saturday.
“Mr. Kohberger has been charged with very serious crimes, but the American justice system has shrouded him in a veil of innocence. He should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise — and not tried in the court of public opinion,” LaBar said in a statement. “One should not pass judgment on the facts of the case unless and pending a fair trial where all sides can be heard and conclusions can be challenged.”
Police are still looking for the murder weapon – believed to be a fixed knife – and have no motive, Fry said. The boss said police had evidence the attack was a targeted attack but could not provide more details at this time.
Within an hour of Kohberger being identified as a suspect, the Moscow Police Department’s hotline received more than 400 calls, Fry said.
RELATED: What we know about the suspect in the Idaho College murders
White Hyundai Elantra found
A white Hyundai Elantra that was spotted near the victim’s home around the time of the crime is believed to belong to Kohberger, Fry said.
Police had previously said they believed the inmate had “critical” information in the case. Police don’t believe anyone else was in the car at the time, Fry said.
Police officers impounded the car from Kohberger’s parents’ home in Pennsylvania and it is being processed, according to Fry.
About lack of transparency
The probable cause affidavit detailing the reasons for Kohberger’s arrest is sealed and cannot be released until he returns to Idaho, Thompson said.
Once it’s unsealed, more information will be released, such as Kohberger’s whereabouts over the past few weeks and what led police to the Hyundai Elantra, Fry said.
Frustration had grown among some family members of the victims following the killings and what police have criticized as a lack of transparency.
Fry addressed those concerns on Saturday.
“We did what we had to do professionally and we will continue to do it,” he said. “We knew what we had to do. I said from the start – we will protect the integrity of this case. And we did. I think a lot of people know that.”
CLOCK | Idaho authorities update public following arrest of college murder suspect
Victims’ families and the Moscow community expressed relief at news of an arrest after feeling nervous for more than six weeks.
“I think there’s a closure there,” Fry said. “And it always feels good to give people closure and help them heal a little bit.”
CNN contributed to this post.
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