The parents of University of Idaho victim Kaylee Goncalves say they are “incredibly relieved” that a suspect has finally been arrested in the killings, while her grandmother is demanding “justice.”
The arrest of Brian Christopher Kohberger, 28, comes on the same day the families of Kaylee, 21, and her best friend Maddie Mogen, 21, threw a celebration of their lives.
Kristi and Steve Goncalves, Kaylee’s parents, spoke of their relief at the arrest, which came at 3 a.m. Friday morning.
The memorial service for her daughter and Maddie was scheduled to take place at 6 p.m., hours after the announcement.
A memorial service for Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen was to be held at 6pm – hours after news of the arrest broke
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested after a SWAT team fell in Scranton, Pennsylvania around 3am this morning. Local police and the FBI took him into custody
Kaylee, Maddie and Xana Kernodle, 20, were stabbed to death Nov. 13 in Moscow, Idaho – and Xana’s new boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, was also killed in the massacre.
Cheryl Goncalves, Kaylee’s grandmother, told the New York Post: “Of course we’re relieved. We wanted that. We wanted him caught and now we want justice.”
According to Kaylee’s father Steve, his daughter suffered “greater” injuries than her friend Maddie, who slept in the same room on the third floor.
Arrest of the Idaho Murders: the Latest
Cara Northington, Xana’s mother, said she felt “a huge load was lifted from her shoulders” – after a “nightmare”.
She told NBC, “A lot of the grief was not knowing who that was, knowing that whoever was responsible is still out there.
“So yes, that definitely takes a lot of the grief we’ve experienced off our shoulders. It’s unreal; I’m grateful to everyone for finding this creep.”
A SWAT team crashed into Pennsylvania around 3am this morning to arrest Kohberger at a property.
Working together to arrest the suspected quadruple killer, the FBI and local police discovered a white Hyundai Elantra outside Kohberger’s home — the same make and model of car wanted by police in connection with the murder.
Kristi and Steve Goncalves, Kaylee’s parents, said they felt “incredibly relieved” after the arrest came at 3am Friday morning
Kaylee, Maddie (pictured) and Xana Kernodle, 20, were stabbed to death in Moscow, Idaho on November 13 – and Xana’s new boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, was also killed in the massacre
In the months following the murders, a mural was left at the University of Idaho as a tribute to the murdered students
Friday’s sensational arrest marks the first major breakthrough in the case, with Kohberger asking if “someone else was arrested” when he was taken into custody.
Police are now searching Kohberger’s Washington home – 10 miles from the scene – arriving around 7.30am to cordon off the area.
Kohberger is being held for extradition in a criminal murder investigation based on an active warrant for first-degree murder issued by the Moscow Police Department and the Latah District Prosecutor’s Office.
Sources say authorities knew who they were looking for and hunted the suspect as far away as Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains – more than 2,400 miles from Idaho.
NewsNation reported that Kohberger had a “calm, blank stare” when he was arrested by local police and the FBI on Friday morning.
It is understood that Kohberger is a graduate student at Washington State University in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology and did not attend the University of Idaho.
Goncalves, 21, was one of four students who were brutally stabbed to death on November 13 in Idaho, Moscow. There have been several claims that she was followed before her death
Kohberger graduated from DeSales University in Pennsylvania in May 2022 with a Master of Arts degree in criminal justice
According to the college website, Kohberger attended the college in Pullman — a 15-minute drive from where the students were killed.
He graduated from DeSales University in Pennsylvania in May 2022 with a Master of Arts in Criminal Justice.
Kohberger posted a social media appeal for help with his research examining how “emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”
His sister, Melissa, is a mental health nurse in New Jersey — specializing in “trauma” and “emotion regulation.”
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson was also seen outside the home alongside investigators, outfitting himself with protective boots before going into Kohberger’s Washington home.
According to Kaylee’s dad Steve, his daughter suffered “greater” injuries than her friend Maddie – who slept in the same room on the third floor
Idaho Police said the four University of Idaho students were murdered in their sleep between 3 and 4 a.m. (pictured: victims Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and 20-year-old Ethan chapin)
Moscow police officers have been chasing this very vehicle for the past two weeks in connection with the killings.
Kohberger appeared in court this morning, with Moscow police confirming they will hold a press conference at 4 p.m. EST.
A department spokeswoman declined to comment on the arrest when contacted by .
The authorities have been stunned by the brutal killings and have repeatedly asked the public for help in the case.
Reports from both the coroner and police confirm that each of the students had been stabbed multiple times in the upper body – and mugged in their sleep.
Police have found no evidence of a sex crime and the victims had wounds on their bodies that indicated they were trying to fight off the attacker.
Initially, police officers said they thought all four had been attacked as they slept, with Goncalves’ father saying she suffered the worst injuries from the incident – suffering from “cavity” and “laceration”.