Idaho police say they’re still searching for the murder weapon used to slaughter four students as they arrested and charged a 28-year-old with the killings.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary – which he committed ‘with the intention to kill’ the University of Idaho students.
Moscow Chief of Police James Fry added that Kohberger was taken into custody by a SWAT team at a property in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania at 3am on Friday morning.
During a press conference on Friday authorities confirmed that a white Hyundai Elantra was discovered in the search – with sources saying it was towed from outside Kohberger’s home.
They also added that the weapon used to carry out the stabbing attacks hadn’t been retrieved and appealed to the public for more information.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, were stabbed to death in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13 – with Xana’s freshman boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, also killed in the massacre.
Law enforcement sources told CNN that his DNA was discovered at the scene of the crime – with officers managing to track down who owned the car seen in the area of the slayings.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested after a SWAT team swooped in Pennsylvania, at around 3am this morning. Local cops and the FBI took him into custody
Idaho police have said the four University of Idaho students were murdered in their sleep between 3am and 4am (Pictured: Victims Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin)
Authorities then discovered that he had left the area and traveled to Pennsylvania, where an FBI surveillance team had been tracking the 6ft tall man.
He was kept under surveillance, with the FBI watching him for four days, while investigators from Moscow Police and Idaho State Police worked to get an arrest warrant.
Authorities are still appealing for anyone with information on Kohberger or the quadruple murders to get in touch.
Fry refused to rule out that the killer had an accomplice, adding: ‘We have an individual in custody who committed these horrible crimes.’
Details of the killings, and the motive for them, are yet to be released with law enforcement saying a sealed arrest affidavit will be released once Kohberger is extradited back to Idaho.
He is currently in custody at Monroe County Jail in Pennsylvania until a hearing on January 3.
There is no set time scale for how long his extradition from Pennsylvania to Idaho might take. If Kohberger doesn’t contest it, it’ll happen relatively quickly.
If he does, the process becomes more drawn-out, and Idaho Governor Brad Little will have to get involved.
Friday’s sensational arrest is the first major break in the case – with Kohberger asking if ‘anyone else was arrested’ when he was taken into custody.
Kohberger has no prior arrests, according to public records, so it is unclear how officials got hold of his DNA
He graduated from DeSales University in Pennsylvania in May 2022 with a master of arts in Criminal Justice
Kohberger has no prior arrests, according to public records, so it is unclear how officials got hold of his DNA.
His aunt told the New York Post that he was ‘above and beyond’ being vegan and obsessively forced his family to ‘buy new pots and pants’ which had not touched meat.
It came as police began – then halted – a clean-up effort at the murder house, with efforts to return it to its original state paused at news of Kohberger’s arrest.
Just before the arrest, haunting new footage of victim Xana Kernodle emerged showing her talking to police about a noise complaint two months before her murder.
Police are now searching Kohberger’s apartment in Washington – 10 miles from the crime scene – arriving at around 7.30am to cordon off the area.
Bill Thompson, the Latah County prosecutor, was also seen outside the apartment alongside investigators, gearing up with protective booties before heading into Kohberger’s apartment in Washington.
The crime took place six weeks ago, 2,500 miles from where Kohberger was arrested
Police are now searching Kohberger’s apartment in Washington – 10 miles from the crime scene – arriving at around 7.30am to cordon off the area
Authorities are still appealing for anyone with information on Kohberger or the quadruple murders to get in touch
Outside the apartment of suspect Bryan Kohberger in graduate housing on campus at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington
Kohberger is being held for extradition in a criminal homicide investigation based on an active arrest warrant for first-degree murder issued by the Moscow Police Department and Latah County Prosecutor’s Office.
Sources say that authorities knew who they were looking for and hunted the suspect down to Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains – more than 2,400 miles from Idaho.
NewsNation reported that Kohberger had a quiet, blank stare’ when arrested by local cops and the FBI on Friday morning.
It is understood that Kohberger is a PhD college student at Washington State University, within the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, with the university removing his profile from their website.
According to the now-deleted webpage, 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.
As part of his research Kohberger posted an appeal for help on social media with his research – which was looking at how ‘emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.’
Kohberger is being held for extradition in a criminal homicide investigation based on an active arrest warrant for first-degree murder
Sources say that authorities knew who they were looking for and hunted the suspect down to Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains – more than 2,400 miles from Idaho
As part of his research a DeSales Kohberger posted an appeal for help on social media with his research – which was looking at how ‘emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime’
Sources say that authorities knew who they were looking for and hunted the suspect down to Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains – more than 2,400 miles from Idaho.
His sister, Melissa, is a mental health nurse in New Jersey – specializing in ‘trauma’ and ’emotion regulation’. His father filed for bankruptcy in 2010.
In a statement DeSales University said: ‘On Friday, December 30, DeSales University learned of the arrest of Bryan Kohberger in connection with the murder of four University of Idaho students. Kohberger received a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed his graduate studies in June 2022.
‘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.’
Moscow cops have been hunting that exact vehicle in the past two weeks in connection with the killings.
Kohberger appeared in court this morning, with Moscow Police confirming that they will hold a press conference at 4pm EST.
A spokeswoman for the department declined to comment on the arrest when contacted by DailyMail.com.
A white Hyundai Elantra – the same make and model of car being sought by cops in connection to the killing – is said to have been towed from outside Kohberger’s home
Kaylee and Madison were found on the top floor of the Moscow, Idaho home. College lovers Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were found in a second-floor bedroom while survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were sleeping on the first floor
Bestfriends Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, both 21, were murdered on November 13 along with roommate Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, both 20
Ethan was staying over with Xana when they were both knifed to death in the murder house at 1122 Kings Road
The last known movements of at least two of the victims: The girls visited the truck at 1.43am-1.53am. It’s unclear if they went straight home, but police say they were murdered shortly afterward sometime between 3am and 4am
A spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Police said: ‘The Pennsylvania State Police today assisted the City of Moscow, Idaho Police Department, Idaho State Police, and the FBI in the apprehension of a suspect in the homicides of four University of Idaho students that occurred Nov. 13.
‘Bryan C. Kohberger, 28, was arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant early this morning by members of Troop N and the Special Emergency Response Team at a home in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County.
‘Kohberger was arraigned before on-call Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth and remanded to Monroe County Correctional Facility pending extradition to Idaho.’
Authorities were left baffled by the brutal killings and have repeatedly appealed to the public for help with the case.
Reports from both the coroner and police confirm that each of the students had been stabbed multiple times in the torso – and were ambushed in their sleep.
Police have found no evidence of a sex crime, and the victims had wounds on their bodies which indicated that they tried to fight off the attacker.
A flyer seeking information about the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found dead is displayed on a table along with buttons and bracelets
Goncalves, 21, was one of the four students brutally knifed to death in Idaho, Moscow, on November 13. There have been several claims that she was being stalked before her death
Kaylee and Madison were out in Moscow hours before their deaths. The leaked surveillance photo was taken from the Corner Club bar at 1.32am
Initially cops said they thought all four were assaulted as they slept, with Goncalves father saying she had the worst injuries from the incident – suffering ‘gouging wounds’ and ‘rips’.
The Chief of police at Moscow Police Department himself admitted that investigators did not understand how the two surviving roommates – Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen – appeared to sleep through the attack.
‘Multiple people talked with the 911 dispatcher before a Moscow Police officer arrived at the location,’ authorities said in a previous statement.
When they arrived at the scene, they said, they found Kernodle and Chapin, who were in a relationship, on the second floor, with Mogen and Goncalves sharing a bed on the top floor.
Authorities believe they were all stabbed to death somewhere between 3am to 4am that morning, after enjoying a night out.
Police in Idaho have combed through nearly 20,000 tips and questioned 300 people about the murders of four college students last month.
Authorities are today clearing the property, but previously stated that they do not know how long it will take to clean up the property – adding it will be ‘returned to the property manager when complete.’
The update comes just days after Fry told KREM his investigators are still waiting for crime lab results from evidence collected at the scene.
Authorities are now preparing to turn the crime scene back over to the landlord
Members of the Moscow Police is pictured here removing some of the personal items from the home last month
Goncalves (right, pictured with Mogen) reportedly told him that the stalker would follow her ‘at night’ when she was going to or from bars, either by the ‘campus or down on Main Street’
‘We don’t want to rush that,we want to ensure that they’re taking their time to get all of that right,’ the police chief said in an interview Tuesday.
He added: ‘Real life and the movies are a lot different. You know, in the movies, they have all [the results] back in an hour.
‘We don’t get that in real life, so we’re going to be patient.’
It remains unclear whether any DNA was retrieved from the scene.
Earlier in the night, newly-released surveillance footage shows Goncalves and Madison Mogen inside the Corner Club bar at 1.32am chatting with an unidentified man — wearing a baseball cap — minutes before they ran to pick up food.
The girls were seen with their backs turned to the surveillance camera inside the bar, which appeared to be filled with a mix of young and older adults.
The leaked surveillance photo was posted by former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, who has dedicated her Twitter to the Idaho murder mystery.
She said she obtained the photo once it was made public, and posted it online to discourage leaking evidence in the unsolved mystery.
Dylan Mortensen (left) and Bethany Funke (middle) survived the brutal attack in the rental house which saw their fellow University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle (second from left) Kaylee Goncalves (second from right) and Madison Mogen (right) killed
Authorities confirmed that there were ‘several friends’ inside the property when the 911 call was made, who have been assisting police with their inquiries
Authorities have previously said they were last spotted at a food truck at around 1.40am on November 13, before running to meet their ride home.
They returned to their off-campus house at 1.56am, at around the same time that Kernodle and Chapin returned from a fraternity house.
Their other housemates got back about 45 minutes earlier and were left unharmed in the attack.
Speaking to DailyMail.com in the aftermath, the man who drove them home said the community is now losing faith in the Moscow Police Department to solve the quadruple homicide.
‘Most of us have very little faith in the MPD. We can’t tell if we are watching qualified investigators who have a handle of the situation or if they are completely at a loss and grasping for straws.’
But Moscow police have denied that inexperienced officers – the lead investigator has only been a cop for two years – are hampering or have already botched the investigation.
