A suspect has been arrested in relation to the brutal murders of four Idaho college students on November 13. Roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Xana Kernodle were found stabbed to death in their beds at their shared home in the town of Moscow, along with another student, Ethan Chapin. Until now, police had made no arrests. That all changed when Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania this week, per CBS News.
Four brilliant young people lost their lives.
The four students were discovered around noon on Sunday, November 13. A 911 call was received, with the caller reporting an unconscious person. It was later discovered that Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle, and Chapin had been stabbed to death with a large fixed-blade knife, which police have been unable to locate thus far.
Mogen and Goncalves, both 21, were best friends in their senior year who had gone to a bar called The Corner Club on the night of the murder. They later stopped at a food truck before heading home.
Kernodle and Chapin, both 20, were a freshman couple who’d gone to a frat party where Chapin pledged on the night they were killed.
Bryan Kohberger is facing murder and burglary charges.
During a press conference on Friday, Moscow Police and Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson said the suspect had been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary. Pennsylvania State Police added that Kohberger had been arrested on a fugitive from justice warrant.
While he’s currently being held in Monroe County Correctional Facility, it’s believed Kohberger will be extradited to Idaho in the coming days to appear in court. However, police say a probable cause statement with further details remains sealed under state law until Kohberger is moved, meaning authorities are unable to share much more information.
We do know that forensic analysis was the link between Kohberger and the crime scene.
Police surveilled Kohberger in the days leading up to his arrest.
“For a lot of law enforcement, it was a fairly sleepless couple days … leading up to everything we were doing,” Moscow Police Chief James Fry said during Friday’s press conference. “I have faith in those agencies across the nation, I have faith in our officers, I have faith in the FBI, and they did a great job. There was some times, even throughout the day, that we were always concerned.”
Bryan Christopher Kohberger has been drawing a lot of comparisons to another killer: Ted Bundy.
Many have noted the similarities between the two. For instance, Kohberger is also well-educated. He’s currently a graduate student at Washington State University and has been studying criminal justice and criminology. Not much else is known about Kohlberger’s life, but no doubt that will change as the case continues.