New information has revealed just how police were able to identify their suspect in the case of the four murdered Idaho students and track him from Washington State to Pennsylvania.
According to ABC News, police reportedly used genealogy databases and identified 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger through DNA. Once they had a name, police then tracked Kohberger to Pennsylvania through his vehicle.
How Police Captured Idaho Murder Suspect Released
ABC News further reports, the FBI then surveyed Kohberger’s parent’s house for four days before he was eventually arrested and charged. And while the relationship between the suspect and his victims, 21-year-olds Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, remains unclear, we are getting a deeper look at what Kohberger was doing at Washington State University.
According to The New York Times, Kohberger was pursuing a Ph.D. in criminology. And just two weeks before the murders took place, he was highly invested in a class discussion about “forensics, D.N.A, and other evidence prosecutors use to win convictions.”
As one of his classmates told The New York Times, Kohberger had been researching the mindsets of criminals and had studied under a professional from Pennsylvania that was known for her expertise on serial killers.
A motive also remains unclear.
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, just two days after 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested in the case of the four University of Idaho students brutally murdered in their home, his family is speaking out.
As we know it today, Kohberger was allegedly a Ph.D. student at Washington State University, which is located just 5 minutes from the home where the four victims lived. Since his arrest, Kohberger has been formally charged with four counts of first-degree in the killings of 21-year-olds Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Family of Idaho Murder Suspect, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, Speaks Out Two Days After His Arrest
RELATED: BREAKING UPDATE in the Case of the Four University of Idaho Students Murdered Inside Their Home
Kohberger was arrested while at his parent’s home in Monroe Country, Pennsylvania. Police had allegedly been tracking Kohberger for weeks before his arrest.
Now, Kohberger’s family is speaking out. According to The Guardian, his parents, Michael and Marianne Kohberger, and his sister, Amanda, said they will continue to cooperate with the police but will “promote Bryan’s presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions.”
They continued to write that they want to “let the legal process unfold and as a family, we will love and support our son and brother.” Bryan’s family then went on to offer condolences to the families of those who lost their lives.
“First and foremost we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them.”
According to a police source, Kohberger was working as a teacher at his university after the murders and later traveled home to his parent’s house. Police revealed that they started “zeroing in” on their suspect “being in or going to Pennsylvania, sometime right before Christmas,” CNN reported.
Jason LaBar, Kohberger’s public defender, says Kohberger is “shocked a little bit” over his arrest. Nonetheless, LaBar says the 28-year-old is “eager to be exonerated of these charges.”
As Mamas Uncut previously reported, on November 13, a gruesome scene was discovered inside a home located near the University of Idaho. Inside the home were the bodies of 20-year-olds Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kylee Goncalves stabbed to death.
The news of the murders shocked the community and for over a month, seemingly stumped local police and the FBI. Now, the break in the case everyone has been waiting for.
According to multiple reports, a man, now identified as 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger has been taken into custody. Fox News reports that the man was located by local police and the FBI in Scranton, Pennsylvania at around 3 a.m. on December 30.
Sources told ABC News that Kohberger had been someone the authorities were tracking for some time. It was the SWAT team that ultimately detained him.
According to Fox News, the suspect is described as a college student but he did not attend the University of Idaho. He made his first court appearance the same morning as his arrest.
There were two other roommates who lived in the basement of the house where the murders took place. They were home at the time of the attack but seemingly slept through the crime. The two surviving roommates were never considered suspects, police revealed.
Kohberger’s connection to the four students who were murdered is not yet clear. This update is still ongoing.