A 28-year-old doctoral student is in custody in connection with the Nov. 13 murders of four college students at the University of Idaho.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Effort, Pa., in the Poconos, at 3 a.m. Friday, and authorities seized a white Hyundai Elantra matching the description of a vehicle that police had been looking for that had been seen at the scene of the murders.
It appears that the tip about the car was what eventually helped detectives break the case.
Authorities believe Kohberger had been at his parents’ residence for the past two to three weeks. The home had reportedly been under surveillance since Monday as law enforcement worked to piece together what they needed to be able to obtain an arrest warrant.
Kohberger was pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash., which is nine miles from Moscow, Idaho, where the University of Idaho is located.
Kohberger had received a master’s degree in criminal justice earlier this year from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., about an hour away from where he was arrested this morning.
There is no indication at this time as to any possible motive or link between Kohberger and the victims – Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 – and Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a Friday news conference that authorities have not yet recovered a murder weapon.
Authorities in Idaho have said that the four were stabbed to death in their beds with a large knife as they slept in their off-campus house.