The Moscow Police Department tries to find a perpetrator in the murders of two students in Idaho, but no evidence of a knife
Two federal law enforcement sources told CNN that a suspect was arrested as part of the University of Idaho murders investigation.
It takes a lot of work, not only to piece together the events of the day, but also to understand what happened. A lot of this is private and not accessible to the public. There are so many things going on behind the scenes.
The small town of Moscow, Idaho, with about 25,000 people and 11,000 students, was shook by the deaths of two people who were stabbed.
Much of the information in the case will be used for prosecution and cannot be put into the public eye, at risk of obstructing justice.
The police initially told the public that the attack was not a threat to the public. The police chief changed the statement four days later saying that there is no threat to the community.
Snell acknowledges the early messaging may have been off, given that the roughly 30 members of the Moscow Police Department all initially responded to the crime scene, with no dedicated public information staff within the department.
In addition to the hundreds of leads, police are also combing through large files of surveillance footage submitted by residents of the early morning hours when police believe the murders happened.
Other angles are taking longer to investigate. It’s believed a fixed blade knife was used in the attack on the students, and it’s important that businesses come forward with any evidence that they sold the knife. Snell says no local businesses have supplied information about the knife that was matched.
It is always wise for people to walk in pairs, lock their doors and be aware of what they are doing. There is somebody or some people out there somewhere that are murderers, and we want to find them and bring them to justice,” Snell said.
He told CNN there could potentially be more than one person responsible for the killings. He also reiterated that police still believe it was a targeted attack, partly because of evidence found at the scene and the fact that two people in the house survived.
The Moscow Police Department: Investigating the case of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, a scalar murderer, and a dog
The University of Idaho president said Tuesday that many students have given the school input on how they hope to proceed after the fall break, resulting in a decision to allow students to finish the rest of the semester either in-person or remotely.
The faculty at the University of Idaho were told in Scott Green’s message to prepare for in-person teaching and remote learning so each student could choose their method of engagement for the final two weeks of the semester. It is not a good idea to move courses fully online.
The Moscow Police Department now carry the burden every day not only for us but for all of the impacted families, according to a statement by a family member on Monday evening.
Public sentiment changes when people are talking about the case. They are confused. They’re upset. We want to try and dispel rumors, and we want to try and make sure that the truth is out there.”
Investigators looked “extensively” into hundreds of pieces of information about victim Kaylee Goncalves having a stalker, but “have not been able to verify or identify a stalker,” police said in a Facebook post Tuesday.
Earlier, police said the surviving roommates and friends who made the 911 call and spoke to dispatchers have been excluded from involvement as suspects. A man seen on surveillance video standing near two of the victims has also been eliminated as a suspect, as well as a driver who took two of the victims home.
The Moscow Police said a dog was at the home of the stabbeds but turned over to an animal services and was released to a responsible party.
The FBI and Pennsylvania State Police Search for the Associated Footprints in Kohberger’s Morphology: The Nov. 13 Stabbing Case
Fry said that Idaho law restricts what information can be released before a person is in an Idaho court. The probable cause affidavit – which details the factual basis of Kohberger’s charges – is sealed until the suspect is physically in Latah County and has been served with the Idaho arrest warrant, Thompson said.
The arrest in the fatal stabbing case was made by Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI in northeastern Pennsylvania, the law enforcement source told CNN.
The arrest comes a day after police said they have received about 20,000 tips through more than 9,025 emails, 4,575 phone calls, and 6,050 digital media submissions, while having conducted over 300 interviews.
The arrest of the suspect – a PhD student in Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the school confirmed – comes nearly seven weeks after the victims were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home on November 13. Since then, investigators have conducted hundreds of interviews and looked for thousands of tips.
Police said Thursday the rental home would be cleared of “potential biohazards and other harmful substances” to collect evidence starting Friday morning. It was unclear how long the work would take, but a news release said the house would be returned to the property manager upon completion.
There was a warrant for the first degree murder of Bryan Christopher Kohberger, according to the paperwork filed in Monroe County Court.
A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that a person had been arrested but could not provide any details of the investigation before a formal announcement.
A student at Washington State University who was arrested in connection with the deaths of four high-spin students at a nearby university (the university of Idaho)
A Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University has a student by the same name listed, though it is a short drive from the University of Idaho. Messages seeking more information were left for officials at WSU.
The motive of the suspect has not been confirmed by investigators. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.
Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington, were members of the university’s Greek system and close friends. Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle lived in the three-story rental home with two other roommates. Kernodle and Chapin were dating and he was visiting the house that night.
The case also enticed online sleuths who speculated about potential suspects and motives. In the early days of the investigation, police released relatively few details publicly.
University of Idaho students decided to abandon their dorms and apartments in the town for the safety of their hometowns due to fear of a repeat attack, which prompted nearly half of them to switch to online classes for the rest of the semester. The Idaho State Police and a security firm were hired by the university to escort students around campus due to safety concerns.
A man arrested in connection with the University of Idaho students’ deaths attended a nearby university and lived just miles away from where the victims were found.
The PhD student in Washington State University’s department of Criminal Justice and Criminology was identified as being just minutes from the scene of the killings.
University police assisted authorities in executing search warrants at his office and apartment, both located on the school’s Pullman campus, the statement added.
He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and earlier this year completed his “graduate studies for the master of arts in criminal justice program,” according to a university spokesperson.
In a post that was removed from Reddit after the arrest was made public, a student investigator associated with a DeSales University study named Bryan Kohberger sought participation in a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.”
CNN reached a professor at DeSales University, who refused to comment on the matter. The university has not responded to any kind of feedback.
Kohberger, a Latah County, Utah, suspect in the Kesteven shooting, testified through DNA evidence and a white Hyundai Elantra
Investigators honed in on Kohberger as the suspect through DNA evidence and by confirming his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.
Genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger to unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the case tells CNN. The source said the suspect was identified through investigative work by law enforcement after he ran through a public database to find potential family member matches.
An FBI surveillance team tracked him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.
“This is not the end of this investigation, in fact, this is a new beginning,” Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said Friday. “You all now know the name of the person who has been charged with these offenses, please get that information out there, please ask the public, anyone who knows about this individual, to come forward.”
Thompson encouraged anyone with any information about the suspect to call the tip line, and he also asked them to report anything they knew about him.
Fry told reporters that the lack of more details could be related to the state law limits what information can be released before an initial appearance in Idaho court. The police chief thanked the public for its patience and acknowledged frustrations with the pace of updates on the case.
CNN has learned that the man was tracked by authorities throughout the Christmas and New Year’s period, as he traveled across the country and continued to be watched.
He drove cross-country in a white Hyundai Elantra and arrived at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania around Christmas, according to a law enforcement source. He was being tracked during his trip east from Idaho.
The suspect has the option to waive extradition and return to Idaho voluntarily. Fry said that Moscow police will have to start the process of extraditering him through the governor’s office if he chooses not to.
An attorney for a man arrested in the slayings of four students in Strutsbourg, Pennsylvania, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder
“In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post said.
His attorney said he would waive his hearing this week in order to speed his return to Idaho where he faces four counts of first-degree murder.
LaBar did not discuss the murder case with the suspect when they spohke for about an hour Friday evening, the attorney said, adding that he did not possess probable cause documents related to it and is only representing Kohberger in the issue of his extradition, which the attorney called a “formality.”
“It’s a procedural issue, and really all the Commonwealth here has to prove is that he resembles or is the person who the arrest warrant is out for and that he was in the area at the time of the crime,” LaBar said.
Some community members are frustrated as investigators haven’t given a detailed narrative of how the night unfolded, in the weeks since the killings. Some details are being released, such as the victims’ activities leading up to the attacks and the people who were ruled out as suspects.
He was unsure about how fast his client would be returned to Idaho, saying it would be based on authorities. But LaBar expected Kohberger to be returned to Idaho within 72 hours of the proceeding.
STROUDSBURG, Pa. — Relatives of a man arrested in Pennsylvania in the slayings of four University of Idaho students expressed sympathy for the victims’ families but also vowed to support him and promote “his presumption of innocence.”
His parents Michael and Maryann, and his two older sisters, Simone and Christine, said in the statement released by his attorney on Sunday that they care deeply for the families who have lost their children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them.”
The family said that they will support their son and brother, and will let the legal process unfold. They have cooperated with law enforcement in order to try to find the truth, promote his presumption of innocence and avoid making wrong assumptions.
The Moscow Police Department in Idaho has told the Associated Press that authorities believe that Kohberger is responsible for all four murders. He said that he believed they had got their man.