Idaho quadruple murder suspect arrives in state after waiving extradition from Pennsylvania

CNN
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Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November, has arrived back in Idaho to face murder charges after waiving extradition from his home state of Pennsylvania.

Law enforcement escorted him to the Latah County Jail on Wednesday night.

Moments earlier, an online flight tracker showed that the Pennsylvania state police aircraft believed to have been carrying Kohberger had arrived at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, just across the border in Washington state. A CNN team at the airport saw Idaho law enforcement vehicles on site.

Kohberger was handed over from Monroe County Correctional Facility to Pennsylvania State Police authorities, jail warden Garry Haidle told CNN. State Police would not comment on any prisoner transport, per its policy.

Kohberger was arrested Friday in Pennsylvania, almost seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found fatally stabbed November 13 in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.

Authorities have yet to release key details in the case, such as whether the suspect knew the victims and what the motive may have been.

Investigators focused on Kohberger as a suspect after tracing ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra, which had been seen in the area of the killings, to him, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation.

Also, his DNA was matched to genetic material recovered at the home where the students were killed, the sources said.

The suspect recently finished his first semester as a PhD student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University’s campus in Pullman, about a 15-minute drive west of Moscow.

He drove home to Pennsylvania for the holidays accompanied by his father, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar said. The father and son arrived around December 17.

The white Elantra authorities had been looking for in connection with the killings was found at Kohberger’s parents’ house, LaBar said.

An FBI surveillance team tracked Kohberger for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to get a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said.

The probable-cause affidavit, which would contain information to justify the suspect’s arrest, remains sealed until he appears in an Idaho court.

A court order prohibits the prosecution and defense from commenting beyond public records.