by The Pennsylvania man charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students was a doctoral student at nearby Washington State University studying in the department of criminal justice and criminology.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was arrested on an arrest warrant outside Moscow, Idaho, charging him with first-degree murder, court documents show. He was being held at the Monroe County Correctional Facility, according to court documents.
Kohberger was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police in Chestnuthill Township seven weeks after four students were fatally stabbed in their beds, an event that stunned residents in tiny Moscow, baffled police and sparked a hunt for man nationwide.
A Pennsylvania judge in Monroe County, north of Allentown, on Friday ordered Kohberger extradited to Idaho next month, court documents show.
In the November 13 attack, Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington, was killed; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.
A motive has not been disclosed.
“We are still putting the pieces together,” Moscow police chief James Fry said at a press conference following the announcement of the arrest.
Kohberger, who recently lived in an apartment in Pullman, Washington, seemed to have a keen interest in crime. He was listed as a PhD. student in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department at Washington State University (WSU), which is 10 miles west and just across the state line from the University of Idaho.
Shortly after Kohberger’s arrest was announced, WSU removed a graduate student page listing his name.
Fellow WSU criminal justice graduate student Ben Roberts said Kohberger came across as confident and outgoing, but it also seemed like he was “always looking for a way to fit in.”
“He’s kind of out of bounds,” Roberts told the Associated Press. “I honestly just called it super awkward.”
Kohberger earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from nearby DeSales University in 2020 and received a master’s degree in criminal justice from DeSales in the spring, DeSales University said in a statement Friday.
“Kohberger received a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed his graduate studies in June 2022,” the statement said. “As a Catholic and Salesian community, we are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims at this difficult time.”
Seven months ago, a person named Bryan Kohberger took part in a research project that required him to contact people who had been arrested directly. At the time, the person identified himself as a “student investigator” at DeSales University and used an email address provided by the school.
“My name is Bryan and I invite you to participate in a research project that seeks to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime,” Kohberger wrote in a post that appeared seven months ago on a Reddit community. . for ex-convicts. “Specifically, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings during your experience.”
Previously, a Bryan Kohberger worked as a security guard at the nearby Pleasant Valley School District, where he was credited in 2018 with helping save the life of a theater monitor who was having an asthma attack, reported The Pocono Records.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
