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



CNN

Bryan Kohberger, accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November, returned to Idaho after abandoning extradition from his home state of Pennsylvania.

Law enforcement escorted Kohberger to the Latta County Jail Wednesday night. He was charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary, according to prison records.

Earlier Wednesday, an online flight tracker showed that the Pennsylvania State Police plane believed to be carrying Coberg had arrived at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport across the Washington state border. The airport’s CNN team saw Idaho law enforcement vehicles at the scene.

Prison Warden Gary Haider told CNN that Kohberger was transferred from the Monroe County Correctional Facility to Pennsylvania State Police authorities. According to its policy, state police do not comment on any prisoner transports.

Bryan Kohberger leaves Pennsylvania courthouse Tuesday after an extradition hearing in Stroudsburg.

Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania on Friday, seven weeks before Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Morgan, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found on Nov. Stabbed to death at an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho.

Authorities have not released key details of the case, such as whether the suspect knew the victim and what the possible motive was.

Investigators focused on Coberg as a suspect after tracing the ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen in the area where the killing took place, according to two law enforcement sources with knowledge of the investigation.

In addition, sources said his DNA matched genetic material found in the home where the student was killed.

Bryan Kohberger was taken to the Latta County Jail on Wednesday.

The suspect recently completed his first semester as a doctoral student in the criminal justice program at the WSU campus in Pullman, about 15 minutes west of Moscow.

Monroe County’s chief public defender, Jason LaBar, said he was accompanied by his father on the drive back to Pennsylvania for the vacation. Father and son arrived around December 17th.

Rabar said the white Elantra that authorities had been looking for in connection with the killing was found at the home of Koberg’s parents.

An FBI surveillance team followed Coberg for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to find enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, two law enforcement sources said.

The probable cause affidavit, which will contain information proving the suspect’s arrest, is under seal until he appears in an Idaho courthouse.

The court order barred the prosecution and defense from making comments beyond the public record.

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