The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students is expected to be extradited to that state from Pennsylvania, where he appeared at a hearing Tuesday after being arrested there at his parents' home.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, a doctoral student and teaching assistant in Washington State University's Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, was arrested early Friday by state police in eastern Pennsylvania.
The attorney representing him, Jason LaBar, said his client is anxious to be exonerated and
plans
to forgo his extradition hearing
so he can be quickly transferred to Idaho.
LaBar added that his client should be considered innocent and "not tried in the court of public opinion."
[The murder of the four students in Idaho: the evolution of a case full of contradictions and secrets]
The attorney also said the suspect's family is
"obviously shocked"
by the first-degree murder charges he faces, he told NBC's
Today
show.
"They don't think it's Bryan, they can't believe it, they're obviously in shock."
"This is certainly something unusual about his personality, the allegations, and really (his parents) are just trying to be supportive, understanding that these four families have suffered loss, so they understand their situation," LaBar added.
Parents of suspect in Idaho student murders say they are cooperating with police
Jan 3, 202300:25
The suspect's parents, Michael and Maryann, and his two older sisters, Amanda and Melissa, said in a statement released Sunday by their attorney that they are
"deeply concerned for the four families
who have lost their precious children.
There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray for them every day."
The family said they will continue to let the legal process move forward, and that "as a family we will love and support our son and brother."
They added that they have fully cooperated with the authorities to try to "seek the truth and promote their presumption of innocence instead of judging unknown facts and making wrong assumptions."
Capt. Anthony Dahlinger of the Moscow Police Department in Idaho told The Associated Press news agency Saturday that
authorities believe Kohberger was responsible for all four slayings.
“We think we have our guy,” he said, adding that investigators
obtained Kohberger's DNA samples
directly from him after he was detained.
Suspect arrested in murder of four students at University of Idaho
Jan 2, 202303:16
Prosecutors in Latah County, Idaho, have said they believe Kohberger entered the students' home near the college campus with the intent to commit murder.
Their bodies were found on November 13, several hours after they died, investigators believe.
The students — Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho;
Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho;
Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho;
and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington—were close friends.
Mogen, Goncalves, and Kernodle lived in the three-story rental house with two other roommates.
Kernodle and Chapin were dating, and he had been visiting the house that night.
Latah County prosecutors have said the affidavit for four counts of first-degree murder will remain sealed until it is returned.
He is also accused of robbery.
Investigators have requested information on Kohberger from anyone who knows him, and Dahlinger said investigators received 400 calls to a tip line in the first hour of that request.
He said they were "trying to build this picture of him: who he is, his story, how we got to this event, why this event happened."
