MOSCOW, Idaho — Police arrested a suspect in the killings of four University of Idaho students a month and a half after the homicides took place.
Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were found dead on Nov. 13. The suspect, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, was arrested Dec. 30 in Pennsylvania.
Here is everything we know about the case, suspect and victims.
Timeline of the crime and investigation
The night of Nov. 12, police say Chapin and Kernodle went to a Sigma Chi fraternity party and returned to a rental house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho at 1:45 a.m.
Goncalves and Mogen were at a bar in downtown Moscow. Video also showed the two girls at a food truck before they arrived home around 1:56 a.m.
Two other roommates, who were not injured in the attack, returned home around 1 a.m.
Police said the killings happened in the early morning hours on Nov. 13. The students were stabbed to death in their beds and likely were asleep when the attacks occurred, according to Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt. Some of the victims had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times.
Around noon, the Moscow Police Department received a call of an unconscious person at the house on King Road. When police arrived, they found the four victims had been stabbed.
Police have not recovered a murder weapon.
On Dec. 7, police said they were looking for a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra sedan that was seen in the area of the King Road residence in the early morning hours of Dec. 13. During a news conference Dec. 30, police said they had recovered an Elantra.
Kohberger, 28, was arrested Dec. 30 by the Pennsylvania State Police at a home in Chestnuthill Township, authorities said.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary. He is awaiting extradition to Idaho. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Jan. 3.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said due to Idaho state law more information about the crimes, including how police were led to identify Kohberger as a suspect, would be released once Kohberger was in Idaho.
During the investigation, police combed through thousands of tips and conducted more than 300 interviews. However, police are still asking the public for any information they may have about the killings or Kohberger that could help the investigation.
The suspect
Kohberger is from Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.
Kohberger is a graduate student at Washington State University, according to Moscow police. A Ph.D. student by the same name was listed in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at WSU on Dec. 30. That student is also listed as a graduate teaching assistant.
He has an apartment in Pullman, according to Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson.
He graduated from Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania with an associate of arts degree in psychology in 2018, said college spokesperson Mia Rossi-Marino. DeSales University in Pennsylvania confirmed that a student by that name received a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed graduate studies in June 2022.
Kohberger has no court filings in Washington state. He has an infraction in Latah County, Idaho for a traffic violation.
Ben Roberts, a graduate student in the criminology and criminal justice department at WSU, described Kohberger as confident and outgoing, but said it seemed like “he was always looking for a way to fit in.”
“It’s pretty out of left field,” he said of the news Friday. “I had honestly just pegged him as being super awkward.”
Roberts started the program in August — along with Kohberger, he said — and had several courses with him. He described Kohberger as wanting to appear academic.
“One thing he would always do, almost without fail, was find the most complicated way to explain something,” he said. “He had to make sure you knew that he knew it.”
The victims
Goncalves was a 21-year-old senior from Rathdrum, Idaho, majoring in general studies at the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. She was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority. Her family remembers her as "tough and fair," who put anything she set her mind to.
Mogen was a 21-year-old senior from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, majoring in marketing at the College of Business and Economics. She was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. In an Instagram post, Goncalves said Mogen was the "main character in all my childhood stories."
Kernodle was a 20-year-old junior from Post Falls, Idaho, majoring in marketing at the College of Business and Economics. She was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. In a statement to KING 5's Spokane sister station, Kernodle's sister said she was lucky to have her as a sibling and described her as "positive, funny and loved by everyone who met her."
Chapin was a 20-year-old freshman from Conway, Wash., majoring in recreation, sports and tourism management at the College of Education, Health and Human Sciences. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Chapin was a triplet. His parents described him as the comedian of the family, who played any sport he could. He and Kernodle were in a relationship.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.