BOISE, Idaho (AP) — It’s been weeks since four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their beds, and some of the mystery surrounding the case may soon be solved.
Brian Coberger, who was attending a nearby college around the time of the murder, has been extradited to Idaho on first-degree murder charges after being arrested last week. Court documents that could shed light on many unanswered questions will be unsealed from him once he gets to Idaho, officials said.
The gag order could deepen the secrecy surrounding the investigation into the deaths of Cary Gonsalves, Madison Morgen, Zana Carnold, and Ethan Chapin.
coberger, Recently, a doctoral student at Washington State Universitywas arrested in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30 in connection with a death in the student town of Moscow. Let’s take a look at what’s known so far about the killings, suspects and latest developments.
Who are the suspects?
Coburger Arrested On December 30, he was arrested at his parents’ home in Chestnut Hill Township, Pennsylvania, on an Idaho warrant for first-degree murder.he agreed on tuesday handed over to Idaho Pennsylvania attorney Jason Laver said Koberger hopes he is innocent.
Prior to his arrest, Koberger was a graduate student pursuing a PhD in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, located 9 miles (14.5 km) west of the University of Idaho. Coberger lived in a college apartment where he was also his teaching assistant at WSU.
WSU President Elizabeth Chilton said in a note to students this week that Koberger’s arrest was shocking and urged students and staff to cooperate with the investigative process as much as possible. A former PhD student at WSU,” he said, adding that he was no longer enrolled in the school.
Kohberger graduated from Northampton Community College in Pennsylvania in 2018 with an associate degree in psychology. She received her bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed her graduate studies at DeSales University in Pennsylvania in June 2022.
Who are the victims?
All four were friends and members of the University of Idaho’s Greek system. Carnodle, 20, was in her junior year studying marketing. She is from Idaho Post She Falls and joined her Pi Beta Phi sorority on campus. She lived in a rented house with two other women who were stabbed, and she was dating Ethan Chapin, who was visiting the night of the murder.
Chapin was also 20, from Conway, Washington, and had triplets. His brother and sister also attended his UI, and both Chapin and his brother were members of the Sigma Chi fraternity.
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen are 21-year-old friends who grew up together in Northern Idaho. Morgen worked with Carnodol at a Greek restaurant in Moscow. She was also a member of her Pi Beta Phi.
Goncalves is a senior general studies student, a member of the Alpha Phi sorority, and planning a trip to Europe next year.
Police have not clarified whether they believe Coberger knew the victim.
When did the police decide that KOHBERGER could be a suspect?
Moscow police have released few details of the investigation, but in December investigators asked the public to do so. help me find a white sedan One seen near the crime scene, specifically a 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra. Information flooded in, and investigators soon announced that they were investigating a potential pool of approximately 20,000 vehicles.
Koberger, meanwhile, appears to have been staying in Pullman, Washington, until the end of the WSU semester. He then began driving across the country, escorted by his father, to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania. He was driving his white Hyundai Elantra.
Coberger made two stops during his December 15 trip through Indiana. He was stopped first by a Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy and minutes later by an Indiana State Police officer. During his one of the stops where he stated that he was from his WSU, both stops ended and the officers verbally warned him to get too close to him and send him on his way.
Indiana State Police later said there was no information available to officers that would have identified Coberger as a suspect in the murder.
Law enforcement officials said last week that DNA evidence played a key role in identifying Coberger as a suspect, allowing officials to match his DNA to genetic material recovered during the investigation. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to discuss the details of the ongoing investigation publicly.
In addition to the DNA evidence, officials also learned Coberger had a white Hyundai Elantra, an official who spoke on condition of anonymity told The Associated Press.
What happened the night and morning of the attack?
Goncalves and Morgen went to a bar, stopped at a food truck, and drove home around 2:00 am on November 13th.
Police said Chapin and Carnodle were a short walk from the Sigma Chi Fraternity and returned to Carnodle’s home around 1:45 a.m.
Two other roommates who live in the house were also out that night, but got home by 1am.
After waking up, they called a friend to come to their house as they believed one of the victims found upstairs was unconscious and had not woken up. At 11:58 am, someone in the house used her roommate’s cell phone to call 911. Multiple people spoke with the dispatcher before police arrived.
Police found two victims on the second floor and two on the third floor of the three-story house. There was a dog in the house, but it was safe.
An autopsy showed that all four were likely asleep when they were attacked, some had defensive wounds, and each had multiple stab wounds. Police said there were no signs of sexual assault.
What has been the reaction from the community?
The killings terrorized Moscow’s close-knit community, with nearly half of the University of Idaho’s students temporarily switching to remote learning, leaving the scenic campus deemed safe in their hometown.
In the meantime, the university increased security staff on campus, enhanced student mental health support, notified students of available self-defense classes, and helped distribute personal safety alarm devices.
what happens next?
When Coberger arrives in Idaho, he appears in the Lata County Magistrate’s Court to hear the charges against him. That’s 4 first degree murders and 1 robbery. He will not get a chance to file a petition until a later court date.
Documents filed in criminal cases are sealed for as long as required by the Idaho Public Records Act. These documents, which are expected to be unsealed when Coberger arrives in court, may provide a basic outline of the case of Rata County Prosecutor Bill Thompson.
However, Thompson, investigators and Coberger’s attorneys cannot speak on the case.
The order prohibits parties to a case from speaking about anything that “could reasonably preclude a fair trial.” This includes details about any evidence, the existence of confessions or other statements by the defendant, or the merits of the case, Marshall wrote in the order.
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Associated Press writer Mike Balsamo contributed from Washington.