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The father of the University of Idaho murder suspect flew from Pennsylvania to Washington to accompany his son on a cross-country road trip weeks after the quadruple homicide.
Bryan Kohberger’s public defender revealed that the 28-year-old Washington State University-Pulman doctoral student did not make the 2,000-mile drive back to his family home alone.
Kohberger was seen with his father in the white Hyundai Elantra that police were searching for, including at an auto maintenance shop in Pennsylvania on December 16.
“He was home over the holidays,” public defender Jason LaBar said. CNN.
The alleged killer was arrested Friday after more than a month of searching for the killer behind the brutal deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, drove from Washington to Pennsylvania with his father weeks after he allegedly murdered the four University of Idaho students, his defense attorney has revealed.
Kohberger’s father had bragged to the witness about flying to Washington to make the cross-country trip with his son in the white Hyundai Elantra. Police were previously looking for the exact model they said was seen near the Idaho crime house.
Kohberger is accused of breaking into the four students’ off-campus Moscow residence and stabbing them to death in their beds on November 13.
He is currently behind bars in Pennsylvania and awaits extradition to Idaho in hopes of being “cleared of these charges,” LaBar said. Idaho Statesman.
LaBar is preparing for Kohberger to return to Idaho and has already requested that he receive a public defender right away.
Kohberger may face the death penalty in the state, which his family cannot afford to hire a lawyer to fight.
“He doesn’t have the funds to get a private attorney,” LaBar said.
Surveillance footage from the night of the murders showed a white Hyundai Elantra near the home at the time the murders occurred around 3 a.m. Police believe it belonged to Kohberger.
The PhD student had driven the car back to Pennsylvania, where police recovered it at his parents’ home.
An unidentified person at the auto shop confirmed that Kohberger was servicing his car with his father after the trip.
According to the source, Koherberger’s father was bragging about flying to the West Coast to join his son on his vacation trip home, recalling that the 28-year-old was booked.
It is not clear if Koherberger’s father knew about the murders.
Police later recovered the car at Kohberger’s parents’ home, where he was arrested.
Idaho police said the four University of Idaho students were killed in their sleep between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. Pictured: Victims Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
The crime took place six weeks ago, 2,500 miles from where Kohberger was arrested. His father flew to meet his son in Washington and drove with him back to his home in Pennsylvania.
Police were looking for Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra, which officials began tracking around Christmas time as the suspect was driving across the country.
Kohberger was detained in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, a small town in the heart of the Poconos Mountains, more than 2,000 miles from where the gruesome murders occurred.
Kohberger’s family addressed the charges Sunday and asked people to refrain from prosecution.
“We will continue to let the legal process play out and as a family we will love and support our son and brother,” the family wrote in a statement obtained by TMZ.
‘Firstly, we deeply care 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 statement read in part.
“We have fully cooperated with law enforcement in an attempt to seek the truth and promote their presumption of innocence rather than judging unknown facts and making wrong assumptions.”
Kohberger’s family requested privacy during this time as they cooperate with police to get to the bottom of the case.
“We respect privacy in this matter as our family and families suffering loss can move forward in the legal process.”
The suspect was attending college in nearby Washington state, where he was studying criminology.
Forensic teams and police work at Kohberger’s apartment near Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.
Police said they began tracking and monitoring Kohberger around Christmas time and stayed with him for four days when they spotted the white Hyundai Elantra that they believed was connected to the murders.
Friday’s arrest is the first major break in the case, with Kohberger asking if “anyone else was arrested” when he was taken into custody. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Law enforcement sources told CNN that his DNA was discovered at the crime scene, and officers were able to track down who owned the car seen in the area of the murders.
However, Kohberger has no prior arrests, according to public records, so it’s unclear how officials got hold of his DNA.
Kohberger allegedly stalked the students in the weeks leading up to the murders. Pictured is the house where the murders occurred, just over eight miles from where she worked as a doctoral student and teaching assistant.
Kaylee and Madison were found on the top floor of their Moscow, Idaho, home. College lovers Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were found in a second-floor bedroom while survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke slept on the first floor.
Kohberger allegedly stalked the students in the weeks leading up to the murders.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry refused to rule out that the killer had an accomplice.
Details of the killings and motive have not yet been released, and police say a sealed arrest affidavit will be released once Kohberger is extradited to Idaho.