Idaho murders suspect was pulled over TWICE in Indiana on 2,000mile cross-country road trip
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A suspect in the Idaho quadruple murder was stopped by police twice as he and his father made a 2,500-mile drive across the country from Washington state to Pennsylvania.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, drove from his student housing in Pullman, Washington, to his home state last month after the murders in Moscow, Idaho, just a 15-minute drive from his property.
His attorney, Jason LaBar, claims that Kohberger’s father flew from Pennsylvania to Washington to meet his son before Christmas and return home together.
On Friday, the criminal justice graduate student was arrested in connection with the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on Nov. 13.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, drove from his student housing in Pullman, Washington, to his home state last month after the murders in Moscow, Idaho, just a 15-minute drive from his property.
The couple were driving their white Hyundai Elantra, which is the same vehicle that police had been searching for several weeks after the quadruple murders.
LaBar said CNN that Kohberger and his father traveled across the country in their white Hyundai Elantra, a vehicle that police had been searching for several weeks.
He added that the couple was pulled over twice during their trip as they passed through Indiana, once for speeding and once for following a car too closely.
Investigators began tracking Kohberger’s movements in the US, with witnesses claiming they saw him and his father repairing the car on December 16.
Police then impounded the vehicle from outside her parents’ home when they pounced on the property in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County.
LaBar said the Kohbergers arrived home around December 17 and was kept under surveillance by an FBI team for several days before his arrest.
It is not clear if Kohberger’s father, who went bankrupt in 2010, or the rest of his family knew about the murders.
Bryan Kohberger was taking a close look at how forensics, DNA and other evidentiary procedures help prosecutors win convictions just two weeks before the quadruple murders.
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.
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.
The public defender added that Kohberger is “shocked” after the charges and said he would waive his extradition at a January 3 hearing.
In a statement, he said: ‘Mr. Kohberger is eager to be cleared of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as soon as possible.”
It is understood that the alleged killer will be returned to Idaho within 72 hours of the extradition hearing.
Kohberger, a graduate doctoral student, had previously studied with a professor in Pennsylvania known for his expertise on serial killers and was studying criminology at Washington State University at the time of the murders.
Investigators in Moscow, Idaho, have yet to pinpoint a motive in the killings of the four students, but those who knew Kohberger say he had a deep interest in the psychology of criminals.
Kohberger earned a degree in psychology from a community college in 2018, before studying psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University.
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.
High school friends claim that he battled heroin addiction in his youth, but seems to have moved on.
Kohberger earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology from a community college in 2018, before studying psychology and criminal justice at DeSales University.
He was taught in part by renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland, who has written ‘The Mind of a Murderer’ and ‘How to Catch a Murderer.’
Ramsland has declined to comment, but he spent decades investigating serial killers and mass murderers, and is best known for developing a close relationship with serial killer Dennis Rader, known as BTK.
Federal and state investigators are now reviewing his background, financial records and electronic communications as they work to identify a motive and build the case.
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.
Police were looking for Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra, which officials began tracking around Christmas time as the suspect was driving across the country.
The suspect was attending college in nearby Washington state, where he was studying criminology.
Investigators are also interviewing people who knew Kohberger, including those at Washington State University.
Kohberger may face the death penalty in the state, where his family cannot afford to hire a lawyer to fight.
Investigators are still trying to locate the murder weapon more than six weeks after the murders, which they believe was a large knife.
Kohberger’s family addressed the charges Sunday and asked people to refrain from prosecution.
In a statement they said: ‘We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother.
Police had previously refused to rule out targeted killings, but it remains unknown what connections Kohberger might have had to the victims, who lived just eight miles from the suspect’s campus.
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.
‘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.
“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.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry refused to rule out that the killer had an accomplice.
Details of the killings and motive for them have not yet been released, and police say a sealed arrest affidavit will be released once Kohberger is extradited to Idaho.