Bryan Kohberger ‘shocked a little bit’ by his arrest in 4 Idaho student murders, lawyer says

The attorney for the man suspected in the slaying of four Idaho college students plans to waive his extradition hearing and return to face the charges, his attorney told CNN.

Monroe County, Pennsylvania Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar said Bryan Kohberger — a Poconos native who attended Northampton Community College and earned a master’s degree in criminal justice from DeSales University — “is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”

Kohberger’s extradition hearing was scheduled for Tuesday. His decision to waive it means charging records in Idaho can soon be unsealed, offering more answers as to how he became a suspect in the case. Idaho authorities said Friday that state law regarding pretrial publicity prohibits releasing much information about suspects until they are arraigned.

LaBar could not be reached for comment Saturday. According to CNN, LaBar said Kohberger, arrested Friday at his parent’s Chestnuthill Township home, is “shocked a little bit” that he has been charged in the Nov. 13 slayings of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20.

The four were stabbed to death in their off-campus house in Moscow — a short drive across the state line from Washington State University, where Kohberger is a doctoral student in the department of criminal justice and criminology.

The killings shook the small farming community and drew national attention as weeks passed without any sign that authorities had a suspect.

But in the early morning hours Friday, state police entered the home in Indian Mountain Lakes — a gated community in Monroe and Carbon counties — and took Kohberger into custody. He is charged in a warrant with four counts of murder in the first degree.

According to sourced cited by CNN, authorities focused on Kohberger after tracing his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen in the area of the killings. Kohberger’s DNA has also been matched to genetic material recovered at the crime scene, according to the sources.

Kohberger has been described as “strange” and “awkward” by people who knew him in the Poconos and at DeSales, where he preferred to work alone in his studies. He obtained his master’s degree from the Center Valley school in June and his undergraduate degree in 2020, according to the university.