CNN –
The suspect in the slayings of four University of Idaho college students plans to waive his extradition hearing this week, his attorney said, to expedite his return to the Gem State, where he ‘faces four counts of first-degree murder.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger is “a little shaken up,” Jason LaBar, chief public defender for Monroe County, Pennsylvania, told CNN Saturday, a day after the 28-year-old was arrested in his home state on charges related to the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin. He also faces a charge of burglary, according to Latah County, Idaho, prosecutor Bill Thompson.
LaBar did not discuss the murder case with the suspect when they spoke for an hour Friday evening, the attorney said, adding that he did not have probable cause documents related to him and is only representing Kohberger in the matter of his extradition, which the lawyer called “formality”.
“It’s a matter of procedure, and really all the Commonwealth has to prove here is that he resembles or is the person for whom the warrant is sought and was in the area at the time of the crime.” , LaBar said.
Waiver of the extradition hearing set for Tuesday was “obviously an easy decision,” LaBar said, “because he’s not contesting that he’s Bryan Kohberger.”
In a statement, LaBar emphasized that his client is presumed innocent until proven guilty, saying, “Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as soon as possible.”
The arrest of the suspect, a doctoral student in Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, the school confirmed, comes nearly seven weeks after the victims were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home on November 13. Since then, investigators say they have conducted more than 300 interviews and sought approximately 20,000 tips.
But authorities have yet to publicly confirm the suspect’s motive, or even whether he knew the victims, whose deaths rocked the university community and the surrounding city of Moscow. The murder weapon has also not been located, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Friday.
In the weeks since the murders, some members of the community have grown frustrated that investigators have yet to offer a comprehensive narrative of how the night unfolded. Authorities have released limited details, including the activities of the victims leading up to the attacks and people they have ruled out as suspects.
Fry told reporters Friday that state law limits the information authorities can release before Kohberger makes an initial appearance in an Idaho court. The probable cause affidavit, which details the factual basis for Kohberger’s charges, is sealed until the suspect is physically located in Latah County and served with the Idaho warrant for his arrest, Thompson said.
Investigators identified Kohberger as a suspect through DNA testing and confirming his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation. Authorities say he lived just minutes from the scene of the stabbings.
He drove cross-country in a white Hyundai Elantra and arrived at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania around Christmas, according to a law enforcement source. Authorities began tracking him sometime during his trip to eastern Idaho.
An FBI surveillance team tracked him for four days before his arrest while law enforcement worked with prosecutors to develop enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, the two law enforcement sources said .
Genetic genealogy techniques were used to connect Kohberger with unidentified DNA evidence, another source with knowledge of the case told CNN. DNA was run through a public database to find possible matches between family members, and subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to his identification as a suspect, he said. say the source
LaBar confirmed that Kohberger, accompanied by his father, had driven from Idaho to Pennsylvania to celebrate the holidays with his family. A white Hyundai Elantra was found at his parents’ home, LaBar said, where authorities arrested Kohberger early Friday.
LaBar was unsure how quickly his client would be returned to Idaho after his intention to waive extradition at Tuesday’s hearing, saying it would be based on authorities. But LaBar expected Kohberger to return to Idaho within 72 hours of the procedure.