Funviralpark Chestnut Hill, Pennsylvania TWP (WPVI) — A 28-year-old man was arrested Friday in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains area on first-degree murder charges for killing four University of Idaho students last month.
Brian Coberger appeared before a judge on Friday.The judge ordered Coberger’s extradition to Idaho, where he will face criminal charges, according to court documents.
Monroe County Correctional Facility
Authorities knew who they were looking for and tracked Coberger to his family home in Chestnut Hill Township, Monroe County, according to sources.
According to the criminal complaint, the Pennsylvania State Police had assisted the Moscow (Idaho) Police, the Idaho State Police, and the FBI in detaining Coberger on a first-degree murder warrant.
The warrant was issued through the Moscow Police Department and the Lata County Public Prosecutor’s Office.
According to sources, a SWAT team broke into where Coberger was staying and took him into custody.
RELATED: Timeline of Murder of Four University of Idaho Students
Authorities are investigating how Coberger is related to the victim.
The family of victim Cary Gonsalves told ABC they don’t know the suspect but are investigating. The family says, “I’m happy, relieved, and grateful.”
Kohberger holds a Ph.D. He is a student at Washington State University, which is just across the state line from the University of Idaho.
Coberger graduated from DeSales College near Allentown, Pennsylvania with a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed graduate school in June 2022. The university is located about 40 miles south of where he was arrested.
“As Catholic Salesians, we are devastated by this senseless tragedy,” the university said in a statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of the victims during this difficult time.”
According to ABC News, a Reddit user named Bryan Kohberger and a criminology student at DeSales University posted multiple posts several months ago seeking “research participants” for the university’s study.
In a post launched in May 2022, a user asked for information to help “a research project that seeks to understand how emotional and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.” . The post linked to a survey asking detailed questions about committing the crime.
A source told ABC News that law enforcement is aware of the Reddit post.
Police said they received about 20,000 tips through more than 9,025 emails, 4,575 phone calls, and more than 6,050 digital media submissions. He also conducted over 300 interviews when four students were murdered in an off-campus home.
Obtained by CNN
Victim, Cary Goncalves, 21 years old. Madison Morgen, 21 years old. Zana Karnodol, 20 years old. and Carnodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20. Officials said they were likely asleep when they were stabbed multiple times in the early hours of November 13.
Some of the victims had defensive wounds, the coroner said.There were no signs of sexual assault, police said
The killing occurred at the girls’ off-campus home.
Two other roommates (who police said weren’t suspects) survived and were likely asleep during the murders, officials said. were on the 2nd and 3rd floors.
Kaylee Goncalves’ family told ABC they do not know the suspect but are looking into him.
Police said they were searching for a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra that was believed to have been near the house in the early hours of November 13.
The small town of Moscow, Idaho, a farming community of about 25,000 people, including about 11,000 students, in the rolling hills of northern Idaho’s Palouse region was shaken by stabbing deaths.
The case has also attracted online detectives speculating about potential suspects and motives.
Fear of repeated attacks has prompted nearly half of University of Idaho students to switch to online classes for the remainder of the semester, abandoning their dorms and apartments in their typically idyllic towns for the safety of their hometowns. has been secured.
Due to safety concerns, the university has hired an additional security company to escort students across campus, and the Idaho State Police has sent officers to patrol the city’s streets.
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ABC News, Associated Press and CNN Wire contributed to this report.
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