After declining extradition from his native Pennsylvania, Bryan Kohberger, who is suspected of murdering four University of Idaho students in November, has returned to Idaho to face murder charges.
He was led by law officers on Wednesday night to the Latah County Jail.
An internet flight tracker revealed that the Pennsylvania state police plane thought to be transporting Kohberger had arrived at the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport, which is located just across the border in Washington state, a few moments earlier. At the airport, a CNN crew spotted Idaho police enforcement vehicles there.
According to Garry Haidle, the jail warden, Kohberger was turned over to Pennsylvania State Police officers from the Monroe County Correctional Facility. In accordance with its policy, State Police declined to comment on any prisoner transit.
Almost seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were discovered dead stabbed on November 13 at a Moscow, Idaho, off-campus home, Kohberger was taken into custody in Pennsylvania on Friday.
Important case information, such if the suspect knew the victims and what his or her possible motivation was, has not yet been made public by the authorities.
According to two law enforcement sources briefed on the case, investigators narrowed down on Kohberger as a suspect after tracking ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra that had been seen in the vicinity of the deaths to him.
Additionally, according to the reports, his DNA was matched to genetic material found at the house where the students were killed.
The suspect recently completed his first semester of study for a PhD in criminal justice at the Pullman campus of Washington State University, which is located about 15 minutes west of Moscow.
He travelled with his father back to Pennsylvania for the holidays, according to Jason LaBar, the chief public defender for Monroe County. A little after December 17, the father and son arrived.
Kohberger's parents' home is where the white Elantra that officials were seeking for in relation to the killings was discovered, according to LaBar.
Before his arrest, an FBI surveillance team followed Kohberger for four days as law enforcement and prosecutors attempted to establish enough probable cause to obtain a warrant, according to the two law enforcement sources.
Until the suspect appears in an Idaho court, the probable-cause affidavit, which would include details to support the defendant's arrest, is kept under seal.
The prosecution and defence are not allowed to talk beyond what is in the public record due to a court order.
