CNN is reporting that the suspect in the Idaho quadruple homicide, Bryan Kohberger, was pounced on by police after unknown DNA at the scene of the crimes was matched to one of his relatives on a site popular with the public for tracing ancestry. CNN did not name its source for this information and is the only news outlet reporting this development. Moscow police have warned against taking information from any source other than official channels due to the massive amounts of misinformation that have been circulating since the murders happened.
If, however, CNN’s source is correct, it could explain why the FBI was tailing Kohberger for four days before an arrest was made. Detectives have been known to retrieve DNA from a suspect’s garbage cans or drinkware left behind in a restaurant in order to confirm their suspicions.
Genetic genealogy helped investigators identify the suspect, a source with knowledge of the case said. DNA found in Idaho was taken through a public database to find potential matches for family members, the source said. Once potential family matches were found, subsequent investigative work by law enforcement led to the identification of Kohberger, according to the source.
Kohberger, a criminology student at Washington State University — only a short drive away from the University of Idaho — who was pursuing a doctorate, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary, which is defined in Idaho as entering with the intention to commit murder. The charges stem from the night of November 13 when four students at the University of Idaho, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, were stabbed to death as they slept in a house just off campus.
A white Hyundai Elantra was spotted near the murder scene on police bodycam footage from an unrelated call on the night of the murders. The same car was also spotted on security footage from that night by a gas station attendant. The Elantra was recovered in Pennsylvania at the home where Kohberger was arrested by SWAT at 3 a.m. on Friday, Dec. 30.
The suspect drove across country in the white car to his parents’ house, according to another law enforcement source. “Sometime right before Christmas we were zeroing in on him being in or going to Pennsylvania,” the source told CNN.
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Police said in a press conference on Friday that they cannot release any factual information until the suspect has been extradited from Pennsylvania where he is in police custody and returned to Idaho. The factual documents like the arrest affidavit and warrants have been sealed temporarily by the court.
Kohberger is due to be in court in front of a Pennsylvania judge on Tuesday for an extradition hearing. He is represented by a public defender and can either waive his right to fight the order or he can prolong the process by fighting it. He could be back in Idaho as early as next week.
The quadruple murders shocked the nation and spurred the involvement of federal officers who descended on the small town of Moscow and sparked a massive manhunt to help solve the murders. Experts in homicide began to worry that the case was going cold after a month went by with no arrests. Kohberger’s arrest is welcome news to everyone, especially the families of the deceased.
Ethan Chapin’s family told reporters in a statement, “We are relieved this chapter is over because it provides a form of closure. However, it doesn’t alter the outcome or alleviate the pain… We miss Ethan, and our family is forever changed.”
PJ Media will continue to bring you the details of this developing case.
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