Idaho stabbing suspect to face judge on charges of killing 4 students

Bryan Kohberger to be arraigned in stabbings of Idaho college students - The Washington Post

The man suspected of stabbing four Idaho college students to death is set to be arraigned Monday, his first court appearance since shortly after he was arrested in a case that rattled a university community and commanded national attention.

Prosecutors would have presented evidence collected in the case at a preliminary hearing scheduled for next month, aiming to prove that probable cause existed for Kohberger to be tried. The grand jury indictment eliminates that step, paving the way for Monday’s arraignment and, if he pleads not guilty, an eventual trial.

University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found stabbed to death Nov. 13 in an off-campus house the women shared. The gruesome crime stoked fear in the college town of Moscow as weeks passed without the killer being identified, fueling widespread speculation and baseless finger-pointing.

Authorities announced Kohberger’s arrest on Dec. 30. Nearly five months later, much about the case remains unknown to the public — including what motivated the crime and how the killer chose the victims. A gag order has barred law enforcement, lawyers and others involved in the case from discussing it publicly; a legal fight against it by news organizations including The Washington Post remains ongoing.

Court records unsealed in January offered a window into how investigators linked Kohberger to the killings, revealing that DNA on a knife sheath found at the scene matched a sample taken from Kohberger’s family home and that cellphone records put him near the victims’ home at least 12 times. Surveillance footage caught a white Hyundai Elantra matching Kohberger’s passing the King Street house four times in the early morning hours of Nov. 13 before speeding away.

The records also offered details of what unfolded Nov. 13. Late that night, the four students returned to the house on King Street after a typical college Friday. Mogen and Goncalves stopped by a food truck after hanging out at a bar. Kernodle and Chapin, a couple, spent a few hours at his fraternity, Sigma Chi. By 4 a.m., they were all in their rooms and asleep — except Kernodle, who made a middle-of-the-night DoorDash order.

It was around that time that a roommate, identified only as D.M., awoke to what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog. After hearing voices and what sounded like someone crying, she opened her bedroom door, glimpsing a figure in black clothing leaving the house. Police later found the four victims in bedrooms on the house’s second and third floors, each with multiple stab wounds.

Whether the victims had any connection to Kohberger before the killings is unclear. Before his arrest, the Pennsylvania native was enrolled in a criminal justice doctoral program at Washington State University, which sits across the border and about seven miles from the University of Idaho. He had just completed his first semester after finishing a master’s degree in criminal justice at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pa., in June.

A high school classmate remembered Kohberger as shy, socially awkward and struggling with depression. In years-old social media posts uncovered by the New York Times, he said he watched his own life as if it were a video game and wrote that he could do “whatever I want with little remorse.”

A lawyer representing Kohberger said shortly after his arrest that he expects to be exonerated of the killings. His family expressed support for him— and condolences for the victims — in a statement released through the attorney in January.

“First and foremost, we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children,” said parents Michael and Marianne Kohberger and sister Amanda. “There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them. We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother.”

The family of at least one victim plans to attend Monday’s arraignment. Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, told NewsNation last week that he would be in the courtroom.

“We’re going to be there at every moment, analyzing every piece of data, going through everything to make sure that it is the right person and we hold him accountable,” he said. He added, “There should be some accountability when you take people that are special.”