The man suspected of being responsible for the murder of four Idaho college students plans to waive his extradition hearing in Pennsylvania, allowing him to be brought back to Idaho to face charges.
Bryan Kohberger’s attorney, chief public defender Jason LaBar, said Kohberger plans to tell a judge in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday that he will waive his extradition hearing so he can be quickly brought to Idaho to face the charges and is eager to be exonerated.
LaBar also cautioned people against passing judgment on the case until a fair trial is held. The case has generated massive amounts of speculation on social media, with would-be sleuths frequently trying to pin the blame for the deaths on various friends and acquaintances of the victims.
“Mr. Kohberger has been accused of very serious crimes, but the American justice system cloaks him in a veil of innocence,” LaBar wrote in a prepared statement. “He should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise — not tried in the court of public opinion.”
MOSCOW, IDAHO POLICE BELIEVE SUSPECT KOHBERGER ACTED ALONE, CHIEF SAYS
This photo provided by Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility shows Bryan Kohberger. Arrest paperwork filed by Pennsylvania State Police in Monroe County Court
(Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility via AP)
Kohberger, 28, was arrested early Friday morning in eastern Pennsylvania on a warrant charging him with four counts of murder and burglary for the deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21.
Kohberger is being held without bond in Pennsylvania and will be held without bond in Idaho once he is returned, Idaho prosecutor Bill Thompson said. The affidavit for four charges of first-degree murder in Idaho will remain sealed until he is returned, the prosecutor said.
MOSCOW, IDAHO POLICE STILL SEARCHING FOR FIXED-BLADE KNIFE AFTER SUSPECT KOHBERGER’S ARREST
Bryan Christopher Kohberger was taken to Monroe County Correctional Facility after being arrested early Friday morning after being charged with four counts of murder for the deaths of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21.
(Derek Shook/Fox News Digital)
Kohberger is a graduate student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, which is just a 15-minute drive from the rental home where the four students were stabbed to death in November.
The four students were each stabbed multiple times in the torso and were likely ambushed in their sleep with a large fix-bladed knife between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Nov. 13.
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The victims of Nov. 13 University of Idaho massacre.
(Instagram @xanakernodle / @maddiemogen / @kayleegoncalves)
Fox News confirmed through a police source that investigators have only been focused on Kohberger as their suspect “the last few days,” and genetic genealogy work on DNA left at the scene of the crime was instrumental in leading them to Kohberger.
Police officials said during a Friday press conference that Idaho state law prevents them from disclosing further details on what led them to Kohberger until he is extradited and appears in Idaho court.
Fox News’ Rebecca Rosenberg and The Associated Press contributed to this report
