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Next Steps For Idaho Murder Suspect Announced

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OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.


The person suspected of murdering four Idaho college students has been captured and many people want to know what the next steps are in the case.

Bill Thompson, the Latah County, Idaho, prosecutor, said that in accordance with the law the next step is that the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, will be served an arrest warrant when he arrives in the county, which could take some time as he was arrested in Pennsylvania and extradition proceedings have to take place.

The murder suspect, who is 28 years old, “appeared before a judge in Pennsylvania on Friday morning. Court documents show the judge ordered Kohberger’s extradition to Idaho where he will face criminal charges,” WPVI-TV reported.

The probable cause affidavit has been filed with the court but can not be shown to the media until the court unseals it.

“According to the rules of the Idaho Supreme Court, that is sealed until Mr. Kohberger is physically back in Latah County and has been served with the Idaho arrest warrant,” he said.

The suspect is a Washington State University graduate student who had been studying and pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice and criminology.

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“It can take a while for him to get here,” the prosecutor said of the suspect of he decides to challenge extradition in court.

“This is not the end of this investigation — in fact, this is a new beginning,” the prosecutor said.

CNN reported.

The students, Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20; were likely asleep when they were each stabbed multiple times in the early hours of November 13, authorities have said. Some of the victims had defensive wounds, a coroner has said.

“Investigators believe someone has information that adds context to what occurred on the night of the murders and continue requesting additional pictures, video, and social media content. Our focus remains on the investigation, not an individual’s activities displayed in the tip,” police said.

“A 25-year-old man has been arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students whose bodies were found in a rental home near campus last month,” Huffington Post editor Phillip Lewis reported.

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“The mysterious killings initially baffled investigators and left the small college town of 25,000 deeply shaken. 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., according to the coroner and police. Two surviving female roommates, who lived on the basement level, appeared to have slept through the gruesome attack,” Fox News reported.

“Shortly before noon, the roommates summoned friends to the house because they believed one of the victims on the second floor had passed out, authorities said. Police responded to a 911 call reporting an unconscious person at 11:58 a.m. that originated from one of the surviving roommates’ phones. The responding officers found the four butchered victims on the second and third floors. The Moscow Police Department released a detailed timeline of the victims’ movements in the hours before and after the massacre. Goncalves and Mogen went to a bar downtown, the Corner Club, before ordering food from the Grub Truck at around 1:40 a.m,” the outlet added.

Fox News continued:

The women used a “third-party” driver and were home by 1:56 a.m., according to police. Kernodle and her boyfriend, Chapin, went to a party at the Sigma Chi house on campus and returned to the King Road home at 1:45 a.m. The Moscow Police Department, which is working with the FBI and the Idaho State Police, has said that the attacks were “targeted.”

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Investigators have focused on tracking down the occupants of a 2011 to 2013 white Hyundai Elantra that was spotted near the home at the time of the murders. Chapin was a freshman from Mount Vernon, Washington, and a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He was studying recreation, sport, and tourism management, according to the school. Chapin’s girlfriend, Kernodle, who was from Avondale, Arizona, was a junior majoring in marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.

Mogen was a senior from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, studying marketing and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority, according to the university. Goncalves, who was from Rathdrum, Idaho, was a senior majoring in general studies and a member of the Alpha Phi sorority.

She had been set to graduate early in December and planned to move to Austin, Texas, where she had a marketing job lined up. She was also looking forward to an upcoming trip to Europe.

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