(Reuters) -The doctoral student accused in the November stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students is scheduled to appear on Tuesday in a Pennsylvania court, where he is expected not to fight his extradition to Idaho to face murder charges.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, has been jailed since he was taken into custody last Thursday in Monroe County in eastern Pennsylvania. Kohberger has been working toward a criminal justice PhD degree at Washington State University, located near the University of Idaho campus.
Jason LaBar, his public defender in Monroe County, has told media outlets that Kohberger expects to be exonerated and will waive extradition to Idaho to face four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary.
The crime stunned the small college town of Moscow in northwestern Idaho, where the four victims – three women and one man – were found dead on the morning of Nov. 13 in the women’s house.
The victims – Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho – all suffered multiple stab wounds, according to authorities. Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend.
Two other female roommates in the house at the time of the killings were unharmed, apparently having slept through the attack.
Kernodle and Chapin had attended a party the night before, while best friends Mogen and Goncalves had visited a local bar and food truck, with all four returning to the house before 2 a.m. Authorities have said the slayings occurred between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Authorities have not publicly disclosed a motive but have said they are confident Kohberger is responsible for all four killings. A probable cause affidavit that lays out the basis for the charges will offer additional details, prosecutors have said, but it remain under seal until Kohberger is physically in Idaho.
Pullman, Washington, where Kohberger has been studying, is about 10 miles (16 km) from the University of Idaho campus. Kohberger was visiting family in Pennsylvania when he was arrested, according to media reports.
(Reporting by Joseph Ax in New York; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien; Editing by Will Dunham and Tomasz Janowski)
