MOSCOW, Idaho (NewsNation) — The family of alleged Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger released a statement Sunday, urging the public to accept his presumption of innocence and to let the legal process play out.
“We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family, we will love and support our son and brother,” the statement said. “We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions.”
Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, was arrested in Scranton, Pennsylvania., on Friday morning and is currently being held at Pennsylvania Correctional Facility in Monroe County, where he is awaiting extradition to Idaho.
The public defender representing Kohberger told NewsNation’s Brian Entin on Sunday that Kohberger’s dad went out to Idaho and drove back with him to Pennsylvania in the white Hyundai Elantra in mid-December.
The family of Ethan Chapin, one of the four victims, told NewsNation they are relieved an arrest has been made, but say it “doesn’t alter the outcome or alleviate the pain.” They concluded their statement saying they miss Ethan and their family has been changed forever.
Following his arrest, NewsNation witnessed law enforcement raiding Kohberger’s Pullman, Washington, apartment, where police removed evidence from inside.
Kohberger was a graduate student at Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the time of the killings. However, he also studied criminology during his time at DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania.
It was at DeSales University that he studied under Dr. Katherine Ramsland, a forensic psychologist who has spent decades researching serial killers and mass murderers. She appeared on NewsNation in October to discuss the Delphi case.
She is known for having developed a close relationship with the serial killer Dennis Rader, more commonly known as BTK.
“My first reaction was my stomach turned and I literally physically got ill.”
Serial killer BTK’s daughter told me she was stunned when she found out the forensic psychology professor who wrote the autobiography on her dad was also accused Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger’s teacher. pic.twitter.com/a2csE4j14E— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) January 2, 2023
Ramsland said she is not discussing the case publicly. “I cannot make media statements about him at this time,” she said.
In an exclusive interview with NewsNation, one of his classmates said that Kohberger had a strong command of criminology, showing deep interest in it at all times.
“He very much liked it when everybody in the room knew that he knew what was going on but it wasn’t enough that you knew that he knew, he had to make absolutely sure you understood that he was smart, that he had this intellectual capacity,” classmate Benjamin Roberts said.
He said Kohberger’s behavior changed noticeably in the days after the deaths of the four college students.
“Bryan seemed like he was on the knife’s edge between exhaustion and worn out and at the time it was extremely difficult to tell which was which,” Roberts said. “He did become more chatty toward the tail end of the term, following the quadruple homicide in Moscow.”
The WSU campus in Pullman is just a 15-minute drive from Moscow, and Roberts said he and others made the drive between the communities for many reasons.
Authorities seized a computer and other evidence from Kohberger’s apartment on Friday after his arrest.
Kohberger is currently being held at Pennsylvania Correctional Facility in Monroe County, where he is being held while awaiting extradition.
