PPennsylvania search warrant documents released this week show authorities seized weapons and other items during a December raid on the home of the parents of Idaho slaying suspect Brian Kochberger. Kochberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November.
Pennsylvania State Police and the FBI arrested Kochberger on the morning of Dec. 30 at his family’s home in the Pocono Mountains, seven weeks after four college students were stabbed to death Nov. 13 in their home on campus in a sleepy college town. . Moscow, Idaho. Sealed court records released Tuesday show law enforcement found and seized knives, guns and black clothing, gloves and medical-style masks in December.
The victim’s roommate, who was in his Moscow home at the time of the killing, described the suspect as “dressed in black and wearing a mask covering the person’s mouth and nose,” according to court documents.
Investigators also seized, searched and then dismantled the white 2015 Hyundai Elantra Kochberger was driving. Authorities said the vehicle matched a vehicle seen on surveillance video near the home where the murder occurred and used the footage to link Kohberger to the murder.
Authorities also found DNA swabs from Kochberger on the day of the search, according to court documents. A previously released statement said law enforcement found a leather knife sheath with Kohberger’s DNA at the crime scene.
Kohberger, 28, was a doctoral student in criminal justice at Washington State University, about eight miles from Moscow. He faces four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Hana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21.
The violent death in Moscow shocked the community and caused panic as the search for the suspect continued for nearly a month and a half after the killing. This week, it became known that the house where the students were killed will be demolished.
The owner of the Moscow home offered to donate the property to the University of Idaho, and the school agreed.
“This is a remedial step and will remove the physical structure where the crime that rocked our community was committed,” University President Scott Green said in a statement.
The reason for the crime has not been determined. Kochberger has yet to plead guilty and is being held without bail in the Lata County Jail in Idaho. A probable cause hearing is scheduled to begin on June 26.
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