Idaho murders: Bodycam shows moment Indiana police pulled over suspect Bryan Kohberger in white Elantra
Written by ABC Audio. All rights reserved. on January 4, 2023
(NEW YORK) — Newly obtained body camera video shows the moment the Indiana State Police unknowingly pulled over the suspect in the University of Idaho murders as he drove cross-country after the crimes.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was a Ph.D. student in Washington State University’s department of criminal justice and criminology at the time of the murders. Washington State is less than 10 miles away from Moscow, Idaho, where four University of Idaho college students were murdered.
After Kohberger’s semester ended this December, he and his father drove cross-country together to spend the holidays at the family’s Pennsylvania home, his attorney in Pennsylvania, Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar, told ABC News.
They drove the pre-planned road trip in the white Hyundai Elantra that authorities said they were looking for in connection to the murders, according to LaBar.
Indiana State Police said a trooper stopped Kohberger and his father east of Indianapolis on Dec. 15 for following another vehicle too closely.
Police bodycam shows the trooper identifying himself and asking for license and registration. Bryan Kohberger was in the driver’s seat.
“The Trooper, having learned the two had been stopped minutes before by a Deputy from the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department, who he knew was working just down the interstate from him, used his discretion and released the two men with a verbal warning,” state police said in a statement.
The state police added: “At the time of this stop, there was no information available on a suspect for the crime in Idaho, to include identifying information or any specific information related to the license plate state or number of the white Hyundai Elantra which was being reported in the media to have been seen in or around where the crime occurred.”
The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office said it stopped Kohberger just nine minutes before the Indiana State Police. The father and son were pulled over at that time for speeding, according to LaBar. The sheriff’s department also said there was no information at the time on the suspect in the Idaho crimes or specific information on the white Hyundai Elantra.
Kohberger, who was arrested in Pennsylvania on Friday on first-degree murder and burglary charges, agreed to be extradited to Idaho during a Tuesday court appearance.
LaBar said his client was “eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”
Kohberger is accused in the Nov. 13 murders of University of Idaho roommates Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin. The four victims were stabbed to death at the girls’ off-campus house in the middle of the night in a crime that terrorized the college town and garnered national interest.
Moscow Police Chief James Fry said the Moscow Police Department’s only prior interaction with Kohberger was a traffic citation for not wearing a seat belt that was issued while the suspect drove the white Elantra.
ABC News’ Olivia Rubin contributed to this report.
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