Idaho Murders Suspect Pulled Over Twice During Drive To PA

Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the killing of four University of Idaho students, was pulled over twice during his 2,500-mile road trip home with his father to Pennsylvania, according to his extradition lawyer.

Kohberger, a 28-year-old graduate student at the Washington State University in Pullman, ‎Washington, was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania Friday and charged with four counts of murder in the first degree, as well as felony burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in November.

Jason LaBar, Kohberger’s Pennsylvania defense attorney in the extradition case, reportedly told NBC that Kohberger’s father flew into Spokane, Washington, and then drove down to Pullman in a pre-planned trip ahead of the drive home ahead of the Christmas holiday break.

The father’s visit to Washington was pre-planned, he claimed.

The attorney said that he believes the suspect and his father’s vehicle was stopped twice in Indiana for speeding and for following too closely to a car in front of them without clarifying which jurisdictions the stops happened in.

“I don’t know whether they were speeding or not or if they were even issued a ticket,” LaBar reportedly told NBC. “I just know that they were pulled over in Indiana almost back-to-back. I believe once for speeding and once for [following] too closely to a car in front of them.”

But Sgt. Glen Fifield, a spokesperson for the Indiana State Police, said he could not find evidence of any such encounters to corroborate LaBar’s remarks.

“We have examined records and do not find any record of any traffic stops or any interactions involving Bryan Kohberger, his father or any Kohberger,” Fifield told Fox News Digital.

Washington State University in Pullman, where Kohberger is studying in the department of criminal justice and criminology, is roughly 10 miles from the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, where university students Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were stabbed to death in an off-campus home on Nov. 13.

Classes ended at Washington State University on Dec. 15 and the following day at the University of Idaho. It was not immediately clear when Kohberger left Pullman, but he returned to Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, by Dec. 17, according to LaBar.

Investigators identified Kohberger as the suspect through DNA evidence and by confirming his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene, two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation told CNN.

Kohberger drove cross-country in a white Hyundai Elantra and arrived at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania around Christmas, one law enforcement source revealed to the outlet. Authorities began tracking him at some point during his trip east from Idaho.

“Sometime right before Christmas we were zeroing in on him being in or going to Pennsylvania,” the source told CNN.

An FBI surveillance team tracked Kohberger for four days before his arrest Friday, the source said.

John Kelly, a criminal profiler and psychotherapist who has interviewed multiple serial killers, told Fox News Digital that if Kohberger did commit the crimes, he made a series of key errors.

Kohberger’s trip away from the crime scene can be seen as “a sign of guilt,” Kelly said.

Kohberger is expected to waive extradition Tuesday and return to Idaho to face the charges.

In their first public statement, Kohberger’s family said they have fully cooperated with the police to “seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence.”

The suspect’s family expressed sadness over the deaths of four Idaho students, adding that they are praying each day for the victims, CNN reported.