Law enforcement authorities arrested a suspect in the brutal slaying of four University Idaho students six weeks ago, and he immediately asked them if he was the only one in custody.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested early Friday morning more than 2,500 miles away from Moscow, Idaho, where he allegedly murdered Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, at their off-campus home on Nov. 13.
He reportedly had a “quiet, blank stare,” as he was taken into custody, and asked arresting officers if “anyone else was arrested” in connection with the murders.
A SWAT team descended on the what is believed to be the home of Kohberger’s parents at 3 a.m. of Friday, after tracking him to the small Pennsylvania town near the Poconos.
Kohberger’s DNA was discovered at the Moscow, Idaho home, where the four students were brutally stabbed to death in their beds between 3 and 4 a.m. after a late night partying.
The FBI connected the Washington State University doctorate student, who lived 11 miles away from the murder scene, by a white Hyundai Elantra that had been seen in the “immediate area” of the slain students home around the time of their deaths.
The federal agency surveilled Kohberger, who was studying for a Ph.D in criminal justice, for four days, while local law enforcement in Idaho worked to secure a warrant for his arrest.
He was charged with first-degree murder on the same day that victims Kaylee Goncalves and her best friend, Maddie Mogen, were laid to rest in a joint celebration of life.
Goncalves’ parents are reportedly “incredibly relieved” by the arrest of a “broken soul, pitiful human being.”
“The little coward that had finally got caught running,” her father, Steve Goncalves, told ABC News.
“I still think everyone’s innocent until proven guilty, so I put that in the back of my mind.”
“This is what we wanted,” her grandmother Cheryl Goncalves added. “We wanted him caught and now we want justice.”
Xana Kernodle’s mother, Cara Northington, was also relieved Kohberger is in custody after the “nightmare” of her daughter’s horrible death.
“I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” she told NBC News, “It’s unreal. I’m thankful to everybody for finding this creep.”
“A lot of the grief was not knowing who this was, knowing that whoever was responsible for that is still out there,” Northington explained.
“So yeah, this definitely takes a lot of the grief that we were experiencing off our shoulders.”
Chilling details have emerged about the suspected killer, who received a master’s degree in criminal justice in 2022 from DeSales University in Pennsylvania, before moving across the country to pursue his doctorate degree in the same field 10 miles away from the slain student’s home.
Five months prior to the horrific murders, Kohberger conducted an online study asking criminals to explain how and why they committed their latest offenses.
He posted an anonymous survey on Reddit, to determine how their “emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime,” for his research paper.
The questionnaire specifically asked how they target victims and prepare for crimes.
Queries included: “Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your home?” and “Why did you choose that victim or target over others?”
Idaho police raided Kohberger’s on the University of Washington Pullman campus and nearby apartment hours after his arrest on Friday.
A neighbor said that they didn’t really know him, but had complained to the property manager about loud noises late at night coming from his apartment.
“He hasn’t been here for a while – we haven’t heard any noise upstairs for around two, three weeks,” they said.
“I just thought he left for the holidays. We had no idea about what happened – I just saw it on the news this morning like everyone else.”
Kohberger is being held at the Monroe County Correctional Facility while he awaits extradition to Idaho.
His hearing is set for Jan. 3, and Steve Gonclaves plans to be in court when he’s shipped back to face his crimes.
“This guy’s gonna have to look me in my eyes multiples times, and I’m going to be looking for the truth. That’s really what I’m going to be looking for,” he said.