Bryan Kohberger's father ACCOMPANIED him on 2,000-mile road trip back home to Pennsylvania after murders
This article is based on sources, and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently.
SCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA: The University of Idaho murder suspect was reportedly accompanied by his father, Michael Kohberger, on the cross-country road trip just weeks after the quadruple homicide. Bryan Kohberger's public defender revealed that the 28-year-old PhD student at Washington State University in Pullman wasn't alone when he made the 2,000-mile journey back to his family home in Scranton, Pennsylvania from Moscow, Idaho.
The suspect was reportedly spotted with his father in a white Hyundai Elantra that police were searching for, including at a car maintenance shop in Pennsylvania on December 16. That said, it is unclear if Kohberger's father, Michael, knew anything about the gruesome slayings.
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Kohberger's public defender Jason LaBar told CNN that his client "was home for the holidays." The suspect was arrested on Friday, December 30, more than a month after the brutal deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21. Kohberger allegedly broke into the home of the four students' off-campus residence in Moscow and stabbed them to death in their beds on November 13. He is currently remanded in custody in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition to Idaho where he hopes to be "exonerated of these charges," LaBar told the Idaho Statesman.
LaBar said he was preparing for Kohberger to arrive in Idaho and requested that a public defender is assigned to him immediately. However, the suspected killer could face the death penalty in the state, a charge that his family reportedly cannot afford to fight in court. "He does not have the funding to get a private attorney," LaBar said. Surveillance footage from the night of the killings revealed a white Hyundai Elantra that was near the home when the slayings took place at around 3 am. Authorities believe that vehicle belonged to Kohberger.
The PhD student and teaching assistant had reportedly driven the car back to Pennsylvania, where police found it at his parents' home. An unidentified source at a nearby car shop confirmed to Daily Mail that Kohberger was getting car maintenance done with his father after the trip. The source said Kohberger's father, Michael, was gushing about flying out to the west coast to join his son on his road trip home for the holidays and described the 28-year-old suspect as rather reserved. As mentioned, it is unclear if his father knew about the slayings at the time. Nonetheless, police later recovered the car at Kohberger's parent's house where he was apprehended.
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Kohberger's embattled family addressed the charges against him on Sunday, January 1. LaBar released the statement on behalf Bryan's parents, Michael and Maryann Kohberger, and his sisters, Amanda and Melissa. "We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family, we will love and support our son and brother," they said in a statement, cited by TMZ. "First and foremost, we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them," the statement read in part. "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," the family said, adding, "We respect privacy in this matter as our family and the families suffering a loss can move forward through the legal process."