'He was living his best life': Ethan Chapin’s basketball coach Tyler Amaya remembers 'incredible individual'
This article is based on sources and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently.
MOSCOW, IDAHO: More than six weeks after the murders of four college students in a Moscow, Idaho, off-campus apartment, police detained Bryan Christopher Kohberger as a suspect. The 28-year-old was detained in Pennsylvania based on a warrant for a wanted person, according to police.
Following his extradition, he was formally charged in Idaho on January 12. The victim's families and friends are still dealing with a hefty loss, as they lost four young lives in a brutal murder. Recently, Ethan's Chapin basketball coach and family friend, Tyler Amaya, has expressed his grief for his late friend.
READ MORE
'School is out of the picture': Internet debates Bryan Kohberger's return to WSU if 'found innocent'
Amaya unveiled how an "incredible individual" Ethan was, and he always lived his life best. Amaya said, "Ethan was an absolutely incredible individual … He brought energy and good vibes everywhere he went."
"Ethan was always living his best life. As long as I knew him, he was living his best life. It was no surprise to me that he was moving on to college and making the most of that opportunity," Amaya said during an appearance Friday night on NewsNation. In memory of Chapin, Amaya has established the Hoop for the Valley foundation to provide free access to basketball for children from low-income households, as per reports.
Last footprint of Ethan Chapin
The investigation discovered that Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle went to a party on November 12 between 8 and 9 pm at the Sigma Chi house on the University of Idaho campus at 735 Nez Perce Drive. Ethan and Xana are thought to have returned to the house at 1122 King Road around 1.45 am on November 13. Although it had previously been claimed that Ethan also lived in the same house where the murders occurred, however, the Moscow Police Department later confirmed on November 25 that he was only a visitor, as reported by MEAWW.
Revised timeline of deaths as per affidavit
The four students were previously thought to have been murdered on November 13 between three and four am, according to authorities. They now believe that all four students were killed between 4 and 4.25 am. According to the affidavit, which was made public on January 5, the one-hour window has been reduced to 25 minutes. Kernodle was using TikTok at 4.12 am, according to phone records, indicating that she was still awake and alive, as MEAWW previously reported. Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, two other housemates, were unharmed, and police noted in the affidavit that Mortensen saw an unknown male leaving the house around 4:17 am, that is now suspect to be Kohberger.
About Kohberger arrest and trial
On Thursday, January 12, Kohberger appeared in an Idaho court for a status hearing. According to Kohberger's attorney Anne Taylor, who spoke with Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall, Kohberger waived his right to a prompt preliminary hearing, which would have been required within two weeks. The preliminary hearing will start on June 26 at 9:00 am local time, as per reports.
The suspect, 28, was arrested on December 30 at his parents' home in Pennsylvania and charged last week with the murders of four University of Idaho students. Kohberger is currently being held in jail and has yet to be arraigned, but he has previously stated through a lawyer that he intends to plead not guilty to the crimes. Despite his alleged meticulous planning, Kohberger's arrest records claim he left an important piece of evidence at the scene — the unidentified murder weapon's "tan leather knife sheath", which police discovered near Mogen's body, as per the affidavit.