Arrest of suspect in killings ‘a relief’ to Idaho campus

Pennsylvania, The Gulf Observer: The fatal stabbings of four students at the University of Idaho shook the college town of Moscow, a small community nestled in the rolling agricultural hills of the Palouse region that hadn’t seen a murder for five years.

The Nov. 13 slayings seemed to mystify police, adding to the tension in town as the weeks went by without a break in the case. Then on Friday a suspect was arrested more than 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) away in Pennsylvania.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody in the early morning by the Pennsylvania State Police at a home in Chestnuthill Township, authorities said. Latah County, Idaho, Prosecutor Bill Thompson said investigators believe Kohberger broke into the students’ home “with the intent to commit murder.”

DNA evidence played a key role in identifying Kohberger as a suspect in the killings and authorities were able to match his DNA to genetic material recovered during the investigation, a law enforcement official said. In recent days, federal investigators had been watching Kohberger.