Hearing, possible release of documents in Idaho murder | WGN Radio 720

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A man charged in the November murders of four University of Idaho students is back in Idaho and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and robbery, and soon may appear in court for the first time. Thursday.

Brian Coberger’s return to the state also means that sealed documents will soon be released that can answer key questions in the closely monitored case.

Coberger, 28, a doctoral student at Washington State University, was flown by the Pennsylvania State Police to a small regional airport near the Idaho border and handed over to local authorities Wednesday night. After his uniformed law enforcement officers waited on the tarmac for the plane to land, they escorted the handcuffed Coberger to a caravan of five cars and took him short from Washington across the Idaho border. I took a drive

The release of court documents sheds light on Lata County prosecutor Bill Thompson’s reasons for accusing Coberger in the November 13 stabbings of Cary Gonsalves, Madison Morgen, Xana Carnold, and Ethan Chapin, and how officials have acted. It may answer important questions about whether you have filed a lawsuit. he.

Koberger was arrested last week at his parents’ home in eastern Pennsylvania and agreed to be extradited to Idaho. He described him as a “normal man”. Lawyers said that after Coberger returns to Idaho, he will be represented by the chief public defender for Kootenay County, Idaho.

Police have released few details of the investigation, and a magistrate has issued sweeping hush orders barring lawyers, law enforcement, and other officials from discussing criminal cases.

A nighttime attack on a home in Moscow near the University of Idaho campus spread fear in the surrounding community as officials appeared baffled by the brutal stabbing. After looking for the white sedan seen before and after and analyzing the DNA evidence collected from the crime scene, it appeared to have a breakthrough.

Investigators say they are still looking for the motive for the attack and the weapon used.

The body of Goncalves, 21, in Rathdrum, Idaho. Morgen, 21, from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Carnodle, 20, Post, Idaho He is from Falls. Her 20-year-old Chapin, of Conway, Washington, was found Nov. 13 in the rental home where the woman was living. Carnodle and Chapin were dating and he was at the house that night.

Prosecutors in Lata County, Idaho, said they believed Coberger broke into the victim’s home in an attempt to commit the murder.

Moscow police have been tight-lipped about the investigation, but investigators last month asked the public for help finding a white sedan, specifically a 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra, seen near the crime scene last month. Information flooded in, and investigators soon announced that they were sifting through a pool of about 20,000 potential vehicles.

Koberger, meanwhile, appears to have been staying in Pullman, Washington, until the end of the WSU semester. He then drove to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, escorted by his father. They rode a white elantra.

While driving through Indiana, Coberger was stopped twice in the same day. He was stopped first by a Hancock County Sheriff’s Deputy and minutes later by an Indiana State Trooper.

A body camera video of the first stop released by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Department shows Coberger at the wheel on Dec. 15 with his father in the passenger seat. A warning will appear if you get too close.

Indiana State Police released body camera footage of the second stop. The agency said no information was available to the troopers at the time that would have identified Koberger as a suspect in the murder.

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Associated Press writers Mark Levy of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and Manuel Valdes of Seattle contributed to this article.