Apparently maintaining a low profile at his Washington State University apartment complex, the guy accused of killing four University of Idaho students lived among some neighbours who were unaware of his presence.
The university confirmed in a statement that Bryan Kohberger, 28, who was charged with four counts of first-degree murder, returned to school after the killings and completed his first semester as a PhD student studying criminal justice.
Kohberger’s neighbour, 34-year-old WSU employee Justin Williams, told Fox News Digital that he seldom ever saw the alleged murderer.
“I’d see him go check his mail, that was it. Other than that, I’ve only seen him like twice the whole time, and I’ve lived here since July 2021,” Williams said, who added he noted “nothing unusual” in Kohberger’s behavior.
The Steptoe Village building is a part of a WSU housing complex, according to neighbours, and is located in a “quiet” neighbourhood in Pullman, Washington, a generally safe city. It is roughly a 15-minute drive from Pullman to Moscow, where the four students were killed.
Graduate student Andrew Chua, 28, said he hadn’t observed anything “at all” different in the neighbourhood in the nearly seven weeks since the killings. Chua lives just a few steps from Kohberger’s building.
“I didn’t know about this issue, it’s a very quiet, very nice place to live,” said Chua, who did not recognize Kohberger’s photo. “Now, I’m like, ‘Maybe I should stay home.’”
The news of the arrest taking place at a short distance from Shawn Domgaard’s home, a 36-year-old PhD candidate at WSU, is “hard to absorb,” he added.
The Utah native and father of three small children told Fox, “It’s just so, like I said, a tremendous contrast to what we’re used to. “Even though it’s right outside my back door, it feels like it’s happening somewhere else.”
The bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, who were found stabbed to death in their beds in their off-campus house on November 13 have been identified, and Kohberger has been charged with their murders.
In accordance with Idaho state law, Prosecutor Thompson informed reporters at a news conference on Friday that more details regarding the murders and the investigation that resulted in Kohberger’s arrest will stay sealed in a probable cause affidavit until he is returned to Idaho.
Kohberger is being jailed in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, without bond. Jan. 3 is the day of his extradition hearing.