Judge issues gag order in Idaho murders case stopping police releasing information about Bryan Kohberger
Gag order is not expected to impact the release of the probable cause affidavit – a document that will cast light on what exactly led investigators to the 28-year-old PhD student
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US
A gag order has been issued banning law enforcement from revealing information about the murders of four University of Idaho students and the arrest of their accused killer Bryan Kohberger.
Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall made the unusual move on Tuesday to issue a non-dissemination order in the high-profile case that has rocked the small college town of Moscow and drawn headlines across the globe for the past two months.
The court order bans investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and members of both the prosecution and the defence from sharing any new information about the investigation or the suspect before a verdict is reached at trial.
Under the ruling, authorities can still quote from or refer to “the public record” without making further comment.
Moscow Police Department said in a statement that, due to the order, it will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding the case.
The gag order is not expected to impact the release of the probable cause affidavit – a document that will cast light on what exactly led investigators to the 28-year-old PhD student in connection to the brutal murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Under Idaho state law, officials are limited about what they can release before a suspect makes their initial court appearance.
The probable cause affidavit is currently sealed and cannot be unsealed until Mr Kohberger is returned to Idaho and is served with the arrest warrant for four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
On Tuesday, Mr Kohberger waived his extradition rights, paving the way for him to be transported from Pennsylvania to Idaho to face charges.
The 28-year-old criminology PhD student was shackled and handcuffed as he appeared for his extradition hearing at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania on Tuesday afternoon.
He mouthed “I love you” to his tearful family members who were in court to support him before he signed documents agreeing to the extradition request.
When exactly he will return to Idaho is currently unclear.
The judge ordered him to be returned to Idaho within the next 10 days, giving authorities up until Friday 13 January – the two-month anniversary of the murders – to return him to the state.
In a press conference after the extradition hearing, PA State Police Major Christopher Paris said an exact timeframe was still in the works but said that he wanted the process to be as quick as possible.
“We would like to do it as soon as possible,” he said.
Moscow Police released a statement saying it will not be releasing specifics about his transportation to Idaho including the timeline and the method of transportation, due to security concerns.
Monroe County First District Attorney Michael Mancuso hinted in the press conference that the affidavit contains damning evidence, suggesting that Mr Kohberger’s eagerness to learn what they contain is behind his reason to want to return to Idaho as soon as possible.
“I definitely believe one of the reasons he decided to waive his extradition rights was a ‘need to know’ what was in the documents,” Mr Mancuso said.
While details about what led investigators to the suspect will remain under wraps until the suspect is back in Idaho, police sources told CNN that the criminal justice student was linked when the white Hyundai Elantra seen near the crime scene at the time of the killings was traced back to him.
His DNA was then also matched through genetic geneology techniques to DNA found at the crime scene, the sources said.
Bodycam footage has now been released showing Mr Kohberger and his father being pulled over by police in the Elantra one month on from the murders – before being let go.
The incident unfolded back on 15 December when an Indiana State Police trooper pulled the car over during the father and son’s 2,500-mile journey from Washington state to Pennsylvania.
The footage shows Mr Kohberger’s startled face when an officer pulls the car over and approaches the door.
The officer tells Mr Kohberger – who is driving – and his father that he was trailing too closely behind a truck trailer as he drove.
The conversation is largely unintelligble due to road noise, but Mr Kohberger’s father is heard telling the officer that his son attends Washington State University and that there had been a shooting there recently.
One day earlier on 14 December, a man had barricaded himself in an apartment near WSU and threatened to kill his two roommates before being killed in a shootout with police.
Mr Kohberger’s concern over the shooting at his son’s college indicates his lack of awareness that his son would soon be arrested for a quadruple murder.
The father and son also tell the officer that they have just been pulled over by another trooper. The Hancock County Sheriff’s Office has confirmed it also carried out a stop on the suspect’s car that day.
The Indiana State Trooper told Mr Kohberger and his father that he was not giving them a ticket or warning but urged them to be “giving yourself plenty of room” on the road.
Indiana State Police said that, at the time of the stop, the trooper had no information linking Mr Kohberger to the murders in Moscow.
It was sometime during the cross-country journey east that investigators began tracking Mr Kohberger’s movements.
Since early December, Moscow Police had been searching for a white Hyundai Elantra which was spotted at the crime scene at the time of the murders on 13 November.
Mr Kohberger’s vehicle was seized at the time of his arrest.
On Friday, police swooped in on the Kohberger family home in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County, and arrested him for the murders.
As a criminal justice PhD student at Washington State University – just across the Idaho-Washington border from Moscow – Mr Kohberger lives just 15 minutes from the King Road home where the murders took place.
In the aftermath of the murders, he had stayed in Pullman, Washington, and continued with his studies for several weeks before setting off on the drive to his home state Pennsylvania sometime in December so that he could spend the holidays with his family.
Mr Kohberger’s father had travelled to Washington state to meet his son before Christmas – weeks after the violent quadruple homicide – so that they could make the cross-country drive home together.
They arrived at their family home in the Pocono Mountains in mid-December.
An FBI team kept Mr Kohberger under surveillance in the area for several days before his arrest on Friday (30 December).
No motive has been given for the brutal stabbings and it is unclear what connection – if any – he may have to the four victims.
However, Kaylee Goncalves’ father Steve Goncalves told ABC News that he had found unnamed connections between the suspect and his daughter – but was not ready to reveal what these potential ties were.
The grieving father vowed to face his daughter’s alleged killer in court, saying that he wants Mr Kohberger to be “sick of seeing us” as he spoke of his determination to win “a battle of wills” against the man accused of stabbing his daughter to death in her bed.
“I want him to be sick of seeing us and sick of knowing that these people won’t let it go,” he told NBC News on Monday.
“You know, it’s a battle of wills, and we’ll see who wins.”
Mr Kohberger meanwhile plans to fight the accusations, with his Pennsylvania public defender Jason LaBar saying that he was “eager to be exonerated”.
In a statement released on Sunday, Mr Kohberger’s parents also vowed to stand by their son.
“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 family said in a statement.
“We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother.
“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. We respect privacy in this matter as our family and the families suffering loss can move forward through the legal process.”
Mr Kohberger moved to Washington to begin the criminology graduate program at Washington State University in August and had just completed his first semester.
Before this, he studied criminology at DeSales University – first as an undergraduate and then finishing his graduate studies in June 2022.
While there, he studied under renowned forensic psychologist Katherine Ramsland who interviewed the BTK serial killer and co-wrote the book Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him.
Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were murdered on 13 November
He also carried out a research project “to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime”.
He reached out for participants on Reddit, with the chilling survey resurfacing in the wake of his arrest.
“In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience,” the post said.
His arrest marked a huge break in the seven-week-long investigation into the murders which rocked the small college town back on 13 November.
The four victims were stabbed to death in their beds with a fixed-blade knife at around 3am or 4am that morning.
Two of the victims were found on the second floor and two on the third floor of the three-storey student rental – a stone’s throw from the University of Idaho campus.
Two surviving roommates slept through the attack in bedrooms on the first floor. The students’ bodies were discovered at around midday.