Authorities in two Pennsylvania counties where Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger went to college are reviewing past cold cases to see if descriptions of suspects in those crimes match that of the accused killer.
“Your natural question is to start wondering, ’Is this guy wanted?’” Northampton County District Attorney Terence Houck told KING-TV, the NBC affiliate in Seattle. “Is his name out there? Did he do anything here in (my) county?”
Mr. Houck said his staff searched crime databases using the height, weight and other characteristics of Mr. Kohberger — who is the lone suspect in the November slayings of four University of Idaho students — to see if it’s flagged in any unsolved crimes. Mr. Kohberger attended Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
The prosecutor said that his team has found nothing so far linking Mr. Kohberger to other crimes. However, Mr. Houck acknowledged that Mr. Kohberger may have attended Northampton Community College’s satellite campus in neighboring Monroe County.
Jim Martin, the district attorney for Lehigh County where the murder suspect studied criminology at DeSales University, also reviewed the county’s police records for Mr. Kohberger.
All that was turned up was a 911 call where Mr. Kohberger called police to help him get to his car that was behind a locked gate.
Mr. Kohberger, a criminology doctoral student at Washington State University, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30.
He was extradited days later to Idaho, where he was charged with four counts of first-degree homicide for the Nov. 13 killings of Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Madison Mogen, 21. He was also charged with one count of felony burglary.
A combination of cellphone records, surveillance footage of his car and DNA found on a knife sheath at the scene led police to Mr. Kohberger, according to a probable cause affidavit released following his Jan. 5 court hearing. He has not yet entered a plea.
His next court appearance will be in June. He is being held at the Latah County Jail.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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