Idaho University slaying suspect listens with a clenched jaw as a judge reads the murder charges against him

• Idaho killing suspect appears in court on murder charges.
• The 28-year-old was transported from Pennsylvania to Idaho by the FBI on Tuesday.

The 28-year-old man accused of brutally killing four University of Idaho students was met by a crowd of press, spectators, and anxious locals outside of the Latah County Courthouse, where he appeared Thursday for the first time.

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, Bryan Kohberger appeared thin and slightly hunched as he walked into the Latah County courthouse where he was officially charged with first-degree murder in the slayings of four students: Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20.

When Judge Megan Marshall asked the 28-year-old suspect if he understood the charges against him, he leaned over at the table in front of him and answered "yes" six times.

As Marshall spoke, he nodded along, clenching his jaw.

Marshall ordered him held without bail and he was told not to have any contact with victims' families or surviving roommates for two years.

Kohberger, a Washington State University graduate student who was studying criminology, was arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania on Friday, at his parents' house.

Several members of Goncalves family sat in the front row of the court Thursday, the victim's mother quietly sobbing as the charge for her daughter's murder was read.

A man wrapped his arms around two others and hugged them.

More than 50 members of the press, the Gonclaves family, and a few members of the public filled all five hardwood benches inside the courtroom. A local woman and true-crime enthusiast who had been live-streaming herself from outside the courthouse heaved audible sobs during the 10-minute hearing.

Police were reportedly able to link the suspect to the crime scene using the same controversial method investigators used to find the Golden State Killer.

After tracking the suspect across the country, the FBI followed him for four days before the arrest. The FBI transported him Tuesday from Pennsylvania to Idaho for his first appearance on the state charges.

On Wednesday night, dozens of journalists and onlookers stood in the cold outside of Latah County Jail when law enforcement escorted the suspect inside.

He was not arraigned Thursday, so no plea was entered, but he was formerly read the state charges against him.

The high-profile killings sent a shockwave through Idaho, and then the country, as weeks passed with no arrest in the case. The public has grown eager to know what could have triggered the slayings.

After Kohberger's appearance four members of the Goncalves family stood in front of media and their lawyer Shannon Gray made a statement.

"It's obviously an emotional time for the family seeing the defendant for the first time," he said. Gray said the criminal justice system was in the beginning phase. "The family will be here for the long haul."