- A suspect has been charged in the November knifepoint deaths of four University of Idaho students.
- He arrived in Idaho by plane Wednesday night, according to CNN.
The suspect charged in the stabbing deaths of four college students has been transferred to the custody of Idaho law enforcement and arrived in the state by plane Wednesday night, according to CNN.
Bryan Kohberger, age 28, was initially going to be transported in federal custody, as is customary in cases involving interstate fugitives, Brady McCarron, deputy chief of public affairs for the US Marshals Service told Insider.
But late Wednesday morning, the FBI, which was to be the lead agency in flying the suspect to Idaho from his home state of Pennsylvania, suddenly announced they were no longer involved, and that this would be "a state-to-state transport," McCarron told Insider.
"Obviously the plane has taken off but there was no federal involvement, not by the Marshals or FBI," McCarron said.
He declined to give further details, explaining that the two agencies had agreed to comply with an Idaho judge's gag order on any details of the suspect's movement to Idaho state custody from Monroe County Correctional Facility in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
The suspect was a Washington State University criminal justice graduate student who lived a 20-minute drive across the border from the crime scene.
He was linked to the slayings by crime scene DNA, according to several news outlets, and was arrested Friday, December 30, 2022, at the home of his parents in the Northeastern Pennsylvania town of Albrightsville.
He had been held since Friday in the intake section of Monroe County Correctional Facility, a jail near his hometown.
In his first court appearance Tuesday afternoon, he told a Monroe County judge that he would voluntarily return to face charges Idaho, paving the way for Wednesday's transport.
Pennsylvania State Police and the Monroe County Sheriff's Office had used extreme caution in moving the suspect to and from jail and court.
Journalists from around the country are already in town for the hearing, which has not yet been scheduled.
In Idaho, suspects are expected to be brought to court for their first appearance on criminal charges within 24 hours of their arrest or extradition.
On Tuesday, the outlines of a bulletproof vest could be seen under his jail jumpsuit; eight sheriff's officers escorted him as he moved through the building, including one equipped with an automatic rifle.
The four victims are Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Correction: January 4, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated the law enforcement that would be transporting the suspect. The suspect was initially going to be transported in federal custody, however later in the day it was announced it would be a "state-to-state" transfer and the FBI would not be involved.