Crime Scene Cleanup Was 'Clue' Idaho Murders Had Been Solved: Ex-FBI Agent

Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer said that the cleaning of the crime scene was the "clue" that led to the Friday arrest of Bryan Christopher Kohberger in relation to the four University of Idaho stabbing murders.

The Pennsylvania State Police said in a press release Friday that Kohberger, 28, was arrested on a fugitive-from-justice warrant early this morning in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County. State police received assistance from the city of Moscow, the Idaho Police Department, Idaho State Police, and the FBI.

A SWAT team took the suspect into custody, ABC News reported. After Moscow police said Thursday that they were planning to send a cleaning crew on Friday to the murder scene, that plan has been put on hold according to property managers.

The announcement of an arrest comes over a month after students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20, were found dead in a house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho.

Coffindaffer told Newsweek that when she found out that the cleaning of the murder scene had been postponed, it was a likely indication of a major break in the case.

"That is something that you do toward the end when you truly believe you have all the evidence you need. ... What's really interesting now is they've stopped cleaning," she said. "Why could they stop cleaning? Could (Kohberger) be cooperating? Could he be telling (authorities) something about what he did or (what) he left?"

Idaho News 6 reported via tweet that it independently confirmed that Kohberger is a Ph. D criminology student at the Washington State University, in Pullman.

Newsweek has been unable to independently verify that information.

Coffindaffer said that reports of the suspect's academic background makes her "almost believe he's talking," adding that someone in that field usually knows better than to tell authorities more than one word if they're trying to get away with an alleged crime.

Aside from the revelations about the cleaning of the murder scene, Coffindaffer remarked on Moscow Police Chief James Fry's demeanor—which she described in recent days as "not jovial but confident."

It made her think that authorities involved in the case had determined a suspect.

"Everything about him was different in his latest news conferences," she said.

DeSales University, located in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, issued a statement Friday confirming that Kohberger received a bachelor's degree from the higher education institution in June 2020. In 2022, he completed his graduate studies there.

"As a Catholic, Salesian community, we are devastated by this senseless tragedy," the university said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families during this difficult time."

Kohberger was arraigned Friday before on-call Magisterial District Judge Michael Muth and remanded to Monroe County Correctional Facility, pending extradition to Idaho.