Idaho requests suspect in Moscow killings be extradited back to state. Here’s what’s next

A Washington State University grad student suspected of killing four University of Idaho students in November was arrested Friday 2,500 miles away from the Moscow campus.

Documentation shows that the suspect, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody in Pennsylvania and was being detained at Monroe County Prison in Stroudsburg. An order was filed denying him bond.

Chief James Fry of the Moscow Police Department in Idaho said Friday afternoon at a press conference that the department is planning to extradite Kohberger, who resides in Pullman, Washington, back to Idaho. Extradition is simply the process of moving a suspect from one jurisdiction to another, but it’s not always simple.

The extradition procedure follows several steps and requires cooperation between state governmental bodies.

Extradition process

Website World Population Review covers the steps that law enforcement and state governments have to follow when it comes to extradition.

The process is outlined in the U.S. Constitution in its Extradition Clause. The section states: “A person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the state from he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.”

If someone is charged with a crime in one state but is arrested in a different one, then the state charging the crime requests that the fugitive be returned.

A state can issue an out-of-state warrant for a suspect’s arrest if it believes the suspect fled the state to avoid capture. In this case, Idaho authorities filed the warrant and Pennsylvania authorities acted on it.

The suspect was detained outside the Gem State, so Pennsylvania notified Idaho authorities about the arrest. Kohberger has a court appearance scheduled for Tuesday afternoon where he can waive extradition and voluntarily return to Idaho to face four first-degree murder charges.

Kohberger also can challenge extradition. If he does, then Idaho authorities can move forward with proceedings through the governor’s offices of both Idaho and Pennsylvania, according to Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, who spoke at Friday’s news conference in Moscow.

If both governors approve the extradition request, then a Pennsylvania court decides to approve or deny extradition.

More details of Kohberger’s arrest and the case against him won’t be released until he appears in Idaho, according to state statute. Thompson said a probable cause affidavit was filed Thursday, but it will remain sealed until Kohberger is extradited.

“This is not the end of this investigation. In fact, it’s a new beginning,” Thompson said. “You all now know the name of the person who has been charged with these offenses.”

This story was originally published December 30, 2022 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Idaho requests suspect in Moscow killings be extradited back to state. Here’s what’s next."