The suspect in the quadruple murders of four University of Idaho students will appear in a Pennsylvania court Tuesday afternoon, where he is expected to waive his extradition to Idaho to face charges of first-degree murder and burglary.
The hearing is set for 3:30 p.m. in Monroe County, where 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger was arrested early Friday morning. Kohbeger is a doctoral student and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University.
Jason LaBar, Monroe County’s chief public defender, has previously said that Kohberger is eager to be exonerated and plans to waive his right to extradition in Tuesday’s hearing.
“Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible,” LaBar told CNN.
If Kohberger waives his right to extradition, his transport to face charges in Idaho will be expedited.
Extradition is the formal process through which a suspected fugitive for a crime in one state who is arrested in a different state is transported back to the state where the crime occurred to face charges.
LaBar told reporters that the hearing is a “formality proceeding” where the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania just needs to prove that Kohberger resembles the suspect in the murders.
“Because of obviously the attention of this case, I assume Idaho is prepared and ready to transport him back already,” LaBar told CBS.
Once Kohberger returns to Idaho and makes an initial appearance in an Idaho court, the affidavit used to secure the probable cause for his arrest can be unsealed, under Idaho law, and the details of the investigation and the arrest will become public.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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[Featured image: Bryan Kohberger/Monroe County Correctional Facility]