Pennsylvania warden says suspected U of I killer’s time in jail has been ‘uneventful’
A Pennsylvania jail official has refuted claims that the Washington State University graduate student accused of murder in the killing of four University of Idaho students taunted guards at the Monroe County Jail, calling the 28-year-old’s time in custody “uneventful.”
Monroe County Correctional Facility Warden Garry Haidle told the Idaho Statesman that Bryan Kohberger, of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, has been housed alone and considered a high-security inmate. He said “all normal policies and procedures have been followed” since Kohberger was arrested and booked into the jail on Friday morning.
He declined to provide further information on the typical policy and procedures.
Kohberger was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police at about 1:45 a.m. Friday at a home in nearby Chestnuthill Township, which a prosecutor told The New York Times was the house of Kohberger’s parents. Kohberger, who faces four first-degree murder charges in Idaho, was expected to appear before a Pennsylvania judge at 1:30 p.m. Mountain time Tuesday and waive his extradition rights.
An article by the Daily Mail of Britain— which has been cited by a few other national news outlets — claimed that Kohberger has taunted guards and attempted to expose himself to another person incarcerated at the jail.
“His confinement at the Monroe County Correctional Facility was uneventful,” Haidle said in a statement provided to the Statesman.
Haidle also said that Kohbeger was on suicide watch, and an image of Kohbeger on Friday showed him wearing what appeared to be a Safety Smock, also known as a “turtle suit,” which is typically a quilted garment that makes it difficult for the person wearing it to tear to try to make a rope, as it can’t be folded or tied like a normal piece of fabric.
Kohberger’s attorney, Jason LaBar, the chief public defender for Monroe County, told NBC’s “Today” show that Kohberger has been “very calm” and easy to speak with.
LaBar told the Statesman in a statement he provided over the weekend that Kohberger is “eager to be exonerated of these charges.”
“Mr. Kohberger has been accused of very serious crimes, but the American justice system cloaks him in a veil of innocence,” LaBar said. “He should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise — not tried in the court of public opinion.”
The arrest came after a weeks-long investigation into the stabbings of four students: seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.
