Accused Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger was pulled over twice by police while driving cross-country with his dad to return home for the holidays, his lawyer said.
“I just know that they were pulled over in Indiana almost back to back. I believe once for speeding and once for following too closely to a car in front of them,” Monroe County, Pa., attorney Jason LaBar told local Idaho station KTVB on Sunday.
Kohberger, 28, was arrested in Pennsylvania early Friday and charged with the murder of four University of Idaho students on Nov. 13. He had driven from his home in Pullman, Washington — just nine miles from the scene of the gruesome murders — to the Keystone State with his dad for Christmas. LaBar said the duo arrived at the family home in Albrightsville around Dec. 17.
“I don’t know whether they were speeding or not, or if they were even issued a ticket,” LaBar clarified.
Indiana State Police did not return a request for comment asking if they conducted the stops. However, it would appear they were routine traffic interactions unrelated to the murders and not orchestrated by the police unit trailing the two on their road trip.
Kohberger’s dad had flown to Spokane, Washington, in December and met up with his son so the two could drive the more than 2,500-mile journey together. Kohberger’s father said his son had acted normal on the trip, according to LaBar.
The suspected killer’s white Hyundai Elantra had became a focus point for investigators, and a car matching the description was reportedly seized by police when he was arrested.
LaBar is one of the few people able to have regular contact with Kohberger, a PhD student in criminology at the University of Washington Pullman, as he awaits extradition to Idaho.
“He is mentally aware, he’s aware of the situation, and I think he’s certainly mentally stable and had made no expressions of hurting himself,” LaBar said of the accused murderer. He anticipates Kohberger, who says he is looking forward to being exonerated, will plead not guilty.
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