From the Lewiston Tribune:
Students bombarded social media after news broke that Washington State University graduate student Bryan Christopher Kohberger has been arrested in connection to the University of Idaho murders.
Some of those students mention Kohberger was their teaching assistant.
“I honestly didn’t go to the class that much, but I remember he still went to class after the murders,” said Kaya Placido, who took a criminology class with Kohberger. “It’s so weird to know that I’ve been in the same room as him.”
Placido added that he would “participate” in talking about the UI murder case, but she doesn’t fully remember his reactions to students’ comments.
Other students, who preferred to remain anonymous, mentioned that having him as a teaching assistant now seems “freaky” after knowing he would be in class, go into office hours and grade assignments. Students said Kohberger continued to participate in classes following the murders Nov. 13.
The Moscow Police Department announced Friday that Kohberger, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at WSU, has been arrested in connection with the murders of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.
Dominic Gannam, a third-year student at WSU, said that although he didn’t know Kohberger, he’s “relieved” knowing there’s been an arrest made.
“I feel safer knowing that he’s been found,” Gannam said. “But it’s creepy to think about him walking on campus every day and that I could have possibly passed him on my way to class. For the past month, everybody’s been on edge because there was no information.”
He added that WSU has done a “poor job” of handling the situation after the murders took place in Moscow and hopes there will be more options of security and safety next semester.
“WSU sent out an email to all students saying there was no threat to Pullman and classes continued in person for the rest of the semester,” Gannam said. “All along the (alleged) killer was on WSU’s campus without anyone knowing.”
Kohberger plans to waive an extradition hearing so he can be quickly brought to Idaho to face murder charges, his defense attorney said Saturday.
Carrillo-Casas can be contacted at [email protected].