Washington State University rocked by second campus death
Washington judge unseals search warrant of Idaho murders suspect's apartment
A Washington judge unsealed the search warrant for Bryan Kohberger, the man suspected of murdering four University of Idaho students. These critical documents reveal what investigators hoped to find in his apartment and office.
PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University has recorded its second death on campus so far in 2023, months after one of its former students, Bryan Kohberger, was accused of killing four students at the nearby University of Idaho in their off-campus home on Nov. 13, 2022.
WSU police on Thursday responded to a call from the Stephenson complex on campus, a residence hall that houses all majors with a focus on first-year STEM students, and located a deceased male upon arrival.
It's the second death reported on campus so far this year after Luke Morgan Tyler, a WSU freshman, was found dead in one of the Pullman campus residence halls on Jan. 22.
"What is happening in Pullman this year??" a WSU student said in a comment on the campus police department's Facebook post.
There is no "known threat" to the Pullman, Washington, college community at this time, and the WSU police department is working with the Whitman County Coroner’s Office to investigate the person's death, police said in a Facebook post.
A sign for Washington State University, where the suspect in a Moscow, Idaho quadruple murder was a graduate student, is seen on January 3, 2023 in Pullman, Washington. (Photo by David Ryder/Getty Images)
The Whitman County Coroner is expected to release the deceased male's name and cause of death at a later time, WSU police said.
WSU Police Chief Jenkins told KHQ that the deceased male was college-aged. The outlet also reported that the person's death was a probable suicide.
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The two deaths on campus come after Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30, 2022, in connection with the brutal stabbings of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21. The Ph.D. student was studying criminal justice at WSU, which is about a 15-minute drive from U of I in Moscow, Idaho.
Idaho murders recap: Suspect extradited, appears in court and more information on the crime
Within the span of a week, we finally learned the name of the alleged killer-- Bryan Kohberger. He was arrested at his parent's home in Pennsylvania and was extradited back to Idaho. He appeared before a judge to face four first-degree murder charges and a burglary charge. If convicted, he could get life in prison or the death penalty from just one murder charge.
About a month prior to his arrest, in November 2022, Pullman police fatally shot 36-year-old Brent Lee Kopacka near the WSU campus because he "was threatening to kill his roommates," authorities said at the time.
The recent incidents have left community members on edge in Pullman as the 2022-23 school year comes to a close in May.
Kohberger is due in court for a preliminary hearing on June 26.