Idaho stabbings suspect’s family express support for him, sympathy for victims

STROUDSBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania family of a man arrested in the slayings of four University of Idaho students expressed sympathy for the families of the victims but also vowed to support him and promote “his presumption of innocence.”

Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old doctoral student and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, was taken into custody early Friday by state police at his parents’ home in Chestnuthill Township in eastern Pennsylvania, authorities said.

His parents, Michael and Maryann, and his two older sisters, Amanda and Melissa, said in a statement released Sunday by his attorney that they “care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them.”

The family said that relatives will continue to let the legal process unfold, and that “as a family we will love and support our son and brother.”