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Monroe County, Pennsylvania

T hey hold him in the Monroe County Correctional Facility in Stroudsburg, about twenty-five miles from his parents’ home. And they talk to him for nearly fifteen minutes.

They’ve swabbed him for DNA several times. Presumably the samples are in a lab being analyzed right now.

But Bryan knows no more than that about what law enforcement has on him. According to Idaho law, Brett Payne’s probable-cause affidavit must remain sealed until the suspect is back in the state.

At first Bryan says he doesn’t need a lawyer. He’s calm. When he’s asked if he knows what murders they are talking about, he says of course.

“Yes, certainly I’m aware of what’s going on. I’m ten miles away from this,” he says.

And then, suddenly, he changes his mind. He asks for a lawyer.

While he waits, he’s given a dark green blanket-like suicide-prevention vest to wear.

As a Fox News reporter explained: “Suicide-prevention vests are used to ‘ensure warmth and comfort’ while not obstructing the wearer’s movements, according to PSP Corp, a maker of tactical and suicide-prevention gear.

The vests also cannot be rolled or torn and prevent inmates ‘from using the fabric to create a weapon or hanging mechanism.’”

On the morning of December 30, Jason LaBar, the chief public defender for Monroe County, comes to see Bryan.

LaBar said that he was astonished when he first got the call. Of course he knew about the murders—but for the suspect to be in Monroe County? “I did not expect that.”

LaBar finds that his new client is calm in all of their four meetings over the next three days. Unusually calm, given the circumstances.

Bryan tells the lawyer that he was “shocked” when the agents burst into his parents’ home waving guns in his face.

LaBar said that in his experience—and he has quite a lot of experience—every defendant reacts differently.

Kohberger seems to want to chat; it’s as if he’s got a story he wants to tell LaBar. But the lawyer cuts him off.

“I really wanted to make sure that [Kohberger] understood that I didn’t want to know about the facts and circumstances.”

LaBar explains to Bryan that he’s there only to handle the extradition proceedings.

That someone in Idaho will be appointed to act as his criminal lawyer.

That the only way for Bryan to learn why he’s been charged with these crimes is to fly back to Idaho.

Only then will the probable-cause affidavit, the document filed by the police with enough in it to justify the arrest and search warrants, be available to him.

LaBar is just as in the dark as his client.

LaBar is almost surprised by how quickly Bryan agrees to waive his rights in Pennsylvania and be extradited. His client wants to understand what the police think they know. “He was very candid with me about the extradition,” LaBar said, which made his job easier.

So did Bryan’s obviously high intelligence and working knowledge of criminal law.

LaBar works with Bryan on the wording of what he, in his role as chief public defender, will say to the media; journalists noted that it did not explicitly state that he was innocent.

On Saturday, December 31, LaBar issues that statement.

Mr. Kohberger has been accused of very serious crimes, but the American justice system cloaks him in a veil of innocence.

He should be presumed innocent until proven otherwise—not tried in the court of public opinion.

One should not pass judgment about the facts of the case unless and until a fair trial in court at which time all sides may be heard and inferences challenged…

Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.