The former Moscow Police chief in Idaho who resigned following the arrest of Bryan Kohberger is currently seeking a new job.
Earlier this year, James Fry, the former Moscow Police Chief, announced plans to run for Latah County Sheriff. A review of the Idaho Campaign Finance System website by Newsweek also confirmed Fry's intent to run for the Latah County Sheriff's position.
"There's some things that I'm looking at doing, getting out in the smaller communities and trying to develop some community policing philosophies out there," Fry told Northwest Public Broadcasting in March. "There's things that I'll bring to the table that we did here in Moscow."
The announcement by Fry comes shortly after he announced his resignation from his role as Chief of the Moscow Police Department, where he led the investigation into Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho college students, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
The four University of Idaho students were found dead in an off-campus home on November 13, 2022, at 1122 King Road, Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger has maintained his innocence in the case while he remains jailed in Latah County, Idaho.
In February, Fry announced his resignation saying, "It has been my honor to serve and protect the citizens of Moscow and to contribute to the law enforcement profession throughout my career. The Moscow Police Department has embodied the ethos that to whom much is given, much will be required, and we understand the trust that is placed in our officers in serving their community."
According to the city of Moscow, Fry spent nearly 29 years with the Moscow Police Department where he "held the ranks of Patrol Officer, Patrol Corporal, Patrol and Detective Sergeant, Services and Detectives' Unit Lieutenant, Campus Division Captain, and eight years as the Chief of Police."
Newsweek reached out to the city of Moscow via email for comment.
Prior to Kohberger's arrest, Fry and the Moscow Police Department faced criticism from some over how the investigation was handled.
In December 2022, the mother of Kaylee Goncalves, Kristi Goncalves told the Today show that her family was being "left in the dark" on the course of the investigation and that she feared the murder of her daughter may remain unsolved.
However, Fry later defended the police department telling NewsNation in December 2022 that he believed the investigation was "handled properly."
"We secured the scene quickly, we called in the state police. We did our due diligence in getting the things that we needed to do to... have this be a solid case all the way through. [We] called in the state lab to collect evidence," Fry said in December 2022.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
