Bryan Kohberger, the man who admitted to murdering four University of Idaho students in cold blood, is struggling mightily according to new reports out of the Idaho Maximum Security Institution near the town of Kuna, just south of Boise, Idaho.
“They are now making his life absolutely miserable,” Chris McDonough, a retired homicide detective, told NewsNation last Tuesday. “They’re utilizing the vent system, they’re kicking the doors, they’re taunting him, and they’re basically torturing him through psychology.”
It’s been less than a month since Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences in prison without parole for the killing spree, as well as another 10 years for burglary. Kohberger pled guilty to the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle inside an Ida County courtroom in late July. He was not compelled by presiding Judge Steven Hippler to explain his motives or reveal where he dumped the KA-BAR knife used in the massacre.
An extensive report released by the Idaho Statesmen on Thursday suggests Kohberger, a former criminology PhD student at Washington State University, would have probably escaped prosecution had he not left behind a knife sheath beneath Mogen’s body. Investigators were initially unable to match the DNA print and remained stumped for months. Moscow, Idaho, where the murders occurred, hadn’t recorded a murder since 2015; residents were spooked and weary of the investigation. The only piece of evidence outside the DNA stamp, which local investigators could not source, was a partial footprint in the snow leading away from the house on 1122 King Road. Kohberger had almost committed the perfect crime.
Almost. Investigators worked tirelessly, eventually turning to the FBI and new technology called genealogical DNA. That led to a DNA match connecting Kohberger to the crimes. He was then tracked across the country to his parent’s home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania where he was observed wearing surgical gloves and placing trash bags inside a neighbor’s garbage can. Upon arrest, Kohberger waived his rights to a speedy trial and remained adamant that he was not guilty of the charges.
But for many of those who had gotten to know the criminology student who struggled to connect socially, Kohberger exhibited many of the predatorial behaviors typical of those who commit such heinous crimes. An unnamed criminology professor at Washington State University interviewed by investigators said Kohberger’s awkward, leering energy had prompted one female colleague to request an escort as she left campus one evening.
“Kohberger is smart enough that in four years, we will have to give him a PhD,” the professor said, recounting a conversation they had with colleagues before the murders. “Mark my word, I work with predators, if we give him a PhD, that’s the guy that in many years, when he is a professor, we will hear is harassing, stalking, and sexually abusing.”
For a criminology graduate student who was obsessed with serial killers, Kohberger failed to clean up the digital trail that would eventually help prosecutors secure a deal for life in prison. Once Kohberger was identified, investigators received a search warrant for Kohberger’s phone. That showed at least a dozen visits to the cell tower nearest the house on King Road. And though Kohberger turned his WiFi off a full two days before the murders, it was that sort of abnormal behavior that helped build the case against a man who only had 18 contacts saved in his phone. It didn’t help Kohberger’s case that the gaunt killer had snapped a smiling selfie only hours after the brutal killing spree on November 13, 2022.
Though Kohberger’s defense team faced an uphill battle inside and outside of the courtroom, Kohberger maintained his steadfast denial of the crimes. That made the eventual plea deal less than two months before the scheduled trial a surprise to most who followed the case. The Goncalves family and many others who followed the trial over the last three years were outraged to learn of the plea deal struck by Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson. The death of Goncalves had been particularly brutal. She was stabbed more than 30 times in her face, rendering her unrecognizable to responding officers.
“We’ve had faith in the system,” said Aubrie Goncalves, the 18-year-old sister of Kaylee. “But at this point, it is impossible not to acknowledge the truth: the system has failed these four innocent victims and their families.” Kaylee’s father Steve, an outspoken critic of the prosecution team, told NBC’s Today show that the prosecution had accepted Kohberger’s plea without seeking his family’s approval.
“Idaho has failed,” Goncalves said. “They failed my whole family,”
In Idaho, they shoot those who receive the death penalty. Since 2023, it is one of only five states in the union to practice what is considered by many to be an outdated form of execution. But Idaho is not a state that operates on the whims of the secular American majority. Though the execution method was partially adopted due to trouble obtaining lethal injection chemicals, the Republican Gov. Brad Little left little doubt about the state’s commitment to the practice when in March he signed legislation to make firing squads the primary method of execution for the worst criminals convicted in the state. Idaho is currently the only state in The United States that uses firing squads as its primary method of execution.
Ironically, in classes at Washington State University, Kohberger argued in favor of the death penalty and expressed support for the involvement of family members in the decision to push for the unanimous jury verdict required to impose such a sentence. But when the time came for the 28-year-old to face a jury of his peers, he mawkishly denied the parents of the four killed the opportunity to achieve that outcome. Kohberger, who was required as part of the plea deal to waive his right to an appeal, might be regretting his decision to face life in a hole as reports are already surfacing of around-the-clock harassment from inmates at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
A law enforcement source told CBS News that the harassment of Kohberger, now known simply as inmate number 163214, is relentless. “They are literally getting up into the grate and yelling at him. The inmates are taking it in turns doing it. It’s driving him crazy. The inmates are tormenting him at night and almost all hours of the day.” Kohberger has reportedly complained that he can’t sleep, and, though officials at the prison reacted with a statement promising Kohberger is protected from physical harm, it was clear from their dismissive tone that little will be done to keep other inmates from verbally assaulting the admitted killer.
“We are aware of Kohberger’s complaints about what he considers taunting,” a spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Corrections said in a statement. “Incarcerated individuals commonly communicate with each other in prison. Bryan Kohberger is housed alone in a cell, and IDOC security staff maintain a safe and orderly environment for all individuals in our custody.”
The question of the proper punishment for such an odious crime has divided family members and commentators following the case. Cara Northington, the mother of Xana Kernodle, publicly stated that she was against the death penalty. “That’s not who I am,” Northington told NewsNation. “But I do think that he should spend the rest of his days in prison.”
But Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee, doesn’t agree. “Justice is when you leave the planet,” Goncalves told NewsNation. “The whole world is able to rejoice and be glad that you are not there.” Ben Mogen, the father of Madison, also reportedly supported seeking the death penalty but has yet to make a public statement regarding the matter.
One form of punishment that the families were able to enact was that of confrontation as they faced Kohberger in court following his plea. The most searing statement was delivered by Kaylee’s sister Alivea Goncalves who systematically broke down the meager and pitiful psychological nature of her sister’s killer.
“They were everything that you can never be,” Goncalves told the stone-faced Kohberger. “They were loved, accepted, vibrant, accomplished, brave and powerful. The truth about Kaylee and Madi is they would’ve been kind to you. If you had approached them in their everyday lives, they would’ve given you directions, thanked you for the compliment or awkwardly giggled to make your own words less uncomfortable for you. In a world that rejected you, they would’ve shown mercy.”
Goncalves wasn’t finished. Holding back tears, she delivered a haymaker.
“I will call you what you are: Sociopath, psychopath, murderer,” Goncalves said. “What’s it like needing this much attention just to feel real? … You didn’t win. You just exposed yourself as the coward you are…. Lurking in the shadows made you feel powerful because no one paid you any attention in the light…. There is a name for your condition, your inflated ego just didn’t allow you to see it: Wannabe. The truth is, you’re basic. You’re a textbook case of insecurity disguised as control…. Now look at you, begging a courtroom for scraps.”
In the end, that’s exactly what Kohberger did. He begged prosecutors for scraps. After two years of scurrying around the judicial system and attempting to deflect blame, Kohberger’s defense team approached prosecutors in July looking for a deal. Kohberger was ready to admit to the murders of Xana, Kaylee, Madison, and Ethan. Prosecutor Thompson said his team accepted the plea, with stipulations that Kohberger can never appeal. Because the outcome was certain, the killer should not be able to drag the families through the court system for years to come.
In an interview with 48 Hours, Thompson also explained the rationale behind not compelling Kohberger to explain his motives or locate the murder weapon, noting that the state of Idaho has no law that could force Kohberger to tell the truth. Though some were outraged by the result, prosecutor Thompson argued that Kohberger, who didn’t display one moment of emotion during court proceedings or impact statements, would have likely leveraged the opportunity to benefit himself.
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“And if we’d gone to trial, he would’ve never even acknowledged guilt,” Thompson explained. “We would’ve just moved into appeal time. So it was our conclusion that straight up guilty pleas as charged and waiver of appeal for closure, so we have accountability and closure with fixed life sentences was the best course.”
The rest of Kohberger’s life will be lived in a windowless cell. Twenty-three hours a day, he will sit alone with his thoughts as neighboring inmates taunt and mock him. The man in a box. A killer, silenced and put away forever. For Kohberger, the bullet would allow immediate reprieve from a world that rejected his soulless gaze. Now, justice is served daily. Pacing back and forth as the minutes and hours and weeks and years slowly wear on without the promise of relief: a personal, living hell. The punishment he deserves, the sentence he earned.
Into the great, quiet ether. Good riddance, inmate number 163214.
