Recently disclosed documents from the Idaho State Police have brought to light the unsettling and “unprofessional rude dealings” of Bryan Kohberger at Washington State University, where he was pursuing a Ph.D. in criminology at the time of the University of Idaho murders.
Earlier this month, Kohberger admitted guilt in the murders of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves, and as a result, he received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
d22000030 Isp Report – Redacted (Graphic) by kc wildmoon
Discussions with Washington State faculty and students — just about 10 miles from Moscow, Idaho, where the incidents occurred — uncovered that there were at least nine formal grievances filed regarding Kohberger’s conduct.
One such complaint led to a “mandatory training class for all graduate students regarding behavior expectations.”
The interviewee mentioned, “During Kohberger’s time in this class, he positioned himself at the back, arms behind his head, fixated on the ceiling,” according to the police documentation.
This individual reported their initial perception of Kohberger as “lonely,” but noted a shift towards progressively more “creepy” behavior, such as loitering outside her office or standing silently at her or her co-worker’s desk. His persisting intrusive actions led them to arrange for escorts to accompany female colleagues to their vehicles.
Another professor said she and her colleagues discussed whether to cut Kohberger’s funding because he was “highly problematic.”
She recounted telling coworkers that Kohberger, who aspires to be a professor, struck her as “the type that in the future as a professor, might be accused of harassment, stalking, and sexual misconduct towards his, hypothetically speaking, students at whatever institution he ends up at.”
The faculty was divided on whether to end Kohberger’s funding.
But other students and staffers told detectives multiple stories about his behavior — primarily to women students and staff.
One WSU graduate student told detectives about the time Kohberger “blocked her exit” when she tried to leave a discussion after class. This student also said that Kohberger’s demeanor changed after the November 13, 2022, murders — he appeared more disheveled and stopped bringing his phone to class, instead appearing with a laptop.
Another classmate reported similar interactions with Kohberger “spatially trapping” them in student offices.
Another staff member at Washington State, interviewed in the presence of the Washington State assistant attorney general, told investigators that she had received 13 “reports” about Kohberger regarding “concerns about his behavior.”
Another staff member said she had begun receiving complaints about Kohberger in August 2022 and that they concerned his interactions with fellow students and professors. She said Kohberger appeared “socially awkward” but that the complaints concerned how he “spoke to other staff and students, his staing of outspoken discriminatory comments which were homophobic, ableist, xenophobic, and misogynist in nature.”
“He would also stare at people and stand uncomfortably close or ‘lean’ over women, making them very uncomfortable,” the report said.
The 556 pages of documentation released by Idaho State Police reveal a meticulous investigation with multple interviews, follow ups on tips, and even other suspects and persons of interest.
But now a court has temporarily blocked any further release of documents relating to the bedrooms of the victims of the murders, KTVB reported. The restraining order, issued August 15, blocks the city of Moscow from releasing images, audio, or video about the inside of victim Madison Mogen’s bedroom in response to a petition from her mother, Karen Laramie.
Moscow officials said they would refrain from releasing such information about all the victims’ bedrooms until the court fully reviews the issue.
