“He’s my angel.”

These heartfelt words were uttered by Bryan Kohberger’s mother as FBI agents, under the cover of night, descended upon their residence, arresting him in connection with the murders of four college students.

“My son would not do this. I would bet my life on it.”

It had been a tense 47 days since the tragic night of November 13, 2022, when Kohberger allegedly took the lives of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in their residence near the University of Idaho in Moscow, an event that not only startled the nation but also initiated a massive search effort.

Although law enforcement faced criticism for their reticence in sharing details, their discreet investigation focused on Kohberger, a solitary PhD student in criminology from Washington State University. He had since left the state, embarking on a 2,500-mile journey to his family’s abode in rural Pennsylvania.

In a dramatic operation at dawn on December 30, 2022, agents converged on the Kohberger household, awakening Maryann Kohberger, her husband Michael, and their daughter Amanda, as they apprehended the suspect.

Now, Maryann’s comments to law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of her son’s arrest can be revealed for the first time by the Daily Mail, shedding new light on Kohberger’s home life and his unusually close relationship with his mother.

They come from transcripts and reports from Maryann’s interviews with three FBI special agents that day and are set to be published in the upcoming book Broken Plea: The Explosive Search for Truth Behind the Idaho Murders by Christopher Whitcomb.

With his parents staying silent in the three-plus years since that day – aside for two brief, carefully crafted written statements – the comments offer the first glimpse into Maryann’s thoughts about her only son’s involvement in the murders.

They reveal how a seemingly blindsided Maryann instantly insisted that her ‘angel’ son could ‘never ever’ be a killer and that there must be some sort of terrible ‘mistake.’

‘What’s going through my mind right now is that this is a really, really bad mistake, what’s going on, like what’s happening here,’ she told the agents. ‘We know what our, you know, who our children are, you know.’

In the interview, the high school special needs assistant also offered up an innocent reason for why Kohberger had bought the knife used in the murders.

In a stunning twist, she even suggested the purchase had been her idea when her son moved from Albrightsville in the Poconos to Pullman, Washington, that summer to enroll at WSU.

‘Maryann recalled a conversation in which she suggested Bryan obtain something to defend himself in the event of a bear attack while Bryan hiked in the western US,’ the FBI report read.

The agents added that Maryann did not know if her son had ‘purchased anything for this purpose and was unaware of Bryan specifically purchasing a knife for this purpose.’

Kohberger bought a military Ka-Bar knife and a brown leather sheath from Amazon in March 2022 – eight months before the murders and three months before he left for Washington. They were delivered to the family’s Pennsylvania home.

While the knife itself has never been found, the sheath became the smoking gun in the investigation.

In the frenzy of the massacre, Kohberger left the sheath behind at the scene and DNA on the clasp came back a match to him.

During the December raid at the Kohberger home, Maryann, Michael and Amanda were taken to the Pennsylvania State Police Fern Ridge Barracks in Blakeslee to be interviewed separately while Kohberger was taken into custody on a warrant for murder.

The couple’s third child Melissa lives in New Jersey and was not present at the time.

Maryann’s comments to FBI special agents Jessica Mahoney, Matthew Mark Phillips and Eric Bailey revealed her apparent lack of awareness for what her son was capable of despite their close bond.

When the agents asked if she had any concerns about behaviors that might indicate his involvement in the murders, Maryann was steadfast in her denial.

‘Never, ever, ever,’ she said.

‘There’s a mistake, something is wrong somewhere. And that’s what I believe. And that’s what I know in my heart.’

Maryann repeatedly denied her son’s possible involvement and insisted her youngest child did not have anger issues or hold grudges.

To her, it was simple: ‘He’s my angel.’

Of everyone in his life, Kohberger’s mother confirmed that she was the person he spoke to and confided in the most.

The pair would have ‘mother-and-son talks,’ she said.

He would speak to ‘mostly me,’ she said, but would sometimes call his father and talk to his sisters ‘once in a while’ too. 

The Daily Mail previously revealed that Kohberger had an intensely close relationship with his mother – calling her multiple times and speaking for hours on the phone every day.

He named his parents ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ in his phone contacts and addressed them as such in texts.

His mom was his ‘primary source of communication’ and he spoke to her ‘all the time… every day and night,’ Heather Barnhart, a forensic expert who analyzed his electronic devices for the state, told the Daily Mail.

Calls from Kohberger to his parents would often begin as early as 4am and would end very late at night.

Kohberger called his mom just two hours after his killing spree at around 6am on November 13, 2022, speaking for 36 minutes. Maryann does not appear to mention that call to the agents. 

Despite being the person he was closest to, Maryann’s interviews reveal there was a lot she did not know.

Kohberger’s move to Washington that summer marked the first time he had lived outside the family home.

As far as she was aware, he had adapted well to the move, seemed happy and had been ‘making friends,’ according to the transcript, though she didn’t ‘know the names of a lot of them.’

In reality, Kohberger’s time in Washington was tumultuous.

At WSU, at least 13 formal complaints had been made against him by other students in the criminology program, with classmates and professors describing him as sexist, creepy and exhibiting stalker-like behavior.

He was fired as a teaching assistant and lost his PhD funding when he returned home for the holidays in mid-December, just days before his arrest.

Yet, when asked if there were any concerns about his time at WSU, Maryann told the agents there weren’t, adding that ‘he just finished the semester with a 3.8.’

Outside the classroom, he had struggled to interact with people and women who encountered him later described his bizarre, socially-awkward and creepy behavior.

‘He doesn’t have any girlfriends right now,’ Maryann said of possible romantic interests, adding that he had ‘a couple, not a lot’ in the past.

He was ‘not a party animal, not a drinker,’ but just a regular guy who liked running, being outdoors and nature, she told the FBI.

When he returned home for the holidays, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she said.

Kohberger had been happy to see the family dog Scout, who he called ‘his Bubba’ or ‘Bleeben,’ and largely spent time with family, she said.

Maryann described her son as a ‘homebody’ who ‘doesn’t have a big group of friends.’ ‘He touched base with one of his best friends from Arizona who’s still in Arizona. Um, but no he’s been mostly home with the family, just chilling,’ she said.

She described her son as ‘very organized’ and acknowledged that ‘sometimes he’s up at night’ – traits that would later track with the level of planning that went into his nighttime crimes.

At another point, Maryann voiced concerns about the impending media coverage once news of Kohberger’s arrest would break.

‘So now my son’s face is gonna be plastered all across the country?’

Based on her comments to the FBI, Maryann believed her son was innocent and that his arrest for the murders of four young students was nothing but a ‘really weird’ catastrophic mix-up.

‘This is a nightmare. This is an absolute nightmare,’ she said at one point.

After fighting the charges for more than two years, Kohberger suddenly pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in July – weeks before his capital murder trial was set to begin.

Under a plea deal, he avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole, while also waiving all rights to appeal.

His parents Maryann and Michael attended his change of plea hearing, watching their son confess to his vicious crimes.

Two weeks later, Maryann was joined by Amanda at his sentencing. Michael and Melissa were absent.

Since then, Maryann has maintained her public silence about her son’s crimes. Her daughter Melissa – the only family member to speak out – told the New York Times that their mother prays for the victims and their families every single day.