Holes remain in Idaho slay case

Authorities, worried about gaps in their evidence, want to hear from people who may be able to shed more light on Bryan Christopher Kohberger, who faces murder charges in the grisly knife-killings of four University of Idaho students in November.

“This is not the end of this investigation; in fact, this is a new beginning,” Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said. “You all now know the name of the person who has been charged with these offenses. Please get that information out there, please ask the public, anyone who knows about this individual, to come forward.”

That statement implies that the prosecutor fears his case still needs bolstering, that it is no slam dunk. 

Thompson urged the public to “report anything you know about him" in order to "help the investigators, and eventually our office and the court system, understand fully everything there is to know about not only the individual, but what happened and why."

”He was definitely kind of a creepy guy,” was an assessment shared by several people who know Kohberger.

Kohberger is a student of a DeSales professor who is a well-known authority on serial killers, according to the Lehigh Valley News.

Much of the criminal information against Kohberg is under seal, which won't be lifted until he is arraigned in order to hear the "probable cause" indictment lodged against him. But, it has emerged that investigators matched his DNA to DNA found at the crime scene.

The victims Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves were found dead Nov. 13, in what the local mayor described as a “crime of passion.” They had been knifed as they slept or rested after having been out and about enjoying themselves.

Students at Washington State University frequently socialize with students from the University of Idaho, which is a 15-minute drive across the state line.

Kohberg faces extradition from Pennsylvania following a court hearing Tuesday. Kohberg is a doctoral criminology student at Washington State University, which is a short drive across the state line from the University of Idaho in Moscow. He received a bachelor's degree from the Roman Catholic DeSales University in Lehigh Valley. He was arrested at his parents' home at Albrightsville,  Pa., in the Poconos region.

A review of court records in Washington, Idaho and Pennsylvania showed no criminal history for Kohberger aside from an August 2022 infraction for failing to wear a seat belt in Latah County, which includes Moscow, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Former Pennsylvania classmates of Kohberger said he was an intellectual who "was very interested in the way the mind works" but bullied for his weight and social awkwardness, Fox News Digital reported.

In his home state, he was known as a genius who was socially awkward and had a tough time picking up on social cues, two former classmates told Fox.

Fox provided these details:

Sarah Healey, who went to Pleasant Valley High School with Kohberger, said he was shy and kept to himself and a small group of friends, but some of their classmates – especially girls – mocked Kohberger and threw things at him.

"It was bad. There was definitely something off about him, like we couldn't tell exactly what it was," she said, adding that "Bryan was bullied a lot."

The New York Times related:

B.K. Norton, who was in the same graduate program as  Kohberger, said that he continued attending classes after the killings had occurred and seemed more animated at that time than he had been earlier in the semester.

“He seemed more upbeat and willing to carry a conversation,” Norton told the Times in an email. She said Kohberger was interested in forensic psychology.

Norton said Kohberger’s quiet, intense demeanor had made people uncomfortable, as had comments he made against L.G.B.T.Q. people.

“He sort of creeped people out because he stared and didn’t talk much, but when he did it was very intelligent and he needed everyone to know he was smart,”  Norton said.

Casey Arntz, who was one year ahead of Kohberger at Pleasant Valley High, said he was known to have a temper and that he did kickboxing, possibly as a way to get his anger out. She said his mother had sometimes worked as a substitute teacher at the school, which is located in the Poconos region between Allentown to the south and Stroudsburg to the north.

Arntz, 29, said she would occasionally hang out with Kohberger as part of a group, once hiking a mountain near her parents’ house, but had not seen him since a friend’s wedding in 2017.

According to articles in local newspapers, Kohberger worked for several years as a security officer with the Pleasant Valley School District, drawing some attention in 2018 for helping another officer save the life of an employee who was having an asthma attack. He left the district in the summer of 2021.

The Lehigh Valley News, a nonprofit online news site in Pennsylvania, reported that Kohberger was a student of a DeSales forensic psychology professor, Katherine Ramsland, who is an expert on serial killers who has written dozens of books, including “How to Catch a Killer” and “The Mind of a Murderer.” She also has consulted with several TV shows focused on crime, including CSI, according to her online university biography.

Bryan Kohberger in a mug shot taken at the Monroe County (Pa.) Correctional Facility

She wrote “Confessions of a Serial Killer,” a biography of Dennis Lynn Rader, who tortured and murdered 10 people, including a family of four in Wichita, Kan., in 1974. Rader wasn’t arrested until 2004. The book was published in 2016.

Ramsland did not respond to requests for comment.

The Spokane Spokesman-Review relates:

Hayden Stinchfield said Kohberger was the teacher’s assistant in one of Stinchfield’s criminology classes. He seemed disengaged most of the time and was a harsh grader, Stinchfield said.

”He was definitely kind of a creepy guy,” Stinchfield said.

Stinchfield said Kohberger seemed more distracted and disheveled in the days after the killings, letting his facial hair grow out.

”We noticed distinctly, like, oh, he must be going through it. He’s, yeah, he’s looking a lot worse,” Stinchfield said.

Joey Famularo, another criminology student in one of Kohberger’s classes, said he “always seemed a little bit on edge.”

”We just assumed he was kind of shy,” Famularo said.

Famularo said Kohberger didn’t show up to class often enough to make much of an impression, but also noted his strict grading. Kohberger said he liked to challenge his students, Famularo said.

Around the time of the killings, Famularo said Kohberger shifted to almost rubber-stamp students’ assignments, though it’s hard to say whether the timing was coincidental because students had also recently confronted him about his grading.

Jasmine Lander, who graduated this month with a degree in psychology, agreed with other students that Kohberger was a tough grader.

DeSales University put out this statement: 

On Friday, December 30, DeSales University learned of the arrest of Bryan Kohberger in connection with the murder of four University of Idaho students. Kohberger received a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and completed his graduate studies in June 2022. As a Catholic, Salesian community, we are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims' families during this difficult time.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, in a Washington State University photo