Newly released investigative documents reveal that Bryan Kohberger, convicted of murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022, exhibited alarming predatory behavior toward peers at Washington State University in the months surrounding the killings. Faculty and students described him as intensely domineering, with patterns of aggressive staring, blocking exits, and following female students that prompted formal warnings about his potential to become a dangerous professor.
Who: Bryan Kohberger (28-year-old criminology PhD student at WSU), interviewed peers/professors, and victims Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen. What: Over 1,000 pages of Idaho State Police files detail consistent accounts of Kohberger’s threatening conduct before his arrest. When: Fall 2022 semester preceding the November 13 murders, with police interviews conducted immediately after Kohberger’s December 30, 2022 arrest. Where: Washington State University’s Pullman campus and surrounding community.
Why released: Documents emerged through routine case disclosures following Kohberger’s July 2025 sentencing. How observed: Kohberger routinely blocked women’s paths, positioned himself to trap peers in offices, and engaged in prolonged staring that multiple women quantified as occurring 5-9 times per class session. One professor documented him following undergraduate assistants to parking lots.
Impact: WSU faculty held emergency meetings about revoking his teaching position after students reported feeling unsafe. Professors implemented escort systems for female students and developed coded distress signals. A criminology professor warned colleagues: “If we give him a PhD, that’s the guy who in years will be harassing and sexually abusing students.”
What’s next: While Kohberger serves life without parole, the documents raise questions about institutional responses to behavioral red flags. The files provide crucial context for researchers studying predator warning signs but don’t affect Kohberger’s legal status. University systems nationwide may re-evaluate protocols for reporting concerning student behavior.