The man serving a life sentence for fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in 2022 is allegedly being targeted by other prisoners behind bars.
Cold Case Foundation director Chris McDonough told “Banfield” on NewsNation that inmates are using air vents to keep Bryan Kohberger awake all day and night. The Department of Corrections confirmed to the news outlet that Kohberger has complained about “taunting” since being transferred to the state’s highest-security prison.
“They’re kicking the doors. They’re taunting him. And they’re basically torturing him through using psychology,” McDonough said. “And my goodness, he’s complaining.”
To avoid the death penalty, Kohberger, 30, admitted to fatally stabbing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves on November 13, 2022, at the women’s off-campus home in Moscow. The plea deal means Kohberger will serve life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also waived his right to appeal.
According to McDonough, Kohberger had been housed in a solitary confinement unit outside Boise until last week, when he was moved to another restrictive unit which houses 32 inmates. McDonough, a former homicide detective, described it as “the worst of the worst outside of death row.”
“The guards at this point, all the most they can do is write it down or tell him, ‘Hey, there’s nothing we can do. You’re not in physical harm,’” he also told NewsNation.
Before accepting a plea, Kohberger’s attorneys said he was not at the crime scene and was driving around alone the night the four students were fatally stabbed. The defense wanted to present “alternative perpetrators at trial, but Judge Steven Hippler rejected the list, whose names have not been released to the public.
Police claimed Kohberger visited the area 12 times before the slayings and that he turned off his phone on the night in question. Kohberger’s DNA was found on a knife sheath located near Mogen and Goncalves’ bodies, according to prosecutors. The murder weapon has not been found.
Meanwhile, defense attorneys accused prosecutors of withholding evidence about unidentified DNA samples — including DNA on a glove outside the home which also remains unidentified. The judge rejected those contentions as well.
Investigators tested DNA from a trash can outside Kohberger’s family home in Pennsylvania against DNA found on the sheath at the crime scene. Testing determined that “at least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father.”
At the time of the slayings, Kohberger was working on his Ph.D. in criminology from Washington State University, which is located 10 miles from the crime scene. He was arrested in Pennsylvania in December 2022, after taking a cross-country road trip with his father from Washington to Pennsylvania for the holidays.
In September, Kohberger’s trial was moved from Latah County to Boise, in Ada County. The trial’s venue was changed after the state supreme court upheld a ruling identifying publicity and media attention concerns that could jeopardize Kohberger’s right to a fair trial. Further, the courts noted that the Latah County courthouse lacked space and local police did not have enough deputies to provide adequate security.
Despite a plea deal, a motive in the quadruple murder remains undisclosed.
[Feature Photo: AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool]
