Bryan Kohberger immersed himself in serial killer case files as a PhD student at Washington State University prior to the brutal quadruple Idaho murders that landed him behind bars for the rest of his life.
Kohberger, 30, enrolled at WSU’s criminology program in June 2022, but according to Heather Barnhart, who serves as the Senior Director of Forensic Research at Cellebrite, his exploration of the topics was eerily intensive.
“He didn’t just Google these cases. He downloaded full PDFs of case files,” she said in an interview with The Independent that was published on August 9. “Not once, but repeatedly.”
“He was downloading detailed reports on serial killers,” she explained. “This wasn’t casual browsing. This was meticulous research.”
As the National Enquirer previously reported, Kohberger violently killed University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21, in the early hours of November 13, 2022.
According to newly released coroner’s reports, Goncalves was stabbed more than 30 times, while Kernodle was covered in “defensive wounds” from seemingly fighting back against her attacker. Chapin’s cause of death was a “stab wound under his left clavicle which severed his subclavian vein and subclavian artery, and also his jugular vein was severed,” and Mogen died from a “laceration” to her liver and her left lung.
While Kohberger initially pleaded not guilty, he admitted to his guilt as part of a plea agreement on July 2. He refused to elaborate on his reasons behind the murders at his July 23 court hearing, where he was sentenced to serve four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.
He is currently incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
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