New details are emerging about the man charged with murdering four University of Idaho students in November.
In a pre-dawn raid on Friday, a SWAT team arrested 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, in connection with the slayings that occurred more than 2,000 miles away in Moscow, Idaho.
Authorities say that Kohberger is a Ph.D. student studying criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, just a 15-minute drive from the off-campus home where Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found stabbed to death on November 13.
One person who knows Kohberger said his personality changed as a teen, becoming more violent and confrontational.
Nick Mcloughlin told the Daily Beast that he was friends with Kohberger for a time when they took classes together at Pleasant Valley High School and at a local vocational school.
Mcloughlin says that Kohberger’s personality shifted dramatically and abruptly one summer, going from an overweight and “down to earth” high school junior to an aggressive senior who had become “thinner than a rail,” according to the Daily Beast.
Mcloughlin added that Kohberger took up boxing and was always looking to fight.
“He always wanted to fight somebody, he was bullying people. We started cutting him off from our friend group because he was 100 percent a different person,” Mcloughlin told the Daily Beast.
It is believed that Kohberger earned a psychology degree at Northampton Community College in 2018 and worked at the Pleasant Valley School District for multiple years as a security guard. DeSales University awarded him a master of arts degree in criminal justice earlier this year.
Kohberger then moved to Pullman, Washington, to pursue a Ph.D. in criminal justice at Washington State University.
An online bio that appears to belong to Kohberger highlights his focus on psychology.
Someone with the same name as Kohberger posted to Reddit a survey asking convicts about “how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime,” according to Mediaite. It has not been confirmed whether Kohberger is responsible for the post, which was taken down Friday.
Meanwhile, relatives of Kohberger described him as having “very, very weird” eating habits.
“It was above and beyond being vegan,” a former aunt who did not want to be identified told the New York Post.
“His aunt and uncle had to buy new pots and pans because he would not eat from anything that had ever had meat cooked in them. He seemed very OCD [obsessive-compulsive disorder],” the aunt told the news outlet.
Investigators linked Kohberger to the crime in multiple ways, including from his DNA, which was reportedly found at the crime scene. Investigators employed genetic genealogy methods to find potential relatives using DNA material found at the scene, which helped police narrow their focus to Kohberger, according to CNN.
Authorities were also searching for a white Hyundai Elantra they believed was spotted near the scene around the time of the slayings. Law enforced seized a car matching that description where Kohberger was arrested.
CNN reports that law enforcement tracked Kohberger driving across the country to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania around Christmastime and had also began surveillance operations at the parents’ house.
Investigators on Friday also searched an apartment and office believed to be linked to Kohberger in Washington state.
Goncalves’ grandmother told the Post on Friday that the family is “relieved” by Kohberger’s arrest.
“This is what we wanted,” the grandmother told the Post.
Kohberger is expected to face extradition to Idaho and is scheduled to appear in court for a hearing on January 3.
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[Feature Photo: Facebook/Police Handout]
