Less than three years after his arrest on four counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of burglary in the University of Idaho murders, convicted killer Bryan Kohberger’s early life is coming into focus.
Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years without the possibility of parole after breaking into a Moscow, Idaho home located at 1122 King Road in November 2022 and stabbing students Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves to death.
After initially pleading not guilty, Kohberger submitted a guilty plea as part of a deal to take the death penalty off the table.
Keep scrolling for more on Kohberger’s family and life before the murders.
Bryan Kohberger Is a Pennsylvania Native
Bryan Kohberger. Monroe County Correctional Facility via Getty Images
Kohberger was born November 21, 1994 to parents Maryann and Michael. He graduated from Pleasant Valley High School in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, the same school system in which his mother worked. His father, meanwhile, was a maintenance worker, according to CBS News. After initially staying local and attending Monroe Career and Technical Institute in Bartonsville, he dropped out after a year and later became a security guard in his old school district.
Kohberger earned an associates degree in psychology at Northampton Community College before attending DeSales University, where he obtained a bachelor’s in psychology and a master’s in criminal justice.
Bryan Kohberger Has 2 Sisters
Bryan has two sisters, Melissa and Amanda. While not much is known about Melissa, Amanda worked as a school counselor, according to CBS News, and appeared in the 2011 slasher film Two Days Back. The film is about a serial killer who murders a group of young students.
Amanda also attended Bryan’s sentencing, along with Maryann. Bryan did not acknowledge them at the time.
Bryan Kohberger was investigated in connection with an armed break-in one year before he fatally stabbed four University of Idaho students. According to Pullman Police Department records obtained by NBC News, authorities investigated a 2021 break-in at a home in Pullman, Washington, just across the state line from Moscow, Idaho. A knife-wielding masked individual allegedly […]
His family released a statement following Bryan’s plea deal in which they asked for privacy.
“We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties, and will not release any comments or take any questions,” they said in a statement shared with E! News by their legal representation, Amori & Associates LLC. “We ask that you respect our wishes during a difficult time for all those affected.”
Classmates Say Bryan Kohberger Was Bullied in High School
Two of Bryan’s former classmates told 48 Hours in 2023 that he was overweight and bullied in high school until his senior year, when he lost about 100 pounds.
“He was rail thin,” classmate Casey Antz said. “It was after that weight loss that a lot of people noticed a huge switch.”
Antz alleged that Bryan was friends with her brother and “when Bryan would get kinda angry with him, he would gaslight him and get physically aggressive.”
Another classmate named Bree, who declined to give her last name, claimed that Bryan began using heroin.
“You just saw him becoming more self-destructive,” she said. “He really stayed secluded.”
Alivea Goncalves showed no fear as she addressed her sister Kaylee Goncalves’ killer, Bryan Kohberger, at his sentencing hearing after he admitted to fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in 2022. “No one is scared of you today. No one is intimidated by you. No one is impressed by you,” Alivea said toward the […]
Bryan Kohberger Was Diagnosed With Autism
Bryan is on the autism spectrum, a fact that Judge Steven Hippler did not allow his lawyers to mention during opening statements. Hippler said that Bryan “by all accounts is highly-functioning,” though his lawyers insisted his diagnosis would prevent him from taking the stand in his own defense.
Bryan Kohberger Was a Criminology PhD Student at the Time of the Murders
Bryan was a PhD student at Washington State University at the time of the murders, where he was studying criminology and working as a teacher’s assistant.
One of his former classmates, Josh Ferraro, called him an “odd ball” in the Amazon Prime Video docuseries One Night in Idaho: The College Murders.
“Purely based off the fact of his social inability to perform in a normal human manner, I can absolutely see someone like him be involved in something like this,” he said.
