Bryan Kohberger, the convicted murderer in the University of Idaho killings, once staunchly defended the death penalty as a criminology student but ultimately avoided it himself through a plea deal.
That’s according to newly unsealed interviews obtained by People. They reveal that Kohberger was the only doctoral candidate in his Washington State University program to openly support capital punishment, a stance that often put him at odds with classmates.
As a result, Kohberger frequently clashed with peers over the issue. One fellow student recalled him aggressively pressing the point by asking her to imagine if her 12-year-old daughter had been raped and murdered.
“Would you support the death penalty then?” he reportedly asked her, a remark that left the woman in tears during a later interview with police.
Kohberger lectured fellow students “into the ground”
I've been reading through the hundreds of new documents released in the Kohberger case. There is a lot to consider, but this one stood out this morning.
— Mike Baker (@ByMikeBaker) August 16, 2025
A woman who knew Kohberger as part of the PhD program at WSU said he was the only student who supported the death penalty. pic.twitter.com/9Opq0Efcpu
That same classmate described Kohberger as overbearing and said he often cornered her at her desk to lecture her “into the ground.” She also recounted him belittling a deaf student in the program, asking whether she would be “comfortable procreating given the fact that she had a disability.”
When confronted over such offensive remarks, Kohberger allegedly replied, “I care how you feel, but you are wrong.”
Other students also recalled Kohberger saying that families of victims should have a voice in deciding whether the death penalty should be applied. At the time, he positioned himself as a firm believer in executions for heinous crimes.
Kohberger’s plea deal avoided the death penalty
Three years later, facing his capital case, Kohberger took the opposite path, and many of his victims’ families spoke out against the plea deal allowing to avoid the death penalty.
In June 2025, just weeks before jury selection, the former criminology student signed a written admission of guilt in the murders of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. His confession acknowledged that the killings were “willful, unlawful, deliberate, with premeditation and with malice aforethought.”
In exchange, prosecutors agreed not to pursue the death penalty. Instead, he was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison.
