As the effort to peel back the layers of the life of the man named as the suspect in the November murders of four college students in Moscow, Idaho, begins, former friends said his high school years might provide some clues.
Bryan Kohberger was arrested Friday at his parents’ Pennsylvania home, according to CNN.
He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary in the Nov. 13, deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho, Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington, according to the report.
Kohberger is a Ph.D. student in Washington State University’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, at its Pullman, Washington, campus, just nine miles from Moscow.
A former friend recalled that Kohberger underwent a physical and emotional transformation during high school, according to the Daily Beast.
Nick Mcloughlin, 26, said the suspect was “down to earth” and overweight after their junior year together at Pleasant Valley High School, but when the next year rolled around, Kohberger had become “thinner than a rail” and was “aggressive,” he said.
“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 said, adding that the reason for the change mystified him.
Thomas Arntz, who also went to high school with Kohberger, called the accused killer a “bully” who harped on others’ “flaws and insecurities.”
“He did that to me all the time. He would go after my intelligence. He would basically insinuate that I’m kind of slow-witted and that I’m forgetful and [that] I lack the intelligence to be his friend,” he said, according to The Daily Beast.
“He was mean-spirited, he was a bully. I never thought he would do something like that, but at the same time it doesn’t really surprise me,” he said, referring to the quadruple murder.
Video shows Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger at his graduation ceremony. pic.twitter.com/bs1LS5BQVj
— Pippa Sheppard (@PSheppard22) December 30, 2022
Ben Roberts, a graduate student in the criminology and criminal justice department at Washington State, said Kohberger “was always looking for a way to fit in,” according to the Lehigh Valley News.
“One thing he would always do, almost without fail, was find the most complicated way to explain something. He had to make sure you knew that he knew it,” he said.
Washington State student Hayden Stinchfield said Kohberger was a teaching assistant in a criminology class Stinchfield took, according to the Spokesman-Review.
“He was definitely kind of a creepy guy,” Stinchfield said.
Stinchfield said Kohberger appeared more disheveled after the murders and grew out his facial hair.
”We noticed distinctly, like, oh, he must be going through it. He’s, yeah, he’s looking a lot worse,” Stinchfield said.
Joey Famularo, another student, told the Spokesman-Review Kohberger “always seemed a little bit on edge.”
”We just assumed he was kind of shy,” Famularo said.
According to a report citing a police source, Kohberger had been under surveillance as he drove home to Pennsylvania for Christmas, according to CNN. Once there, he was also under surveillance as police developed a warrant for his arrest, the source said.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
