Murderer Bryan Kohberger whines that he is being taunted by other inmates while being held in Idaho prison
Convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger is complaining that his fellow inmates have been taunting him inside Idaho’s most secure prison.
The 30-year-old former PhD criminology student, who was sentenced to life in prison last month for the slayings of four University of Idaho students, was recently transferred to his new home at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, just outside Boise.
Officials at the prison say it maintains protective custody for Kohberger and all inmates but acknowledges that communication between prisoners can occur even under restrictive conditions.
“We are aware of Kohberger’s complaints about what he considers taunting,” a spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Corrections told NBC News. “Incarcerated individuals commonly communicate with each other in prison. Bryan Kohberger is housed alone in a cell, and IDOC security staff maintain a safe and orderly environment for all individuals in our custody.”
Kohberger is being held in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution’s “J Block,” a restrictive housing unit with single-person cells.
But despite his isolation, inmates have reportedly shouted at him through ventilation ducts and banged on doors to disrupt his sleep, according to NewsNation.
Chris McDonough, a retired homicide detective who now serves as the director of the Cold Case Foundation, told NewsNation the “inmates apparently were waiting for him,”
“They are now making his life absolutely miserable. They’re utilizing the vent system. They’re kicking the doors. They’re taunting him. And they’re basically torturing him through using psychology,” he said.
“And my goodness, he’s complaining.”
The unit boasts single-person cells, restricts outdoor recreation time to just one hour per day and allows inmates to shower every other day, the prison spokesperson said. All “J block” prisoners are moved in restraints and have access to religious services, communication through JPay, and can place commissary orders.
The taunting allegations emerged alongside newly revealed forensic evidence showing that in the weeks before his arrest, Kohberger spent hours downloading information on more than 20 notorious serial killers – including Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacy, Gary Ridgway, and Danny Rolling.
Rolling’s 1990 murders of five college students bore striking similarities to the Idaho killings, prosecutors have said.
Heather Barnhart, Senior Director of Forensic Research at Cellebrite, who was set to testify at the trial, told The Independent that investigators recovered records showing Kohberger’s disturbing searches.
Kohberger also downloaded multiple Moscow Police Department case updates in the weeks after the murders.
Barnhart said the searches were recovered from his Android device because he failed to clear the downloads, despite wiping his laptop.
Kohberger is serving four consecutive life sentences without parole for the November 2022 murders of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. He pleaded guilty in June, avoiding a potential death sentence.
Kohberger has not publicly given a motive for the killings.
