Washington State University Filed Multiple Complaints Against Idaho Killer Before Murders

Before the murders of four University of Idaho students, Bryan Kohberger, then a criminology PhD student at Washington State University, was the subject of multiple complaints related to his unsettling behavior towards women. Kohberger faced at least nine formal complaints for making sexual, homophobic, ableist, and misogynistic comments, as well as for physically intimidating female students and staff, including following women to their cars and blocking doorways. Washington State University held mandatory behavioral training for graduate students in response, but faculty debated cutting his funding due to concerns about his increasingly creepy and aggressive demeanor. One faculty member with experience working with predators warned colleagues that Kohberger could become a harassing and abusive professor if allowed to continue. Witnesses described Kohberger as socially awkward but progressively domineering, with peers frequently feeling uncomfortable, leading some to escort women for safety. These pre-murder warnings and reports highlight a pattern of troubling conduct that was noted by multiple members of the university community prior to his arrest and guilty plea for the killings.