Bryan Kohberger, who admitted to fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in 2022, received a life sentence in July 2025
Bryan Kohberger murdered four female college students in 2022 in their own residence (Image: Getty Images)
Convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger was reportedly warned by his sister about a “psycho killer” on campus shortly before he committed a quadruple homicide.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Mel Kohberger, Bryan’s sister, recounted the exchange with her brother and expressed concern upon learning of the killings in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger entered a guilty plea to the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin on November 13, 2022.
“Bryan, you are running outside, and this psycho killer is on the loose,” she remembers telling her brother. “Be careful.” Mel checked in because Bryan was the type of person who would leave his door unlocked and go on late-night jogs despite being extremely socially awkward.
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Mel remembered how Bryan was bullied all the time when he was a teenager. He was described by friends as being standoffish and overweight. According to the outlet, Bryan said in online posts throughout his adolescence that he felt like “an organic sack of meat with no self-worth,” describing a lack of emotion and regret.
According to the sister, Bryan, a young heroin addict, once took Mel’s phone and sold it at a mall to pay for more drugs. Her family was concerned that Bryan might be headed for an early death, similar to what occurred to one of his friends. But according to Mel, Bryan got treatment and was improving.
Mel claimed that her entire world was turned upside down when she discovered her brother was behind the murders(Image: Idaho Department of Corrections)
“We were all so proud of him because he had overcome so much,” Mel said. Mel claimed that even though Bryan continued to be socially uncomfortable and even aggressive after treatment, she never considered him to be violent.
Mel remembered Bryan addressing the case once, pointing out that detectives were still looking for a suspect, but he did not talk about the Idaho killings when he was staying at his parents’ Pennsylvania home in the days prior to the FBI raid.
Mel remembered receiving a call from her older sister, Amanda, on December 30, 2022, the day Bryan was taken into custody. “She was like, ‘I’m with the FBI. Bryan’s been arrested,’” Mel said. “I was like, ‘For what?’”
According to his sister, Bryan Kohberger was addicted to heroin as a teenager (Image: AP)
“The Idaho murders,” Amanda responded. Mel first believed that her sister might be playing a practical joke on her, but when she realized that her own brother was responsible for the killings of four college students, she started to feel sick.
Mel claimed that her entire world was turned upside down overnight. According to Bryan’s sister, she was about to begin her new career as a mental health counselor in New Jersey, but she decided to resign when the new company received too many questions.
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Mel claimed that she got upset after reading comments on the internet speculating that her family might have been aware that Bryan had murdered the four University of Idaho students.
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