Skip to main content

Idaho Murder Suspect Bryan Kohberger Studied Under Expert In Serial Killers At DeSales University

 
Bryan Kohberger mugshot

Bryan Kohberger (via Monroe County Correctional Facility)

The 28-year-old man charged with murdering four University of Idaho students earned a Master’s degree at DeSales University and took classes taught by a renowned expert in serial killers.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger faces four counts of first degree murder and one count of felony burglary for the November 13 murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. The four were found stabbed to death at a home on King Rd. near the University of Idaho campus.

Kohberger was taken into custody on Friday, December 30 just before 2 a.m. at his parents’ home in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. He completed his first semester of Ph.D. studies in criminology and criminal justice at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington which is a 15 minute drive from Moscow, Idaho.

Kohberger is being held without bail at the county jail in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. He has agreed to waive extradition to Idaho and is “eager to be exonerated,” according to a statement provided to CNN by his public defender, Jason LaBar.

A statement on DeSales University’s website said Kohberger earned a Master’s degree from the university in June 2022 and a bachelor’s degree in 2020. A student from the school told Law&Crime that he took a class that focused on serial killers that was taught by Dr. Katherine Ramsland and that Kohberger was a student in the class at the same time.

Law&Crime contacted Professor Ramsland for a comment about Kohberger but she said she is not making any statements to the media at this time. 

Ramsland has previously been a guest on two of Law&Crime’s podcasts.

Earlier this year, she appeared on “Coptales and Cocktails” where she discussed her work interviewing serial killers, including Dennis Rader, who is more commonly known as BTK. Ramsland is a forensic psychologist who has written dozens of books, consults on cases and trains police officers. Ramsland said her class on serial killers typically fills up quickly.

Law&Crime’s Sidebar podcast also discussed Kohberger studying under Professor Ramsland on a special episode.

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]

Filed Under:

Follow Law&Crime:

Angenette Levy is a correspondent and host for the Law&Crime Network. Angenette has worked in newsrooms in Green Bay, Wisconsin and Cincinnati, Ohio. She has covered a number of high-profile criminal cases in both state and federal courts throughout her career including the trials of Steven Avery, Brooke “Skylar” Richardson and most recently the trials of Kyle Rittenhouse and former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. She was nominated for an Emmy in 2015 for a story she covered in which she found a missing toddler who was the subject of an Amber Alert. Angenette is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati.