Reddit Suspends Alleged Account of Idaho Murder Suspect, Removes Posts About His Research on Criminal ‘Thoughts and Feelings’
Photo by Monroe County Correctional Facility
Bryan Christopher Kohberger, the 28-year-old man arrested Friday in connection with the murder of four Idaho college students, is a college student himself, in a graduate program for justice and criminology, and allegedly posted a research study on Reddit soliciting criminals to share their “thoughts and feelings” about their crimes. The post has been taken down by Reddit and the account suspended.
Kohberger was arrested by the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police in Monroe County, a Poconos Mountains area between Scranton and Allentown, on a first-degree murder warrant. He was arraigned Friday morning and the judge ordered him held without bail.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20 – all students at the University of Idaho — were discovered stabbed to death on Nov. 13. Authorities have said that the victims were believed to have been sleeping at the time of the attack, and the coroner’s report said that some of them showed defensive wounds.
Kohberger was confirmed to be a graduate student at Washington State University by the Moscow Police Department at their press conference Friday afternoon. According to a report by CNN, Kohberger was listed in the WSU student directory as a graduate student for justice and criminology, but that listing has since been removed.
After the news broke about Kohberger’s arrest, sharp-eyed Redditors (Reddit users) found several posts by an account named “Criminology_Student.” Seven months ago, that account posted on multiple subreddits the same solicitation for participants in a research study being conducted by a student who identified himself as “Bryan Kohberger.”
The u/Criminology_Student account has been suspended by Reddit and the posts removed, but I captured a screenshot of the post and the Wayback Machine internet archive captured several examples of the posts as well.
Screenshot via Reddit.
The posts were made on subreddits including “ExCons” and “Prison” and all appear to contain the same text under the subject line “Research Participation Needed”:
Hello,
My name is Bryan, and I am inviting you to participate in a research project that seeks to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. In particular, this study seeks to understand the story behind your most recent criminal offense, with an emphasis on your thoughts and feelings throughout your experience. In the event that your most recent offense was not one that led to a conviction, you may still participate. Additional surveys are included after the open-ended section as to best understand your unique traits. The study should take about 15-20 minutes to fully complete.
Your identity and all answers provided are completely confidential, and the link to the survey is also an anonymous link. This research has been approved by the DeSales University IRB.
Participants must be 18 years of age and older.
If you opt to participate, you may terminate participation at any time and for any reason.
If you have any questions about this research, you may contact the research team via email:
Student Investigator: Bryan Kohberger at bk5781@desales.edu.
Anonymous link to the study: https://desales.iad1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ex3bk7xDldepWgC
Thank you for your time!
It has not been confirmed that the Bryan Kohberger who was arrested for the Idaho murders is the same person who wrote the Reddit posts.
Redditors reacted with shock and horror to the resurfacing of these posts. “This is creepy af now,” wrote one commenter. “Chilling,” added another.
The posts have been removed and replaced a message from the subreddits’ moderators. The link to the study on the DeSales University website has also been taken down. A partial version of the online survey is available on the Wayback Machine archives.
Have a tip we should know? tips@mediaite.com
