Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students, is being held in solitary confinement after his fellow inmates planned to make him “miserable.”
Kohberger, a 30-year-old former PhD criminology student, was sentenced to life behind bars — without the possibility of parole — after he broke into a Moscow home and stabbed four students to death in November 2022.
He’s being held at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in the “J block,” a long-term restrictive housing unit, records show.
Kohberger was moved to the restrictive unit after complaining about his fellow inmates, who have been terrorizing him, NewsNation reported.
They’ve shouted at him through the air ducts at all hours of the day to prevent him from sleeping or thinking to himself, the outlet reported.
“We are aware of Kohberger’s complaints about what he considers taunting,” a spokesperson for the prison told The Independent in a statement. “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.”
The Independent has reached out to Kohberger’s lawyer for more information.
“The good news is the inmates apparently were waiting for him,” Chris McDonough, a retired homicide detective who now serves as the director of the Cold Case Foundation, told NewsNation.
“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 prion spokesperson said. All “J block” prisoners are moved in restraints and have have access to religious services, communication through JPay, and can place commissary orders.
The convicted murderer is no longer in harm’s way, but is still complaining to guards, the former detective said.
“The guards at this point, all the most they can do is write it down or tell him, ‘Hey, there’s nothing we can do. You’re not in physical harm,’” McDonough told the outlet.
“They’re under obligation to basically protect him, right? But in this particular situation, he’s in an isolation situation. Those around him can’t get to him physically,” he said. “So, they’ve come up, again, a way of circumventing what the rules may be. Communications are a no-no within the prison. Inmates are extremely creative.”
“J Block” can house up to 128 individuals and includes populations in general population protective custody, long-term restrictive housing, and death row, the prison spokesperson said.
“It’s really a prison within a prison. However, the disadvantage that he’s at, is that there’s not a whole bunch of room where they can start moving other inmates around,” he said. “So what they wanna do is keep him in protective custody right now until he goes through the process.”
Kohberger hasn’t revealed his motive behind the killings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Prosecutors have admitted there’s no known connection between Kohberger and the victims.
He accepted a plea deal — admitting to the quadruple murders in exchange for prosecutors’ dropping the death penalty — last month, putting an end to any hopes of a trial, which was scheduled to begin in August.
Families were divided over the plea deal.
Loved ones of Goncalves and Kernodle expressed disappointment over the lack of a trial.
“This ain’t justice, no judge presided, no jury weighed the truth,” Goncalves’ family wrote in a statement. “Thompson robbed us of our day in court. No negotiations, no jury of our peers, not even the pretense of cooperation and fairness.”
Kernodle’s father told The New York Times that he does “not agree” with the plea deal, and said he is “disappointed in the prosecutors’ decision.”
But loved ones of Chapin and Mogen supported the move.
“While we know there are some who do not support it, we ask that they respect our belief that this is the best outcome,” Mogen’s family said in a statement. “We now embark on a path of hope and healing.”
