A former criminology professor who worked with convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger warned colleagues that Kohberger might one day “harass, stalk, and sexually abuse” students if he became a professor, according to a recently released police report.
The Associated Press first reported Monday that the Washington State University faculty member had encouraged other staff to cut off the funding Kohberger, now 30, was receiving for his Ph.D. program.
“He is smart enough that in four years we will have to give him a Ph.D.,” the professor told colleagues, according to the AP, which cited a 550-page police report released last week by Idaho State Police.
“Mark my word, I work with predators. If we give him a Ph.D., that’s the guy that, in that many years when he is a professor, we will hear is harassing, stalking, and sexually abusing… his students at whatever university,” the professor continued, according to documents reviewed by PEOPLE.
Kohberger’s fellow graduate students also voiced concerns about his behavior, describing it to police as sexist and unsettling during interviews after his arrest in connection with the November 2022 murder of four University of Idaho students.
“Based on how he talks to women and treats women, people in the department thought he was a possible future rapist,” the Idaho State Police report said, though no one suspected him of committing the Moscow murders at the time.
One faculty member told police that Kohberger “was aggressive towards women and made them feel uncomfortable,” adding that “the faculty discussed how they could intervene” in his behavior.
A Ph.D. student told police in a December 2022 interview that Kohberger often spoke to her about sexual burglary, his field of study, which made her uncomfortable.
“Kohberger was interested in the emotions of what it felt like when committing a crime,” the student told investigators. She added that Kohberger “discussed how offenders might avoid getting caught” and the “different emotions violent offenders might have.” The student said she reported several of these conversations to faculty.
Another student said she “had never met anyone who acted in such a condescending manner” and questioned why department leadership did not address his behavior, noting that “the way he spoke to females in the department was unsettling to them.”
Some students were advised not to leave certain students alone with Kohberger, while others speculated about whether his behavior and online posts indicated he was an “incel.”
Idaho State Police also reported that some instructors tracked Kohberger’s behavior on a whiteboard in their offices, noting “the number of times when Kohberger was late to class when female instructors were presenting or when he would cut off a female when she was speaking.”
“In reference to the Moscow homicides, he would say that it was horrible,” the report said. “In discussing whether the murderer would be caught, he said maybe it was a one and done type thing.”
Kohberger pleaded guilty last month to the murders of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. He was sentenced in late July to four consecutive life sentences without parole.
