Before Bryan Kohberger was arrested in connection with the murders of four University of Idaho students, his sister urged him to be careful, warning that a dangerous killer was on the loose.
Kohberger was taken into custody about a month after the November 2022 killings and later, in 2025, pleaded guilty to murder.
His sister, Mel, recalled those days in an interview with The New York Times, describing how she reached out to her brother shortly after the crimes, not knowing he was responsible.
At the time, Kohberger was pursuing a Ph.D. at Washington State University, located less than 10 miles from Moscow, Idaho, where the murders occurred.
“Bryan, you are running outside and this psycho killer is on the loose,” Mel told him, according to the Times. “Be careful.”
She said Kohberger thanked her for checking in and reassured her that he would stay safe.
Investigators later determined that Kohberger fatally stabbed Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, during the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
On Dec. 30 of that year, Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania. Authorities had identified him as a suspect after his DNA was found on a knife sheath left at the crime scene.
In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of murder as part of an agreement in which prosecutors did not seek the death penalty. He was subsequently sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
During the interview, Mel also shared that her brother had struggled with heroin addiction earlier in life but eventually overcame it and went on to pursue higher education. She said she was stunned when she learned of his arrest.
“I have always been a person who has spoken up for what was right,” she told the Times. “If I ever had a reason to believe my brother did anything, I would have turned him in.”
