The families of four University of Idaho students killed in their off-campus home in 2022 have filed a lawsuit against Washington State University, where accused killer Bryan Kohberger was enrolled in a Ph.D. program at the time of the attack.
In the lawsuit, the families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin seek damages from Washington State University (WSU).
The complaint, filed Wednesday, Jan. 7, in the Superior Court of Washington in and for Skagit County, claims Kohberger was “an employee with a known history of threatening, stalking and predatory behavior.”
WSU is located in Pullman, Washington — about 10 miles from Moscow, Idaho, where the murders occurred.
The lawsuit states the “plaintiffs seek to hold WSU liable for its own decisions and actions to remain idle in the face of known extreme and repeated instances of discrimination, sexual harassment and stalking by Kohberger occurring in its educational program.” It adds that this “ultimately culminated in Kohberger stalking and murdering the decedents.”
The complaint further alleges that WSU brought Kohberger to Pullman to work as a teaching assistant in the Criminal Justice and Criminology Department while pursuing a Ph.D., with academic focus that included “sexually motivated burglars and serial killers.” According to the filing, Kohberger was “heavily reliant on WSU,” which the lawsuit says provided salary, housing, medical benefits, and tuition — benefits described as being conditioned on his conduct and subject to revocation.
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The families allege the university failed to impose consequences for what they describe as inappropriate behavior, arguing that this inaction helped create the conditions that allowed the killings to happen.
“Almost immediately upon his arrival to the Pullman-Moscow community, Kohberger developed a reputation for discriminatory, harassing, and stalking behavior,” the complaint states, adding that it allegedly “instill[ed] substantial fear among young female students and fellow WSU employees,” and that some women allegedly required regular security escorts.
Kohberger, 30, was sentenced by Judge Steven Hippler to four life terms in prison without parole for the murders, plus 10 years for a burglary charge and $270,000 in fines and civil penalties.
He appeared in an Idaho courtroom in July for his sentencing hearing, weeks after appearing in the same Boise courtroom and confessing to the killings of Mogen, 21; Goncalves, 21; Kernodle, 20; and Chapin, 20.
The four were found stabbed to death inside a home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
The lawsuit also references Kohberger’s past, alleging he had a history of heroin addiction, had been arrested for theft, and had made posts over multiple years on public online forums about difficulty feeling emotion and having “crazy thoughts.”
It further claims he was removed from a vocational program in high school due to “problems with women,” and alleges that local business owners had grown sufficiently concerned about his behavior toward young women that staff kept electronic notes to warn female employees when he arrived.
“It is critical for universities to promptly identify and appropriately respond to stalking behavior,” the lawsuit says, arguing that WSU did not adequately respond to multiple allegations of stalking and harassment.
