Bryan Kohberger was fired from his job as a teaching assistant due to "behavioral problems" just days before he was arrested for allegedly stabbing to death four University of Idaho students. Kohberger reportedly had a "sexist attitude toward women" and was facing disciplinary actions at his Washington State University job.
He was finally fired on December 19, just over a month after the four students were found dead from stab wounds in Moscow, Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody at his Pennsylvania parents' house on December 30, eleven days later. Kohberger allegedly fatally stabbed Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on November 13.
His Past Problems
As part of his graduate training, Kohberger, a PhD candidate in criminology, started working as a teaching assistant in the criminology department in August. However, according to NewsNation, the university began investigating him after only a month because of "behavioral problems" and a "sexist attitude toward women."
The outlet was able to obtain a thorough timeline of Kohberger's departmental problems, which showed that he had received repeated warnings about his behavior and had been called into meetings with academics as a result of their worries.
According to professors at WSU, Kohberger was "rude to women" and graded female students differently than male students. He also reportedly had a 'sexist attitude toward females he interacted with at the school.'
Kohberger allegedly also got into numerous fights with Professor John Snyder while working as a teaching assistant. On September 23, he and the lecturer got into a disagreement. Snyder called Kohberger into a meeting ten days later to talk about his "professional behavior."
After the meeting, Kohberger allegedly turned more "feisty" and "belligerent" and started arguing with professors.
Weeks later, on October 21, Snyder informed Kohberger through email that he had fallen short of the standards he had set forth during their earlier conversation. Kohberger allegedly met with the professor on November 2, 11 days before the killings—to go over a behavior "improvement plan".
On November 13, a little less than two weeks later, the 28-year-old was accused of fatally stabbing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves in a student residence just across the Washington state line in Moscow, Idaho.
Strange Behavioral Pattern Before and After Murders
The university kept track of his troubling behavior even after the killings. On December 7, Kohberger met with the professor to discuss the improvement plan. Nevertheless, two days later, they got into yet another argument.
Snyder condemned his behavior, writing to Kohberger that it was "apparent that you have not made progress regarding your professionalism". On 19 December – just over one month on from the murders –Kohberger was finally fired from his WSU teaching post, the NewsNation reported.
Kohberger worked as a teacher's assistant while attending Washington State University for his master degree in criminology. He might have had access to bodycam footage from five police departments as part of his doctoral degree, in addition to a live link to surveillance film from the university.
A WSU source told Fox News in January that someone on campus may have had unauthorized access to the database, despite the insider's insistence that "Kohberger never had access to any footage" from the CSI Lab.
The CSI Lab does not include footage from the police department in nearby Moscow, Idaho.
The information was made public after police in two different Pennsylvania counties said they had been searching through unresolved cold cases for possible connections to Kohberger.
Kohberger, who is facing the death penalty for four counts of murder, was born and raised in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, and had only recently relocated to Washington state to start his doctoral studies in the summer of 2022.
Although Kohberger had no past criminal records, Northampton County District Attorney Terence Houck told King5 that his office was looking into the potential that Kohberger had previously committed a crime in the county where he attended community college.
