'Socially awkward and standoffish': Bryan Kohberger's neighbors remember having him over for pool party
This article is based on sources and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently
PULLMAN, WASHINGTON: Bryan Kohberger's neighbors have recounted their interactions with the quadruple murder suspect when he was a criminology student at Washington State University. He was apparently invited to a pool party in the neighborhood last year where his demeanor was described as "socially awkward" and "standoffish" with a dead stare.
Kohberger, 28, is accused of the stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. The victims' bodies were found on November 13 at a rental home across the street from the University of Idaho campus. The grisly murders shook the rural Idaho community to its roots.
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'I saw him in the hallway'
Christian Martinez reportedly lives in the Pullman, Washington apartment complex where Kohberger lived when he first moved to the area in 2022. “Literally, like days after these murders happened, he brought it up when I saw him in the hallway,” Martinez told Law&Crime Network. “Those are the two things he said: They have no leads and they think it was a crime of passion,” he continued. “He just really liked talking to me in the hall. He would talk about his studies, like forensics and stuff and criminology stuff. And at the time, you know, it just seemed like normal times."
Fascination with death or killing
Martinez said he remembered the suspected killer moving into the area in the summer of 2022. “I met his dad in the parking lot. He just stopped and started talking to me,” Martinez told the outlet. “His dad was wanting to introduce me to Bryan. And he said something, I don’t remember the exact word he used to describe him, but it was something that was like, ‘He has a hard time making friends,’ or, ‘He’s kind of shy.'"
According to Martinez, Kohberger kept tabs on the University of Idaho murders and often brought them up in conversation in the days leading up to his arrest. “He was like, ‘Oh, did you hear about these murders that happened?’ And it was like so shortly after they actually happened, there was barely any news articles out, so there wasn’t much that I could have read. So I was like, ‘Yeah, man, it’s crazy. Yeah, of course, I’ve heard about them,” Martinez said. “He was like, ‘Yeah, it seems like they don’t have any leads … And then he’s like, ‘Yeah, it seems like they think it was a crime of passion.” In light of his conversations with Kohberger, Martinez concluded that he probably had a fascination with death or killing. “It was kind of on the subject of what it would take to take someone’s life. It was kind of like he was trying to see my … perspective on, I guess, taking someone’s life,” he said.
'Socially awkward'
At some point, Martinez invited Kohberger to a pool party, where Zach Cartwright met the accused killer for the first time. “I did notice him and I noticed that he was kind of standing off the entire time. He wasn’t very social, which I thought was kind of weird, because it was a party and people were interacting. He was just kind of standoffish,” Cartwright told Law&Crime Network. “He did seem … kind of just socially awkward and kind of hard to carry a conversation with if I remember correctly,” Cartwright recalled. “But besides that, he mainly kept to the side and was really observant. So much so that, based on that one small interaction, he knew exactly who I was maybe a month or so later when I saw him on that hike.”
Cartwright noted how they crossed paths again and that it was strange how quickly Kohberger recognized him. “It was really weird how he approached me and the people that I was with because he acted kind of like we were best friends. It was like a reunion or something. And he was really excited to see us and I had no idea really who he was right at that second,” Cartwright explained.
Interviewed by the FBI
Although Cartwright spoke to Kohberger only twice, those interactions proved important enough for him to be interviewed by the FBI following the suspect's arrest. “I did speak to the FBI at one point. I do believe that they spoke to a lot of people that were at that party and maybe because that was one of his very first times, if not his first time, in Moscow,” Cartwright told the outlet. Meanwhile, Martinez and his wife were also interviewed by the FBI. He recalled how his wife always felt something was off with Kohberger. “She didn’t have a good feeling about him, because every time I would like to tell her, “I’m going to invite Bryan,’ because he didn’t have any friends and I was trying to bring him out and maybe meet people. But she was always like, ‘No, please don’t,’” he said.