Internet wonders why Bryan Kohberger crossed border into Idaho for murders as state has death penalty
This article is based on sources, and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently.
MOSCOW, IDAHO: People on the Internet are asking why Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in Idaho murders, committed the crime in a state that allows the death penalty. Bryan Kohberger was arrested Saturday, December 31, as a suspect in the murders of four University of Idaho students, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder. The arrest came more than a month after the crime, with the investigative team repeatedly criticized for not arresting the suspect immediately, not finding his motive, and not even finding the murder weapon.
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A recent discussion on Reddit claimed, "I know Bryan was living in Washington, near the border to Idaho. Both places have Universities and campuses, but he chose to commit the murders (allegedly) in Idaho. As a PhD-student in criminology he should be aware of the fact that Idaho still has the death penalty (even though no one has been executed in a decade), but Washington doesn’t. After reading the survey Bryan had put out I started to wonder if he knowingly chose Idaho BECAUSE of this."
The user also claimed, "He obviously has thought a lot about committing crimes/murders (allegedly), probably thinking he would be able to outsmart everyone. To then go across the border into a state where he, if caught, would risk capital punishment, would tell us more about how his mind works. Of course this is just speculations, but if true, it’s even more scary (and I’m really thankful that they caught this guy). Do you think this was one of the reasons he chose Idaho? To take the greatest risks he could?."
Meanwhile, another wrote, "That's what I've been saying. Regardless of what anyone else thinks, this man was not happy with his life. Yes, he was highly educated, but a lot of people are. I think that he didn't care if he got caught. He wanted to do it and that's that. He may be a passive suicidal person, in the sense that if he gets the death penalty, it doesn't matter. He wanted the infamy. He wanted to be remembered, like those infamous serial killers and mass killers." "I think he probably picked Idaho because if he failed and got caught he deserved to die just seems like his way of thinking it’s all or nothing with BCK," wrote a user.
Another explained, "Actually Idaho did execute a group of inmates on death row in April of 2022. I also just saw on Youtube that when he drove back to PA after the murders were committed, his father was with him in the white Hyundai Elantra. Not sure why. Maybe he was out there on some legit sounding pretense, but it could be that Bryan needed his dad to drive as he was really on edge and distracted by the constant news of the murders being broadcasted everywhere and knowing the police everywhere were looking for his exact car to drive the entire distance safely by himself."
A comment read, "My opinion is as he studied crime it eventually consumed him. He couldn't stop until he acted out one of the worst crimes a person could do. Thank God they caught him if he is indeed guilty." Another user claimed, "I don’t think you can be sure of anything unless he talks. All of this speculating is really just for entertainment and holds no real conclusions on how he thinks. We don’t even know what the “big mistake” was that lead them to Bryan."
A user opined, "Killers like this tend to be very narcissistic. They aren't necessarily thinking of factors like that. If he was hyper neurotic about getting caught in the first place he just wouldn't have done it, or he would have gone to a totally different area than where he lived and studied and preyed on people LE and broader society doesn't care much about, like street prostitutes in a third world country. Why didn't he go do that instead if he cared about getting caught and had done risk benefit calculation? The answer imo is a) extreme narcissism, he thought he was special b) a part of him may have wanted to be caught. This has been discussed in some serial killer podcasts. He's not one but if he wasn't caught he could have become one."
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online.