'Thrill kill': Bryan Kohberger was planning to execute a 'perfect murder', says forensic expert
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MOSCOW IDAHO: Despite limited information on the evidence gathered against Bryan Kohberger, following his court appearance, the experts suggest that his motive behind gruesome Idaho University student murders was a 'thrill kill' to execute a 'perfect murder'. Apart from finding 'pleasure' in violent crime, the alleged suspect was also trying to 'outsmart' the authorities with the help of the knowledge he had gathered while studying criminology.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were all fatally stabbed in an off-campus rental home on 1122 King Road on November 13, 2022. Police who remained tight-lipped about the possible suspect announced Bryan Konbergers's arrest on December 30. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary.
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What was Bryan Kohberger’s motive?
The killings may have been a "thrill kill" according to Ian Lamoureux, a forensic psychiatrist and clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Arizona. "I have not seen sufficient information to establish a motive at this stage. Currently, this appears to be a 'thrill kill.' The thrill could be emotional excitement or sexual. It could also be the thrill of executing the 'perfect murder,'" Ian told on Newsweek.
As per the expert, "The adrenaline rush and excitement of the killings is the end goal. His online encounters with the victims, if guilty and accurate, could represent stalking/hunting behavior that killers of this category exhibit as a way of stoking excitement in anticipation of the murders—'the thrill of the hunt.'"
'Outsmarting authorities'
Lamoureux, who emphasized that Kohberger has yet to be convicted of any crime, continued: "It seems as though there is some speculation, given his background in criminal studies, that this could be the motive—the thrill of outsmarting the authorities. The psychiatrist concluded that the murderer most likely took sadistic pleasure in their victims' suffering.
Ian as per the outlet said the comments were 'speculative' as "information regarding the defendant is extremely limited at this time." He explained, "Creating fear, terror, and/or pain in their victims will increase the intensity of the pleasure derived from their acts. The intensely personal and unusually violent nature of the murders (a large, fixed blade, such as a Ka-Bar military knife) supports this. This process of hunting/stalking their victims, culminating in violent homicide(s) is intensely pleasurable to these individuals, analogous to the rush of narcotic drugs."
'I'm not interested in the death penalty'
Cara Kernodle, the mother of one of the victims Xana, has indicated she does not want Kohberger to face the death penalty if convicted. Speaking to the outlet she said: "I want to see him pay for what he's done. I'm not interested in the death penalty; that's not who I am, I don't believe in that, but I do believe he should spend the rest of his days in prison."