Former FBI sniper shares new details on Bryan Kohberger's 'awkward' text messages after analyzing his cell phone

A former FBI Hostage Rescue Team sniper who has been through all of Idaho college killer Bryan Kohberger's cell phone communications has shared insight into his messages in the months leading up to the heinous crime.

Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for the murder of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, which took place on November 13 2022.

He was arrested weeks after the murders, after police used DNA on a knife sheath to link him to the crime scene. Kohberger was sentenced in July 2025, after entering a plea deal.

However, just a few weeks ago, it was announced that he was seeking to take back his guilty plea and overturn his conviction.

Now, former FBI Hostage Rescue Team sniper Brian Whitcomb, who described the killer as a 'very, very awkward guy', has told Dax Shepard on the Armchair Expert podcast that he's been through all of Kohberger's emails and cell phone communications, including texts, photographs and messages.

Christopher Whitcomb says he's been through all of the murder's cell phone communications (The Armchair Expert podcast)

Here, Whitcomb says he communicated with his mother, father and two sisters. However, he told the podcast he had 'almost zero' friends.

In the time he got his phone, in July 2022, shortly after moving to Washington, until the time it was seized by police later that year, Whitcomb said there had been roughly 3,500 text messages.

"I don't want to give an exact number, but I'd say fewer than one tenth, one percent were to anybody other than his parents or sisters. Almost no one," he revealed.

Whitcomb once again went on to speak about how 'awkward in interaction' the killer was - noting the moment he turned up in court to enter his plea, in which he 'just started at the wall'.

In March 2025, months before his sentencing, Kohberger’s defence team say he exhibits traits of autism spectrum disorder, arguing that putting him to death would be unconstitutional.

"He never entered a plea of not guilty. The judge entered the plea of not guilty on his behalf, he didn't say a word," Whitcomb explained.

Kohberger remained silent as the judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)

In a new report last year, it was revealed that Kohberger had called his mother, Maryann, multiple times after committing the murder of the four students.

Digital forensics expert Heather Barnhart told PEOPLE that the criminology student spoke to his mother for 36 minutes at 6.17am, with the killings taking place at around 4.20am.

The calls continued later on in the day, with another call at 8am when he made his way back to the crime scene. Another call was made at 9am, with a final 96 minute call at 5.53pm. In total, they spoke for more than three hours during that day alone.

When he was sentenced, on July 23 2025, the killer ignored his mother and his sister Amanda as he left the courtroom, The New York Times reported.

They were the only members of Kohberger's family in the courtroom.

A timeline of the Idaho murders

The four roommates were attacked in the early hours of the morning (Netflix)

November 12 2022

Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, attend a party at Chapin’s fraternity Sigma Chi. Meanwhile, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, go to sports bar the Corner Club.

November 13 2022

1.45am - Kernodle and Chapin return home to their house on King Road

1.56am - Goncalves and Mogen arrive home

2.44am - Kohberger’s Hyundai sedan is spotted by a CCTV camera at Washington State University. Shortly afterwards, the car is seen again heading towards a road that connects Pullman, Washington, to Moscow, Idaho, where the victims live.

4am - Bryan Kohberger is believed to have entered the property

4.17am - A security camera reveals the sound of a barking dog, voices and what sounds like a thud. At some point around this time, their housemate Dylan Mortensen is awoken and hears a male voice say: “It's OK, Kaylee, I'm here for you.” She later hears crying and sees a masked man in the property.

4.19am - Mortensen attempts to call Kernodle, Goncalves and Mogen, but all calls go unanswered. She started texting Bethany Funke, saying she’s ‘freaking out’ after seeing a man in a ‘ski mask’. Mortensen joins Funke in her room and they lock themselves in.

11.58am - After Mortensen calls her friend Emily Alandt, she and her boyfriend Hunter Johnson come over to the King Road property. Johnson discovers Chapin and Kernodle's bodies and calls 911.

November 17 2022

Preliminary autopsy results show all four victims were attacked with a large knife

December 7 2022

Police say they are looking to speak to any occupants of a white Hyundai Elantra from 2011-13.

December 30 2022

Kohberger is arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. Police later reveal they used DNA on a knife sheath to link him to the crime scene, and tracked his car and phone across the area.

May 22 2023

Kohberger remains silent when asked to enter a plea during his arraignment. The judge enters a not guilty plea on his behalf.

June 26 2023

Prosecutors announce they will seek the death penalty.

December 28 2023

The King Road property where the murders took place is demolished to allow the community to heal.

April 17 2024

Kohberger’s defence team claims in court documents that phone mast data shows Kohberger was miles away from Moscow, Idaho at the time of the murders.

March 4 2025

Kohberger’s defence team say he exhibits traits of autism spectrum disorder, and putting him to death would be unconstitutional.

July 2 2025

Weeks before the trial is set to begin, Kohberger pleads guilty to burglary and four counts of first-degree murder.

July 23 2025

Kohberger is sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years for the burglary charge.

He comes face to face with the families of his victims for the first time, who read out impact statements.

Goncalves' sister Alivea gives a powerful statement in court, while Mortensen says she’s suffered from debilitating panic attacks since the night of the murders, telling Kohberger he has taken away her ‘ability to trust the world’.

July 27 2026

Kohberger announces he is seeking to take back his guilty plea and overturn his conviction.

He tells the New York Times: “My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn.”