Idaho murder suspect's former classmate says he showed 'unsettling red flags' after killings
Topics: US News
Emma Guinness
Featured Image Credit: NewsNation/Police handout
Topics: US News
The man suspected of killing four University of Idaho students showed 'unsettling red flags' after the incident, according to a classmate.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was taken into police custody on Friday (30 December) for the crime which took place as the victims slept on November 13, 2022.
As reported by the New York Times, authorities said that Kailee Golcalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, lost their lives in a 'crime of passion'.
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Now, Kohberger's classmate, Ben Roberts, has opened up about the criminology PhD student's sudden change in behaviour after the quadruple murder took place.
"He was starting to show up really tired," Roberts told the Seattle Times. "He'd always have a cup of coffee in his hand, and he kind of looked like he was riding the knife edge between worn out and completely exhausted.
"Most of that as a graduate student is fairly normal," he added. "It didn't raise any red flags at the time.
"Like everybody in a graduate program, there's a little bit of awkwardness. You're trying to fit in, you're trying to find your niche, and Bryan Kohberger fit that.
"Now, looking back in hindsight, having these allegations come almost entirely out of [the] left field, all of that feels less like normal trying to fit in and it just feels... unsettling."
The student's neighbour, however, claimed that while he was a night owl, she did not believe he was physically capable of homicide.
The anonymous neighbour told The New York Post: "I don't know how he could've killed people because he doesn't look that tough."
The woman said that she frequently heard the 28-year-old at night after he moved into the apartment complex in August and said he did seemingly unusual things like hover between midnight and 1 am.
She admitted: "I have kids, so sometimes I thought of speaking to him or complaining, but never did. It seemed like he never slept because he was always doing something all night."
The woman, who is also a PhD student, explained that she is now in a state of total disbelief over what her neighbour is accused of.
"We are all PhD students here so it takes a lot of hard work and smarts to get to this point," she said. "You don't think someone like that could do something like this."
Another classmate, BK Norton, said that Kohberger appeared to be in a better mood after his alleged crimes took place.
She told the New York Times: "He seemed more upbeat and willing to carry a conversation."
However, she said that this enthusiasm quickly disappeared when the subject of the murders came up, at which point he became 'quiet and deadpan'.