Featured Image Credit: Pool/Getty
Topics: Bryan Kohberger, Crime, US News
Callum Jones
A forensic psychiatrist has provided a theory behind Bryan Kohberger’s motive after he confessed to murdering University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen.
Mogen and Goncalves, 21, and 20-year-olds Chapin and Kernodle were all found dead at their off-campus home in Idaho on November 13, 2022.
Kohberger was later charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with their deaths.
He previously pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, however, his recent plea deal saw him admit to the murders means he will not be handed the death penalty.
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Instead, Kohberger will be sentenced to ten years for the burglary charge, on top of a fixed life sentence on the four counts of homicide, according to the plea agreement.
Kohberger admitted to murdering the four students in on Wednesday (July 2).
NewsNation's Brian Entin revealed that Kohberger was asked if he 'stabbed and murdered' Mogen, 'deliberately killed and murdered' Goncalves, as well as taking the life of Kernodle and Chapin, to which Kohberger responded with 'yes'.
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Trying to find answers as to why a murderer has committed such dreadful crimes is near impossible, but that's where Dr Carole Lieberman comes in.
The forensic psychiatrist told the Daily Mail how Kohberger's rage could have been triggered by a psychological pattern.
"It is especially significant that Maddie and Kaylee look like the blonde cheerleader who rejected him in middle school," Dr Lieberman told the Mail.
"He took out the rage that he built up over the years, towards this first love and all the subsequent women who rejected him, with each bloody stab of the knife."
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The expert has looked into Kohberger's demeanour during the plea agreement, and there was certainly a lot of red flags.
"He was so angry, so defiant," Dr Lieberman said. "He certainly wasn’t remorseful."
The forensic psychiatrist went on to tell the Mail that she's decided to share her theory now to help the victims' families in what is an extremely difficult time.
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"They are not going to hear it from his mouth... so I just wanted to try to give them some idea of why this happened," she added. "Their children didn’t do anything wrong, and what happened is not because of anything their children did. I am worried that they are thinking that."
The recent plea deal was reportedly made just days after prosecutors met with the victims' families to discuss the plans.