Classmates of the Idaho quadruple murder suspect said he had become more chatty in their criminology class but turned silent when the slayings were discussed.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was taken into custody by the Pennsylvania State Police on Friday morning more than 2,000 miles from where four university students were killed in their beds on November 13.
Students who attended Washington State University with Kohberger were shocked to learn that the quiet man in their classroom was the prime suspect in the brutal slaying.
BK Norton, who was in the same criminal justice graduate program with Kohberger, said her classmate appeared more animated and talkative following the murders.
‘He seemed more upbeat and willing to carry a conversation,’ she told the New York Times.
Norton, however, noted that all his enthusiasm would go away and that he would become ‘quiet and deadpan’ when the criminology class would discuss the Idaho murder case, which gripped the nation.
‘I don’t believe he had any reaction,’ Norton told the New York Post, saying it was odd because everyone else was glued to the case and speculated on the lack of public information.
‘We had quite a long conversation in class about it too. I don’t believe I remember him commenting about it at all.’
Bryan Kohberger (left) was arrested for the brutal Idaho quadruple murders that gripped the nation. His Washington State University criminology classmate BK Norton (right) said Kohberger became more talkative after the killings but turned deadpan when they were brought up during their classes
Idaho police said the four University of Idaho students were murdered in their sleep between 3am and 4am (Pictured: Victims Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin)
The suspect is believed to have driven some 2,300 miles from Moscow to Pennsylvania. He was attending college in nearby Washington State, where he pursued forensic psychology
Kohberger faces four counts of first degree murder for the brutal stabbings of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Madison Mogen, 21.
Norton told the New York papers that her class was in shock over Kohberger’s arrest, describing him as a smart and quiet student with an interest in forensic psychology.
Norton, however, added that Kohberger did keep a distance from his classmates due to anti-LGBTQ comments he allegedly made in class.
‘He sort of creeped people out because he stared and didn’t talk much, but when he did it was very intelligent and he needed everyone to know he was smart,’ Norton told the Times.
Another student, who spoke with the Times under the condition of anonymity, backed up Norton’s claim and said Kohberger didn’t have many friends at the school because of the alleged offensive remarks.
Ben Roberts, a classmate of Kohberger and Norton, echoed the suspect’s usual quiet nature in class, but said his demeanor changed after the killings.
‘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.’
A former classmate, Casey Arntz, of the Idaho murder suspect, Bryan Kohberger, has shared information about his past, saying he worked security at their school district
In a TikTok video, Casey claimed Kohberger had managed to get clean from drugs by the time they last spoke in 2017, pictured above, right
Casey Arntz, 29, an old friend of Kohberger, recently took to TikTok to describe details of his life.
She told how the last time she had spoken with Kohberger was five years ago when they ran into one another at a wedding when he appeared well after allegedly using drugs during high school.
‘Back in 2017 when I spoke to him he was clean,’ Casey said. ‘He was doing security detail at a school, I believe, but he seemed like he was better. Obviously that wasn’t true.’
Reports show that while working at his alma mater in the Pleasant Valley School District in 2018, Kohberger earned praises for saving another security officer’s life when the officer was having an asthma attack.
Casey’s brother, Thomas, described Kohberger as a ‘bully’ who would happily note his friends’ ‘flaws and insecurities’ in order to distract from his own weight struggles.
‘He did that to me all the time,’ Thomas told The Daily Beast. ‘He would go after my intelligence. He would basically insinuate that I’m kind of slow-witted and that I’m forgetful and that I lack the intelligence to be his friend.’
In his pursuit of learning forensic psychology, Kohberger took classes at DeSales University from famed criminologist Katherine Ramsland (above), who has written extensively about the psychology behind murders and how investigators hunt them down
While at DeSales, Kohberger had completed a research project asking ex-cons to map out how they committed their crimes
Prior to attending Washington State University, Kohberger was a student at DeSales University, where he learned all about forensic psychology from famed criminologist Katherine Ramsland.
Ramsald has written extensively about the psychology behind murders and how investigators hunt them down, including How to Catch a Killer and The Mind of a Murderer.
Classmates at DeSale said Kohberger took the course ‘Psychology of Death Investigators,’ named after one of Ramsald’s books, and had completed a research project asking ex-cons to map out how they committed their crimes, The Daily Beast reports.
In a now-deleted Reddit post about the project, students had wanted to ‘understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.’
Kohberger and his project partners had asked the former criminals questions about how they targeted their victims, how they prepared for the crime, their travel details and how the crime played out.
He graduated from DeSales University in Pennsylvania in May 2022 with a master of arts in criminal justice.
Ramsland did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
In a statement, DeSales condemned Kohberger’s alleged crime. The school said: ‘As a Catholic, Salesian community, we are devastated by this senseless tragedy. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims’ families during this difficult time.’
Ethan was staying over with Xana when they were both knifed to death in the murder house at 1122 Kings Road
Bestfriends Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, both 21, were murdered on November 13 along with roommate Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, both 20
Kaylee and Madison were found on the top floor of the Moscow, Idaho home. College lovers Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were found in a second-floor bedroom while survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were sleeping on the first floor
Friday’s arrest is the first major break in the case – with Kohberger asking if ‘anyone else was arrested’ when he was taken into custody. An extradition hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.
Kohberger is a registered Libertarian, although does not appear to have had any active social media profiles at the time of his arrest.
During a press conference on Friday authorities confirmed that a white Hyundai Elantra was discovered in the search – with sources saying it was towed from outside Kohberger’s home.
Law enforcement sources told CNN that his DNA was discovered at the scene of the crime – with officers managing to track down who owned the car seen in the area of the slayings.
However, Kohberger has no prior arrests, according to public records, so it is unclear how officials got hold of his DNA.
Authorities then discovered that he had left the area and traveled to Pennsylvania, where an FBI surveillance team had been tracking the 6ft tall man.
He was kept under surveillance, with the FBI watching him for four days, while investigators from Moscow Police and Idaho State Police worked to get an arrest warrant.
The last known movements of at least two of the victims: The girls visited the truck at 1.43am-1.53am. It’s unclear if they went straight home, but police say they were murdered shortly afterward sometime between 3am and 4am
Kohberger was taken into custody in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, a small town in the heart of the Poconos Mountains more than 2,000 miles from where the gruesome killings took place
Moscow Chief of Police James Fry refused to rule out that the killer had an accomplice, adding: ‘We have an individual in custody who committed these horrible crimes.’
Details of the killings, and the motive for them, are yet to be released with law enforcement saying a sealed arrest affidavit will be released once Kohberger is extradited back to Idaho.
He is currently in custody at Monroe County Jail in Pennsylvania until a hearing on January 3.
There is no set time scale for how long his extradition from Pennsylvania to Idaho might take. If Kohberger doesn’t contest it, it’ll happen relatively quickly.
