University of Idaho murderer Bryan Kohberger had visible injuries, including bruised knuckles, weeks after he killed four college students in Moscow, Idaho, according to his classmates.
Newly unsealed police documents detail how Kohberger’s classmates in a graduate criminal justice course at Washington State University described his appearance and demeanor in the weeks after the slayings on November 13, 2022.
According to the documents released by the Idaho State Police, the Moscow Police Department and the Pullman Police Department in Washington and obtained by People, one female classmate described Kohberger returning to class after the 2022 Thanksgiving break with “cuts on his hands” that were “similar to cat scratches.” The classmate told police that he attempted to cover the cuts with bandages.
Another classmate who sat near Kohberger told police that he had “bruised knuckles,” “redness halfway up the back of the left hand from his knuckles” and a “cut on his ring finger” upon returning to class after Thanksgiving, per People.
The classmate said she asked Kohberger about the cuts and that he responded by claiming he was a boxer.
Yet another classmate noted that Kohberger still had bloody knuckles in December 2022 and asked whether “he had been punching drywall in anger.” Kohberger responded that he was involved in an indoor accident, the classmate told police.
A male classmate also shared with police that Kohberger had told him he was involved in a car accident. That classmate described seeing scratches on Kohberger’s face and hands.
According to People, multiple classmates also reported seeing Kohberger wearing a puffy jacket to class for the rest of the semester.
Kohberger was arrested on December 30, 2022, six weeks after the murders of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
In early July, the graduate student pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 10 years for burglary, during a hearing on July 23.
Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle all shared an off-campus student house in Moscow with fellow roommates Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen. Chapin, Kernodle’s boyfriend, was sleeping over with Kernodle on the night of the murders. (Funke and Mortensen survived the slayings.)
Kohberger killed the four students using a military-style Ka-Bar knife, however, it’s presumed that at least one of his victims, Kernodle, fought back.
Police reports unsealed after Kohberger’s sentencing last month noted that Kernodle had defensive wounds to her body and over 50 stab wounds in total. “It was obvious an intense struggle had occurred,” said a report.
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