The man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students is said to have taken at least one class from a professor who is a world-renowned expert in forensic psychology and “extreme offenders,” including serial killers, Law&Crime reports.
Authorities believe 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger is responsible for the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were found stabbed to death on November 13 in Moscow, Idaho.
Police arrested Kohberger early Friday at this parents’ house in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, more than 2,000 miles away from the murder scene.
Kohberger is a first-year Ph.D. student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, a short drive across the state border from Moscow. He was reportedly studying criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University.
Before moving to Washington state, Kohberger attended DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in 2020 and a master’s degree in 2022, according to a statement from the school.
One student who also attended DeSales told Law&Crime that she took a course there about serial killers and that Kohberger had also been enrolled in the course. The news outlet did not say what year or semester Kohberger allegedly took the course, but the unnamed student told Law&Crime that Dr. Katherine Ramsland was the professor.
Ramsland’s faculty webpage describes her as a prolific author and researcher in the forensic psychology field, with more than 1,500 articles and 68 books to her name. The webpage says Ramsland “teaches seminars on extreme offenders to death investigators and homicide detectives” and that she came to DeSales “specifically to teach forensic psychology, focusing on her field of expertise—extreme offenders.”
Ramsland declined to comment to Law&Crime.
Kohberger is being held in the Monroe County Correctional Facility, where he is being kept away from other inmates and is “on 24-hour watch by the guards there to ensure his safety,” Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar told CNN on Saturday.
LaBar added that his client is “eager to be exonerated” and has agreed to waive extradition to Idaho, according to CNN.
Prosecutors in Idaho have charged Kohberger with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.
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[Feature Photo: Facebook; Police Handout]
