The family members of University of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger have released a statement through the Monroe County public defender’s office saying that they are praying for the victims’ families but “as a family we will love and support our son and brother.”
Kohberger’s parents are named MaryAnn Kohberger and Michael Kohberger, according to public records obtained by Heavy. His sister Melissa Kohberger is a mental health therapist in New Jersey, her online therapist’s biography and a letter to the editor by her mother show. The family’s statement, first published by TMZ, did not name which specific family members were supporting Kohberger but says “as a family we will love and support our son and brother.”
Bryan Kohberger, 28, is a criminology graduate student who stands accused in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students who were killed in their off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022, authorities said in a news conference. Kohberger was arrested on December 30, 2022, in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, where his parents live, court records show. CNN has reported that genealogical DNA research led police to Kohberger, and police then matched his DNA to DNA that was recovered from the crime scene.
The victims were identified by police as Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.
Kohberger, an Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, native, is studying criminology and criminal justice at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, near Moscow, Idaho, the university’s website says. Pullman is about 10 miles from the University of Idaho, just over the state border.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Kohberger Family’s First Statement Says the Family Has Cooperated With Law Enforcement to ‘Promote His Presumption of Innocence’
Monroe Co PA court recordsBryan Kohberger extradition court records.
The family’s statement was contained in a Monroe County public defender’s office press release that was published by TMZ.
The press release is on public defender office letterhead.
“First and foremost we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children,” the family’s statement reads.
“There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them. We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother,” the press release continues.
“We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to see the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions. We respect privacy in this matter as our family and the families suffering loss can move forward through the the legal process.”
The press release was titled “Kohberger family statement” and was signed by Jason Allen LaBar, the chief public defender in Monroe County, who is representing Kohberger in court there, since he was arrested in Pennsylvania. It was not immediately clear if he has been appointed or has hired an attorney to represent him in Idaho, or if that will be done after his extradition.
Kohberger’s Attorney Has Described the Family as ‘Very Shocked’ Because They Believe the Accusations Are ‘Out of Character for Bryan’
Washington State UniversityBryan Kohberger
LaBar has also defended Kohberger in statements to the news media since Kohberger’s arrest.
“He is very intelligent. In my — our conversation with him that comes off. I can tell that and he understands where we are right now,” LaBar told CNN, adding that he had spoken to Kohberger’s family.
“I spoke to them for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. They’re also very shocked out of character for Bryan. They’re really in all over everything that’s going on,” LaBar told CNN.
CNN correspondent Jean Casarez said on the network, according to a transcript, that LaBar told her “the family was at home. Bryan was with his parents at their home in Albrightsville which is about eight miles away. He said it was about 3:00 in the morning that there was a knock on the door. And the authorities were there. His father answered the door. There was no issue. Bryan came and then they took Bryan into custody. But the family as I said told him that he — they are shocked.”
According to what Casarez said on CNN:
They cannot believe what had happened and what has happened. And I also asked, you know, this is a very intelligent, educated man. 28 years old, he has to appreciate the seriousness of what this — is happening right now. He said that he most definitely does. He’s very aware he’s cognizant, he is housed by himself in this correct — high profile nature. He was on suicide watch initially which is routinely done for people that enter this facility.
Thomas Arntz, a former high school friend of Kohberger’s, told The Daily Beast that Kohberger’s mother was a substitute teacher and his father worked in maintenance, calling them “genuinely kind people.”
Kohberger’s Mother Once Shared a Poem His Sister Wrote About the Uvalde Tragedy
YouTube/DeSales UniversityBryan Kohberger
Last spring, Kohberger’s mother wrote a letter to the editor in the Pocono Record newspaper that discussed the mass murder at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
MaryAnn Kohberger wrote, “As I sat this morning, reeling from yet another school shooting, I found myself wrestling with which actions need to be taken to stop all the madness. What is the answer? Gun control measures? Mental health intervention?”
In the letter, MaryAnn Kohberger shared a poem that Kohberger’s sister, Melissa Kohberger, wrote about Uvalde, revealing that the sister is mental health therapist in New Jersey:
Bereft of their laughter
There is now not a sound
As we lower our children into the ground
Small hands and feet
Buried six feet deep into the earth of the world that failed them.
“As I read the poem, I thought, whatever the solution, I pray we consider the children before the gun,” the poem reads.
Melissa Kohberger works as a licensed associate counselor in New Jersey, according to ZenCare.
“Melissa guides her clients on a journey to reconnect with their intuition and build a life aligning with their values and inner truth,” the Zencare page says of Melissa Kohberger.