Mel Kohberger had no idea she was speaking to the man later convicted of murdering four University of Idaho students
Bryan Kohberger’s younger sister says she warned her brother that a “psycho killer” was on the loose after four University of Idaho students were killed, unaware she was speaking to the man later convicted of the brutal murders.
Mel Kohberger, Bryan’s sister, recalled the conversation with her brother during a recent interview with The New York Times, saying she felt a sense of alarm after hearing about the murders in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty to murdering Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed Nov. 13, 2022.
“Bryan, you are running outside, and this psycho killer is on the loose,” she remembers telling her brother. “Be careful.”
Bryan thanked her for checking in and assured Mel that he would be safe. Mel said Bryan was the kind of person who would go on late-night jogs and leave his door unlocked, prompting her to check in.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years ago. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
Mel recalled how Bryan was constantly bullied as a teenager. Friends previously said he was overweight and had a standoffish personality. In online posts while Bryan was a teenager, according to the outlet, he said that he had no emotion, little remorse and felt like he was “an organic sack of meat with no self-worth.”
Bryan, who was addicted to heroin as a teenager, once stole Mel’s phone and sold it at a mall so he could buy more drugs, the sister said. Mel said her family was worried Bryan was on a pathway to an early death, something that happened to one of his friends. However, Mel said Bryan received treatment and was doing better.
“We were all so proud of him because he had overcome so much,” Mel said.
Maryann Kohberger, (wearing sunglasses) mother of Bryan Kohberger, along with her daughter, Amanda Kohberger, exit the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, July 23, 2025. The pair were in attendance for Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing for the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
After treatment, while Bryan remained socially awkward and abrasive at times, Mel never saw him as a violent person, she said.
Bryan did not discuss the Idaho murders while staying at his parents’ Pennsylvania home in the days before the FBI raid, but Mel recalled him mentioning the case once, noting investigators were still searching for a suspect.
When Bryan was arrested Dec. 30, 2022, Mel recalled getting a phone call from her older sister, Amanda.
The four victims of the quadruple homicide at the University of Idaho were Maddie Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves. (Instagram: @maddiemogen, @kayleegoncalves, @ethanchapin4)
“She was like, ‘I’m with the FBI. Bryan’s been arrested,’” Mel said. “I was like, ‘For what?’”
“The Idaho murders,” Amanda responded.
Mel initially thought her sister might have been pranking her before becoming nauseous at the thought that her own brother was behind the murders of four college students.
Overnight, Mel said her world was flipped upside down. Bryan’s sister said she was training to start her new job as a mental health counselor in New Jersey but agreed to step down after the new employer became inundated with inquiries.
Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders of four University of Idaho students. (The Idaho Department of Correction)
Mel said she became angry after seeing online posts from people who speculated that her family may have known that Bryan had killed the four University of Idaho students.
“I have always been a person who has spoken up for what was right,” Mel said. “If I ever had a reason to believe my brother did anything, I would have turned him in.”