A former student of accused Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger is speaking out about a chilling change in the teaching assistant’s behavior after the brutal stabbings of four University of Idaho students.
Hayden Stinchfield, a criminology major at Washington State University, told CNN that Kohberger seemed “preoccupied” and suddenly started handing out perfect scores in the weeks following the Nov. 13 killings.
“Definitely around then, he started grading everybody just 100s. Pretty much if you turned something in, you were getting high marks,” Stinchfield said.
The student also noticed a shift in Kohberger’s appearance. “He had a little more facial hair, stubble, less well-kept. He was a little quieter,” Stinchfield recalled.
Before the murders, Kohberger had a reputation as a tough grader. Stinchfield said the PhD student would grade on a “higher standard” and often left detailed notes.
But after the tragedy, the notes stopped. “He seemed preoccupied,” Stinchfield added.
Another WSU student, Joey Famularo, told the Spokesman-Review that Kohberger “always seemed a little bit on edge” in class. “We just assumed he was kind of shy,” Famularo said.
Jasmine Lander, a recent psychology graduate, said Kohberger’s professor even expressed frustration with his lack of effort and failure to reply to emails.
Meanwhile, new details have emerged about Kohberger’s arrest in Pennsylvania. According to his public defender, Jason LaBar, Kohberger initially waived his Miranda rights and spoke with investigators for about 5 to 15 minutes.
During that conversation, Kohberger reportedly told police, “Yes, certainly I’m aware of what’s going on. I’m 10 miles away from this.”
He then requested an attorney and stopped talking.
Kohberger is currently held in Monroe County Jail, awaiting extradition to Idaho to face murder charges in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, and Madison Mogen.
As the legal process unfolds, one question lingers: What exactly was going through his mind during those final weeks as a teaching assistant?
