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Bryan Kohberger called his mom multiple times after killing four University of Idaho students with a knife in November 2022 – first when he got back to his apartment across the state line in Pullman, Washington, and later when he drove back to the scene after sunrise, according to a new report.
The 30-year-old’s own lawyers described him in court filings as socially awkward, and he was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as part of a failed bid to have the death penalty taken off the table if the case had gone to trial. According to the forensic analysis, he reportedly had no text with friends or anyone outside his family, other than a single, “benign” group chat.
Heather Barnhart, the senior director of forensic research at Cellebrite, a digital forensics firm that assists law enforcement around the country cracking cases, also revealed that Kohberger referred to his parents as “Mother” and “Father” in awkward text messages in a new interview with People.
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Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, 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)
The former criminology Ph.D. student apparently preferred to reach out to his mom rather than his dad.
“He would go back and forth texting: ‘Father, why did mother not respond? Why is she not answering the phone?” Barnhart told the outlet.
According to her forensic analysis of Kohberger’s phone, the killer would’ve been on the line with his mom, Maryann Kohberger, when he returned to the crime scene at King Road in Moscow, Idaho.
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Maryann Kohberger, (wearing sunglasses) mother of Bryan Kohberger, along with her daughter, Amanda Kohberger, exit Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, Wednesday, July 23, 2025. The pair were in attendance for Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing for the murders of four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The murders took place minutes after 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger returned around 9 a.m. hung around for a few minutes, and left. He had two conversations with his mom around this time.
Police weren’t called until almost noon.
If Kohberger hadn’t pleaded guilty at trial, Barnhart’s team would have been called to testify about how he attempted to hide his movements by powering off his phone with 100% battery while driving to and from the crime scene, she told the outlet – which he likely did in an attempt to cover his tracks but which comes across as a glaring red flag.
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Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Her phone analysis could also have taken down his alibi – which was that he was driving around in the dark looking at stars, on what meteorologists say was a cold, cloudy night.
“If you’re stargazing and taking pictures of the sky, your phone needs to be on,” she said.
After a series of attempts to throw out evidence and have the death penalty taken away as a potential punishment before trial all failed, Kohberger agreed to plead guilty to the murders of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in a surprise hearing in early July.
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Judge Steven Hippler handed down the maximum sentence possible under the terms of the plea deal – four consecutive sentences of life with no parole, plus another 10 years. He waived his right to appeal and to seek a reduced sentence.
Now he’s being housed in an individual cell at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, where his fellow inmates are reportedly harassing him night and day.