University investigates behavior of Idaho murder suspect during murders

A doctoral student accused of killing four University of Idaho students exhibited such disturbing behavior in the weeks leading up to the murders that the university investigated his behavior with women, advised him on a verbal altercation with a professor, and eventually fired him from his job as an assistant. teacher. , according to interviews and a university report.

Less than two weeks before the November murders, doctoral student Brian Kochberger was called to a meeting with faculty to discuss growing concerns about his behavior, according to a protocol, a timetable prepared by the university to justify its decision to fire him. . The meeting was part of a series of discussions about Kochberger’s behavior during his criminology studies at Washington State University, which is about 7 miles west of the University of Idaho.

Faculty concerns about Kochberger increased in the weeks following the November 13 murders, although he had not yet been identified as a suspect. They culminated in an unusual decision by the Criminal Justice Department to fire Kochberger as a teaching assistant in December, shortly before his arrest, according to three people familiar with his time at the university and an official letter to Kochberger informing him that he had not met with him. conditions necessary to maintain its funding within the program.

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The faculty made the decision at a year-end department meeting in December, during which the professors were also informed that some female students reported that Koberger had made them uncomfortable. In one such case, Kochberger was accused of following a student to her car, according to two people familiar with the situation who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

In the case of the female students, the university investigation did not find Kochberger guilty of any wrongdoing, two people said, and the decision to cut off his funding and remove him from his teaching assistant position was due to other circumstances. This decision, they said, was based on his poor performance as a teaching assistant, including his failure to adhere to “standards of professional conduct” in his interactions with faculty.

Koberger started having problems about a month into the fall semester, his first semester in Washington State. He had a “fall out” on September 23 with John Snyder, a WSU professor he helped, according to a resignation letter obtained by The New York Times.

Then, on November 2, department heads met with Kochberger to discuss an improvement plan, the letter said. Eleven days later, four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death overnight in a house near campus in Moscow, Idaho.

In the dismissal document, officials described the second “argument” Kochberger had with the professor after the murders, on 9 December. saying that he “didn’t make any progress on professionalism”.

Phil Weiler, vice president and spokesman for WSU, said federal student privacy law forbids him from commenting at length on Kochberger’s history at the university. He only said that Koberger was no longer at university. Kochberger’s lawyer did not respond to a message asking for comment on Friday.

Koberger is being held in prison on charges of four murders; he said through a lawyer that he hoped for rehabilitation.

The Times previously reported that students complained about Kochberger’s harsh grades in his role as teaching assistant, leading to a class discussion in which he tried to defend the reviews he provided to students.

Kochberger entered the WSU program after earning a master’s degree from DeSales University in Center Valley, Pennsylvania, in June, not far from where he spent his teenage years battling emotional problems and drug addiction.

Records show that after an initial row with the professor, Kochberger met with a university representative on September 23 to “discuss the norms of professional conduct”. By October 21st, the professor emailed him about “how you have not lived up to your expectations as an assistant so far this semester.” Some of the details of Kochberger’s troubles and possible dismissal were first posted online by an Arkansas woman who followed the case closely.

Idaho students were found stabbed to death in two bedrooms of their home on November 13. Madison Mogen and Kaylie Gonsalves, 21, were found in one room, while Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found in another room. statement to the police. According to police, all three women lived in the house, and Chapin was visiting Cairnodle, his girlfriend. Police said the killings took place around 4 a.m.

For weeks after the murders, investigators were unable to identify the suspect. Records show that Koberger was still working as a teaching assistant at the time and continued to grade undergraduate students’ work.

About a week after his second row with the professor, as the semester drew to a close in mid-December, Kochberger began traveling across the country with his father to the family’s home in Pennsylvania.

Officials notified Kochberger of his dismissal on December 19, according to the university’s schedule. At the end of the month he was arrested. Authorities cited DNA apparently linking him to a sheath found at the crime scene, a video showing a white car near the crime scene that resembled Kochberger’s, and phone records indicating that Koberger’s phone went offline. cellular network during these key events. early morning hours.

The judge has set a preliminary hearing for June, at which prosecutors must present additional evidence.

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