Convicted murderer claims mistreatment and harassment in Idaho Maximum Security Institution
Between filing complaints about the prison food and taunts from fellow inmates, convicted killer Bryan Kohberger has been trying to get in touch with serial killers from around the country, according to a former homicide investigator with knowledge of the situation.
Chris McDonough, the director of the Cold Case Foundation and a retired detective, said he has insider knowledge of Kohberger’s behavior in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna.
When asked if Kohberger has made any friends behind bars so far, he said his source told him Kohberger’s been making overtures to other high-profile killers and “sees himself above everyone around him.”
“He’s tried reaching out to other serial killers, but I don’t know whether any relationships have formed,” McDonough told Fox News Digital. “Both inside and outside — he’s trying to communicate with people outside the walls.”
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. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
Kohberger was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University when he drove 10 miles away for a 4 a.m. home invasion massacre at the nearby University of Idaho.
He stabbed four undergrads to death in an off-campus house — Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
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)
He left scant evidence behind — but dropped a Ka-Bar knife sheath with his DNA on it. The case dragged on for more than two years, and he finally pleaded guilty when his attempts to have the potential death penalty taken off the table failed.
He received four consecutive sentences of life without parole, plus another 10 years, after pleading guilty to avoid the firing squad.
The Pennsylvania native entered Idaho prison with a target on his back, experts previously told Fox News Digital, due to the notoriety of the crime and the callous selection of victims, whom he had no known ties to.
This still image taken from surveillance video of an Albertson’s supermarket in Lewiston, Idaho, shows Bryan Kohberger shopping hours after the Idaho student murders. He is now reportedly complaining about his prison food. (Moscow Police Department)
In a little over four months in prison, he’s already filed official complaints claiming he’s been mistreated, harassed and threatened by his fellow inmates.
“He’s desperately trying to get transferred out of J-Block because of relentless taunting from other inmates,” McDonough told Fox News Digital. “Recently, his big complaint has been food, especially the bananas, because he’s a vegan. He didn’t like the type or quality of the food being prepared.”
However, complaining about that won’t help, with food services run by fellow inmates, McDonough explained.
This image shows the recreation yard at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, where Bryan Kohberger sees only one hour of exercise a day while housed in the facility’s secure J Block unit. (IDOC)
“It wouldn’t be surprising if the inmates intentionally give him the worst bananas — ‘Give this one to Kohberger,'” he said.
Although the J-Block cell keeps Kohberger physically isolated for 23 hours a day, minimizing a risk that any other inmate could make good on threats of violence, Kohberger doesn’t like it and wants to be moved, McDonough said.
“His latest issue is that he’s implied that if they don’t move him out of J-Block — complaining his cell is too small and so on — he’ll harm himself. No one knows what that means. It could be a manipulation tactic, almost like a toddler having a tantrum, to get himself into a better unit.”
