Former students of Bryan Kohberger have come forward to discuss a confrontation with him weeks before he allegedly killed four people, RadarOnline.com has learned.
One of the students told The King Road Murders podcast that after a midterm exam, students debated with Kohberger about whether he judged them too harshly.
The confrontation took place in late September or early October, during Kohberger’s first semester as a Ph.D. student at Washington State University. As part of his funding package, he served as a teaching assistant in the school’s criminology program.
The class decided collectively challenge Kohberger about their grades to earn back points. The student, Hayden Stinchfielddescribed the interaction as a heated argument, with 50 students questioning Kohberger’s grading practices.
Stinchfield noticed a change in Kohberger’s demeanor after this confrontation. By the end of the semester, she noticed he looked unkempt, with stubble and tousled hair.
The student speculated that maybe the stress of the finals got to him. She also noted that Kohberger changed his grading methods and gave high marks without notes.
“That was like a turning point, I think for us,” says Stinchfield. “We felt like when we did that, our grades got better.”
Kohberger also seemed “aloof” and “kind of weird,” though he never went so far as to raise “serious red flags,” Stinchfield says.
“He looked at the floor when he was at the front of the class,” says Stinchfield, adding that Kohberger “was never super involved in [the students].”
“Later in the semester, like the last time he came was probably a few weeks before class ended physically. I remember he looked a little more disheveled. He liked to have stubble and his hair was a little, you know, messed up or whatever. Nothing like crazy,” Stinchfield explained. “But enough that I remember seeing him and thinking, oh man, you know, finals must really hit him or something.”
“What happened is he started giving everyone, just leaving everyone high marks and no notes,” says Stinchfield.
University officials eventually fired Kohberger, citing confrontations with a professor.
Shortly after his firing, Kohberger was accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in an off-campus home on King Road. The victims, Madison May, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana core modelAnd Ethan Chapinfound stabbed to death.
Kohberger now faces four counts of first degree murder and one count of burglary. He has pleaded not guilty and a trial will start in October.