The grieving families of four University of Idaho students brutally murdered by PhD student Bryan Kohberger have launched a major lawsuit against Washington State University (WSU). They allege the institution's failure to act on numerous complaints about Kohberger's 'inappropriate, predatory and menacing behaviour' directly enabled the tragedy.
A Litany of Unheeded Warnings
Filed in Washington state, the 126-page legal complaint paints a damning picture of institutional inaction. It states that WSU brought Kohberger into the Pullman-Moscow community by accepting him onto its criminal justice PhD programme and hiring him as a teaching assistant. Crucially, the suit alleges the university quickly learned about his 'threatening, stalking and predatory behavior' but allowed it to escalate unchecked.
Based on investigative records released after Kohberger's guilty plea, at least 13 formal complaints were filed against him by fellow criminology students early in the Autumn 2022 semester. Classmates and faculty described him as sexist and creepy, with female students actively avoiding being alone with him. One faculty member reportedly warned he had the potential to become a 'future rapist'.
The lawsuit details how Kohberger exhibited a disturbing fascination with sexual burglary and serial killers like Ted Bundy, and would physically block people from leaving rooms. Concerns became so widespread that WSU allegedly provided 'safety escorts' for students and staff, with one employee instructed to send a '911' email if they needed help from him.
The Foreseeable Tragedy
On 13 November 2022, Kohberger, then 28, broke into a house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho. In a horrific attack, he stabbed to death best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, and young couple Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20. The lawsuit asserts this was a 'foreseeable and predictable tragedy' that would not have occurred had WSU acted appropriately on the warnings.
Remarkably, just days before the murders, on 8 November, WSU held a mandatory discrimination and harassment training for all graduate students—a session students understood was specifically aimed at Kohberger. He was finally placed on an improvement plan and lost his teaching assistant role and PhD funding in mid-December 2022, after the killings. He was arrested at his parents' Pennsylvania home days later.
Seeking Accountability and Justice
The plaintiffs—Steve Goncalves, Karen Laramie, Jeff Kernodle, and Stacy Chapin—are seeking a jury trial and unspecified damages for negligence and wrongful death. They argue WSU was obligated to control Kohberger as a graduate student, teaching assistant, employee, and campus housing resident.
The complaint further alleges that after the murders, Kohberger's supervising instructor and some fellow students 'immediately thought Kohberger committed the murders' but did not notify law enforcement. It claims WSU feared firing him might prompt a lawsuit, leading to a catastrophic failure in duty of care.
Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count of burglary in July and was sentenced to life in prison. WSU President Elizabeth Cantwell has previously extended the university's 'deepest condolences' to the families. The university now has 20 days from the filing date to formally respond to the explosive allegations.
