I think yours is an interesting theory and very plausible.
My theory really is a bit silly, but I'll share it. I, too, do not think BCK has a very high opinion of himself. He had some problems growing up. Being overweight and bullied, visual snow issues (which sounds like like an absolutely horrible condition to have, plus heroin use that required a treatment center.
About the bullying part; lots (maybe most) kids are bullied growing up. It sucks but I think that's just part of life. And you know what? It very well could be that he was a huge jerk and kids were just reacting to his poor treatment of them.
I look at his life and I don't really think he was happy with where he was headed. I wonder what he thought his next steps were with a Ph.D. in criminology? It would appear that in his past he wanted to go into law enforcement and/or the Army Rangers. That obviously didn't happen and I really don't think he wanted to go into teaching.
This article stood out to me with a couple of quotes from former students, pretty much saying that after the murders, his behavior showed (more than usual) that he really didn't want to be in class.
Bryan Kohberger ‘seemed preoccupied’ after Idaho murders: former student Here are some quotes:
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My thoughts are that he was ending his academic career, didn't want to go into teaching, probably had no LE prospects and was too old to become an Army Ranger, plus no girlfriend or one on the horizon.
He needed to start planning his next steps in life, so he decided on murder (I know, this sound silly, but hear me out). I agree he likely had an unhealthy fascination with death and murder and really wanted to just see what it felt like to commit this crime. He probably didn't really want to get caught, per se, but on the other hand I don't think he really cared if he did, either.
I believe he finally got serious about it and really started his planning back in May 2022 when he went onto Reddit surveying former criminals about their crimes. The next couple of months I think he began meticulously planning the future crime (the weapon he would use, what he would wear, etc.).
I assume he arrived at WSU in August shortly before the fall semester started. We know from cell phone pings that as early as a few weeks after his arrival in WA he started looking for a place to target (the 1122 King Rd. home). I was always puzzled why LE said they didn't know if the house was "targeted" or if one of the victims were. Now, I have no doubt that it was the house.
I do not think he knew any of the victims or that something they did could have finally pushed him over the edge. He has overcome a lot in his life and made some decisions that have changed his life for the better. He chose to start boxing, became a vegan and lost a lot of weight. He became a heroin user (perhaps because the visual snow episodes had him so depressed that he turned to drug use). He then chose to clean up and went to rehab.
As he made all those deliberate choices, I think this crime was just another one of those choices. Maybe he was at the end of his rope, felt like he had no good future prospects, and actually didn't mind the idea of prison, where the rest of his life would be decided for him.
MOO, silly as it is.