GUILTY PLEA DEAL ACCEPTED - ID - 4 Univ of Idaho Students Murdered, Bryan Kohberger Arrested, Moscow, Nov 2022 #114

[Warwick7]

Per the lawsuit, it appears as though the parents are filing under violation of Title IX.

Here’s the link to the Complaint:

https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-07-goncalves-complaint-4899-6440-6150-v.1.pdf

Law enforcement records are not protected by FERPA: Are law enforcement records protected under FERPA? | Protecting Student Privacy

I have the utmost respect for Ethan's parents.The fact that Jim and Stacy Chapin joined the other families in filing this wrongful death lawsuit against WSU, speaks volumes to me.

 

[Miss Poovy]

There is an example of a student not being admitted to a graduate program based on their personality and demeanor. James Holmes, the Batman movie killer, was a top-notch student academically, but at least two universities did not admitted him based on his PhD candidate interview.

Link: Colorado shooting suspect's behavior raised flags at Alabama university

 

[Miss Poovy]

I have the utmost respect for Ethan's parents.The fact that Jim and Stacy Chapin joined the other families in filing this wrongful death lawsuit against WSU, speaks volumes to me.

Yes, this also caught my attention.

 

[Miss Poovy]

Those things might have fell into place or were in process. Approximately 32 weekdays fell between the first day of classes in August and Oct 13th.

Well, it seems like BK was really busy during those weekdays!

 

[Miss Poovy]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they go after everyone they can possibly think of to continue keeping this case alive and in the headlines. I feel like because the families were denied getting any kind of explanation from him, they still don’t feel like any kind of justice was served and even though the case is “solved”, it doesn’t really feel like it is. So they want to keep this going. I get it, but nobody is at fault except the murderer himself. Suing everyone in WA or ID or even PA isn’t going to get them closure.

If the families wanted to keep the case going, I think they would have wanted the death penalty pursued.

 

[crcap]

If the families wanted to keep the case going, I think they would have wanted the death penalty pursued.

They did, or at least some of them did. But he then pleaded guilty in exchange for LWOP

 

[Warwick7]

Those things might have fell into place or were in process. Approximately 32 weekdays fell between the first day of classes in August and Oct 13th.

BBM
Let that sink in.

 

[Dotta]

https://twitter.com/x/status/2009995670917136563

" 'Before WSU brought Kohberger to the Pullman-Moscow community,
he had a history of heroin addiction,
had been arrested for theft,
and had made numerous posts over a period of years on public online forums commenting about his inability to feel emotion and 'crazy thoughts',
the new lawsuit from the victims' families reads.

'It is critical for universities
to promptly identify
and appropriately respond to stalking behavior',
the lawsuit said,
arguing that WSU did not adequately respond to numerous allegations of stalking and harassment brought against Kohberger."

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

WSU & Idaho have long-standing co-op agreements. The universities are about 10 miles in distance.

That doesn't mean that someone attending one, gives them standing to sue the other. Is there any precedent for such a thing?

IMO, your examples are not “in-sync” with supervisors and university’s reporting department(s) addressing BK’s behavior. I believe the apartment & other remuneration was included to show BK benefitted from being a PhD student/TA.

Why aren't my examples "in sync"? It doesn't matter that he benefitted from being a PhD and student TA. None of that made him commit murder; it just determined the general area where he committed murder. I don't believe WSU is responsible for that.

MOO.

 

[BeginnerSleuther]

There is an example of a student not being admitted to a graduate program based on their personality and demeanor. James Holmes, the Batman movie killer, was a top-notch student academically, but at least two universities did not admitted him based on his PhD candidate interview.

Link: Colorado shooting suspect's behavior raised flags at Alabama university

That's irrelevant to this case though. Courts should never punish universities for admitting what turned out to be criminal students.

MOO.

 

[Tragg]

Per the lawsuit, it appears as though the parents are filing under violation of Title IX.

Here’s the link to the Complaint:

https://static.foxnews.com/foxnews.com/content/uploads/2026/01/2026-01-07-goncalves-complaint-4899-6440-6150-v.1.pdf

Law enforcement records are not protected by FERPA: Are law enforcement records protected under FERPA? | Protecting Student Privacy

Thank you for the link!

Title IX creates rights for WSU students that WSU is obliged to uphold and respect. It does not create legal claims for non-WSU students.

It's true that the records of the WSU police are not private under FERPA. They are private under the state public records law pertaining to law enforcement or criminal justice records.

 

[Tragg]

There is no allegation in the Goncalves complaint that Kohberger ever touched the women who were uncomfortable in his presence. What he is alleged to have done at WSU is deemed to be protected speech activity by the Supreme Court of the United States. The complaints against Kohberger represented a case of rights in conflict, which took time to resolve. Not a lot of time, though. He was out at the end of one semester. It's really hard to see this case as viable. My guess is that it's about the cha-ching. moo

 

[Dotta]

There is no allegation in the Goncalves complaint that Kohberger ever touched the women who were uncomfortable in his presence. What he is alleged to have done at WSU is deemed to be protected speech activity by the Supreme Court of the United States. The complaints against Kohberger represented a case of rights in conflict, which took time to resolve. Not a lot of time, though. He was out at the end of one semester. It's really hard to see this case as viable. My guess is that it's about the cha-ching. moo

Does "cha-ching" (quoting OP)
mean money?

If so
I don't think it is victims' families' aim.
I doubt they view the lives of their murdered children from monetary angle.
And, honestly, it sounds offensive IMO.

The purpose of this lawsuit is to force institution to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

The purpose is a change
which may save lives of others In the future.

JMO

ETA
Again quoting OP re "Goncalves complaint"

All 4 families sue the University.
As reported in many links here.

 

[Betty P]

There is no allegation in the Goncalves complaint that Kohberger ever touched the women who were uncomfortable in his presence. What he is alleged to have done at WSU is deemed to be protected speech activity by the Supreme Court of the United States. The complaints against Kohberger represented a case of rights in conflict, which took time to resolve. Not a lot of time, though. He was out at the end of one semester. It's really hard to see this case as viable. My guess is that it's about the cha-ching. moo

Verbal harassment and a hostile work environment isn't protected speech.

 

[Tragg]

Under Colorado law, it is unlawful to “[r]epeatedly . . . make[ ] any form of communication with another person” in “a manner that would cause a reasonable person to suffer serious emotional distress and does cause that person ... to suffer serious emotional distress.” Colo. Rev. Stat. § 18–3–602(1)(c) (2022). A man charged under this statute claimed his conduct was protected by the First Amendment was protected because he didn't intend to threaten the victim. His conduct was quite extreme harassment but the SCOTUS held that it was not reckless and therefore the case had to be dismissed.

Read Counterman v Colorado for the unfortunate details.

 

[Tragg]

Does "cha-ching" (quoting OP)
mean money?

If so
I don't think it is victims' families' aim.
I doubt they view the lives of their murdered children from monetary angle.
And, honestly, it sounds offensive IMO.

The purpose of this lawsuit is to force institution to TAKE RESPONSIBILITY.

The purpose is a change
which may save lives of others In the future.

JMO

ETA
Again quoting OP re "Goncalves complaint"

All 4 families sue the University.
As reported in many links here.

The families may want accountability. The lawyer wants money.

 

[Boxer]

From my own BK Timeline:
Dec 2021 to Jan 2022 He applied to WSU.

Jan 10th He buys black balaclava.

Feb1st to Mar15th He is accepted by WSU and applied to PPD.

March 20th-30th He buys Ka-Bar, sheath and sharpener.

He bought these on purpose and months before he moved to Pullman....he already had a plan.

In about 90 days BK had been slapped with 13 serious charges...

If they had just fired him in October, my best guess is he would have run out of money and gone home. That alone, in moo, could have stopped his plans to murder, at least in that area.

I predict WSU will settle...

The complaints were of unfair sexist grading and arguing with his professor.
How could that go any faster than normal HR of meeting with him a performance plan and follow up, which was to fire him.

 

[katydid23]

Since many rely heavily on BK's guilty plea, here’s a statistic that might add some context. In the U.S., many innocent people plead guilty when they feel cornered or fear an unfair trial. Sharing this because it may help frame the plea in a broader way.

sociologists have estimated that between 2 and 8 percent of people who plead guilty are in fact innocent.

In the subsequent 200 years, the basic way in which people are convicted of a crime has substantially changed; plea agreements predominate, while the trial by jury has become a decreasingly viable “right.” One of the unplanned effects of the ubiquity of plea bargaining has been that unacceptable numbers of innocent people are pleading guilty and being criminally punished.

Between 2 and 8 % ? So about 5 out of 100 might be innocent.

I wonder how many of those 5% that confessed falsely, had left DNA at the crime scene, and had driven their own car, circling around the crime scene, moments before the crime, and seen on video speeding away right after?

 

[katydid23]

As is should be! These murders had nothing to do with WSU.

And they had actually done their due diligence, recognised that Kohberger was not a suitable teacher's assistant, and took concrete steps to remove him from the program. So that will show that they do take red flags seriously when students complain about a staff member. What else could they do?

They'd have no idea what evil acts he was fantasising about. How could they be expected to know that?

 

[katydid23]

I'm not sure, there might be a precedent for something like this. things to note.

people who are experts identified BK as a serious ticking time bomb and thought he was a threat to the students and personnel of the program.

the student incidents could have been serious enough to alert police to this problematic, predatory person who is harassing and intimidating with young women.

Alert the police about what though? He graded female students unfairly? He was rude to some students? He was coming on to some of the girls? He was arrogant. Talked back to his professor and they got into a tussle?

I don't see much of anything that could be reported to the police. There is a campus police department ready and willing to take reports, but this would be a nothing burger, imo.

police don't always have to make an arrest, they can do other things, they can mitigate, warn and observe.

Observe what, mitigate what? They will warn a young child if you ask a cop to talk to your minor child about shoplifting or riding without a helmet. But a grown PHD candidate?

I don't see anything that BK was accused of that the police department would be able to help much with. He was slick, in his own way. He didn't cross any legal lines that we know of. Leering at girls, walking behind them out to the parking lot? It's not really illegal.

People believed he broke into his friend's apartment, and he may have , but no one knows if he did or not. Lots of girls thought he was creepy, but police can do nothing about a nebulous accusation.imo.

it is questionable but I think the consensus would be that either the school didn't have protocols in place to exercise due diligence in a serious situation with a problematic student, or they simply didn't follow commonsense protocol, which would have been to alert police and allow them to assess the situation.

I don't see it. What could the police possibly do about vague and subjective accusations about being creepy or awkward?

He did nothing to make anyone think he was about to brutally stab 4 strangers to death. imo

I don't think it matters that these college kids were at another school.

It's kind of like they just rushed him out of the program and didn't want this reflecting on their program that attracted a weirdo, dangerous creep.

They didn't rush him out, did they? I thought they gave him a couple of chances and had some meetings, to set boundaries and discuss options and suggested ways to improve ? They gave him opportunities to make changes but he apparently continued to beef with his mentoring professor.

I think the school has to settle with the parents.

I hope they don't. This is an overreach, imo. And sets a bad precedent. Are we going to go sue the last school that any future murderers attended for not noticing their student was going to be violent?

there is no way to ascertain wether or not Bryan could have been spooked after
a police confrontation, spooked enough to abandon his ideas. I mean eventually he would kill I think..someday but maybe not this one time...with more of an intervention. mOO

I don't understand the concept here----are we saying that if the university called the police and said "please come talk to this student Bryan, he is creeping out the female students, etc" And they'd come and warn him somehow, and then he'd put off his homicidal ideations for awhile?

I don't think it would work like that. I could see them requesting that he might get some counselling so he could get along better with superiors or authority figures. But it would be up to him if he followed through because no charges were brought against him by any victims.