Bryan Kohberger Threatened to ‘Harm Himself,’ Prison Guards Say, But May Just Be ‘Playing Games’

Bryan Kohberger is extremely unhappy with his living arrangements while serving time for killing the Idaho Four, according to the Daily Mail.

The convicted murderer — who’s complained about everything from bullying by fellow inmates to the quality of the bananas at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution — is so desperate to be moved to a new housing unit that he’s resorted to making serious threats, the outlet reported on Thursday, December 4.

“The prisoners are still relentlessly harassing him to the point now where he has written staff messages saying if they don’t move him out of J-Block he is going to harm himself,” retired homicide detective Chris McDonough, who said he spoke to insiders at the facility, told the Daily Mail.

The former criminology grad student, 31, may just be “playing games” so that authorities will give in to his demands to be moved to a medical ward, which has more desirable cells, McDonough said.

“The question is, is he using a threat about harming himself as leverage to get out of J-Block? Or does he really feel he’s going to harm himself?” McDonough asked, noting that the prisoner has warned guards verbally as well. “He’s not saying, ‘I’m going to kill myself,’ it’s ‘I’m going to harm myself.’ ”

Prison staff is taking his threats seriously. “They’re keeping him isolated and are carrying out more checks on him and his cell,” McDonough reported, noting that he spends 23 hours a day in the small space. “And they are obviously not letting him have access to anything he could use to harm himself like shoelaces or sharp instruments such as pencils or pens.”

Kohberger is serving four consecutive life sentences for killing University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in a brutal November 2022 stabbing spree.