Inside Bryan Kohberger's sinister plot to escape cellblock... as his humiliation at hands of other inmates is revealed
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Bryan Kohberger is threatening to harm himself behind bars if prison guards don't move him away from other inmates who are constantly tormenting him, the Daily Mail has exclusively learned.
The former criminology PhD student - who turned 31 on November 21 - has been held on J-Block inside Idaho's maximum security prison in Kuna for the past four months, since he was sentenced to life in prison for the November 13, 2022, murders of four University of Idaho students.
Though segregated in the restrictive housing unit, the high-profile inmate's life inside has gotten off to a rocky start, with fellow prisoners harassing him by shouting and allegedly making threats through the air vents.
Kohberger - now known as inmate number 163214 - has already filed a string of complaints over his fellow inmates as well as his food choices and access to commissary, and he has asked to be relocated to a different block.
Now, a law enforcement source has revealed Kohberger is warning staff he will harm himself if they don't give in to his demands and move him to another part of the prison.
'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,' Chris McDonough, a retired homicide detective who works for the Cold Case Foundation, told the Daily Mail.
McDonough said he learned from an insider that Kohberger has made the threat to hurt himself both verbally and in a written complaint to staff.
Prison guards are unsure if Kohberger plans to physically cause himself harm or if he is just 'playing games' to try to get his own way, McDonough said. The mass killer has made it clear he wants to be housed on a medical ward where cells are typically nicer and more spacious, he added.
Bryan Kohberger (in a selfie taken hours after the murders) is threatening to harm himself behind bars if prison guards don't move him
The former criminology PhD student - who turned 31 on November 21 - has been held on J-Block inside Idaho's maximum security prison in Kuna (pictured) for the past four months
'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 said. 'He's not saying I'm going to kill myself, it's I'm going to harm myself.'
Regardless, it's a threat that prison staff are taking seriously.
'They're keeping him isolated and are carrying out more checks on him and his cell,' McDonough said.
'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.'
But despite keeping a closer eye on the high-profile inmate, the prison is so far refusing to bow down to his demands to be relocated.
As the state's only maximum security facility, the prison is home to some of Idaho's most dangerous and violent male offenders, including death row inmates.
Inside the restrictive housing unit, Kohberger is currently kept away from other inmates for his own safety. He spends 23 hours a day in his cell with only one hour of outdoor recreation.
'They've not moved him out of J-Block because where he is now, he is isolated. They're trying to keep him away from the other inmates, because the other inmates have made it clear he's not welcome there. They have not accepted him into the prison system,' McDonough said.
Left to right: Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee's shoulders) Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke
Kohberger broke into 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022 and murdered Goncalves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin
'He probably thought he was going to come into the prison system with notoriety. And he's seen the opposite of that, so they're trying to keep him isolated because they're afraid if an inmate gets hold of him, they may harm him.'
The Daily Mail has contacted the Idaho Department of Corrections for comment about the latest revelations.
Back in August, the Daily Mail exclusively revealed that Kohberger was being relentlessly tormented by his new jail-mates as soon as he arrived at the penitentiary.
An insider told McDonough that the inmates in the nearby cells were shouting through the vents into his cell at all hours of the day.
The inmates even joined forces to work together to target the mass killer, taking it in turns to shout at him.
Kohberger instantly began complaining to the prison guards about the behavior, claiming they were keeping him awake at night.
After just one day on the block, he filed a formal handwritten complaint about the alleged 'minute-by-minute verbal threats/harassment' and requested a transfer to another part of the prison.
'Unit 2 of J Block is an environment that I wish to transfer from,' he wrote.
Kohberger - now known as inmate number 163214 - has already filed a string of complaints behind bars in the prison
Days later, he filed another complaint - alleging he was the victim of sexual threats.
In that note, dated August 4, the mass killer claimed one inmate told him 'I'll b*** f*** you' while another said, 'The only a** we'll be eating is Kohberger's.'
A prison guard confirmed he had overheard 'vulgar language' being directed toward Kohberger, according to an incident notification report. The report concluded Kohberger felt safe to remain on J-Block.
A housing placement hearing was then held in the prison on August 12 after Kohberger requested a move to protective custody over the incidents with fellow inmates, the Idaho Statesman reported. Both Kohberger and the committee agreed he should remain segregated from other inmates for the time being.
But, the mass killer revealed his desire to eventually be able to join other inmates for recreation and work inside the prison 'just like another high-profile resident on J2 does.'
At the time, IDOC insisted Kohberger was safe and secure in the prison, pointing out he was 'housed alone in a cell, and IDOC security staff maintain a safe and orderly environment for all individuals in our custody.'
Four months have now passed since Kohberger's arrival at the prison, but there has still been no let-up in the torment, McDonough revealed.
Instead, the inmates remain 'relentless' in their harassment of the mass killer, yelling through vents, kicking their doors, 'basically driving him nuts,' he said.
Kohberger left this brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath behind at the scene of the murders
Bryan Kohberger is seen pacing inside a prison cell in video footage that leaked over the summer
And Kohberger's frustration with his current predicament is becoming a headache for prison staff.
'He's constantly trying to press everybody's buttons because the prisoners are pressing his buttons, and so that's kind of transferring to the staff,' he said.
Kohberger's complaints about prison life aren't only reserved for his interactions with other inmates.
Within the first month of his incarceration alone, he filed at least five formal complaints including issues with missing items from his meal tray and being unable to access the online commissary system.
After releasing the formal handwritten complaints in August, IDOC said future public records requests of the same nature would likely be denied. Since then, IDOC has not released those records when requests have been made by the Daily Mail.
But of late, McDonough said Kohberger has become disgruntled with one specific fruit on his meal tray: bananas.
'He's complaining about the type of bananas he's being served,' McDonough said.
'They're not the kind that he likes. I'm not sure if that means they may have bruises on them and he doesn't like that or if there is a particular type of banana that he likes. But he's complaining about the food he's getting.'
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen (left) and Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle (right) were murdered on November 13, 2022
He is also complaining about 'the type of cell that he's in, the size of the cell and where it's located,' he said.
The sense is that Kohberger believes he should be getting special treatment because of the infamy of his crimes, McDonough said.
'It's about power and control… He was a nobody until he murdered four people… he was irrelevant to the world. And now he's Bryan Kohberger who has slaughtered four people. And, because he didn't have to stand up in court and tell the world how brutal these crimes were, he holds the cards. And he's trying to leverage that.'
As a former veteran homicide detective and an expert in predator behavior, McDonough said he believes Kohberger is also looking for fame and notoriety with his demands.
It's part of a pattern seen in Kohberger's refusal to speak in court - to reveal his motive and what really happened on the night of the murders.
Kohberger broke into an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022 and stabbed 21-year-old best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen and 20-year-old couple Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin to death.
He was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania on December 30, after his DNA was found on the Ka-Bar knife sheath he left behind at the scene.
The murder weapon - a military knife Kohberger bought from Amazon eight months before his killing spree - has never been found.
Kohberger pleaded guilty in July to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary, as part of a plea deal that spared him from the death penalty.
He was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole and waived his right to appeal.
To this day, no connection has been found between Kohberger and any of the victims or surviving roommates.
The killer's motive and how he chose his victims remains a mystery.
McDonough believes the decision not to make it a requirement of his plea deal that Kohberger reveal these details has given the mass killer the leverage and control he craves.
'He still has in his mind the story of what happened and how and why he brutally killed the kids,' he said. 'This means he still holds those cards.'
