Idaho Murders Suspect Bryan Kohberger Has 'Potentially Killed Females Before,' Ex-FBI Agent Says

A former special agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation suggested that the perpetrator behind the November 2022 stabbing deaths of four Idaho college students, may have murdered other women before, making him a potential serial killer.

University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, were killed in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022. Bryan Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary for the quadruple homicide.

In a recent two-episode "Dr. Phil" special where experts gathered to discuss the Idaho murder case, former FBI special agent Jonathan Gilliam speculated that the perpetrator of the slayings "most likely" has killed people before.

"I think he's killed before most likely," Gilliam said, Fox News reported.

"Not four people, but I think he's probably stalked and potentially killed females before," he suggested.

Mercedes Colwin, a trial lawyer, echoed Gilliam's remark, saying that if Kohberger is indeed the killer, she could not imagine that the Idaho incident was his first murder.

Colwin cited the "viciousness, the brutality and the butchering" of the four victims as the reason for suspecting the perpetrator in the case had killed before.

Phil McGraw, the program host, asked forensics expert Joseph Scott Morgan whether he believes the Idaho murders were Kohberger's first crime, if he is indeed the killer.

"Murder? Possibly. Bad act? No," Morgan told Dr. Phil.

The experts also touched on Kohberger's Reddit survey in which the suspect asked criminals on social media about how they planned and executed their crimes.

Kohberger asked criminals on Reddit if they struggled with their victims and how they entered the location where the crime occurred.

Colwin said the social media post could be used as evidence to pin down Kohberger in court.

Caitlyn Becker, a senior reporter for the Daily Mail, said Kohberger's use of "goal" in his post struck her as odd, suggesting that the suspect "finds crime to be something to aspire to."

Kohberger was extradited to Idaho from his home state of Pennsylvania earlier this month. He waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing in a court appearance in a bid to give his defense lawyer more time to review and challenge the evidence.

But a criminologist suggested that Kohberger may "stonewall" the court proceedings to keep his name in the news.

Dr. Casey Jordan, a lawyer and criminology professor at Western Connecticut University, suggested that Kohberger "loves the attention" he gets amid the media coverage of his murder case.

Jordan added that Kohberger cannot use mental illness to plead not guilty in his case, noting that Idaho has a state law that doesn't accept insanity as a defense.

Kohberger is expected to return to court on June 26.