Bryan Kohberger Was Kicked out of Police Academy After "Serious" Incident

Bryan Kohberger, 28, the suspect in the killing of four University of Idaho students, was kicked out of a law enforcement training program in high school, a former administrator said this week. His removal followed a complaint made about him over an incident involving other students, the Idaho Statesman reported. Read on to find out what happened. 

The complaint was "pretty serious," and an investigation resulted, Tanya Carmella-Beers, a former administrator with the technical school Kohlberger attended, told The Idaho Massacre podcast. That investigation resulted in Kohberger's removal his sophomore year from the law enforcement focus at Monroe Career & Technical Institute (MCTI) in eastern Pennsylvania, she told the Statesman.

"Ultimately, what had him removed from the program, when I look back on it now, makes sense," Carmella-Beers told the podcast in light of the murder allegations. "Not knowing what I know, then yeah, you'd be like, 'I can't— I'm so shocked.' And in that respect I am, but then I know another little piece, which is the piece that occurred at the school. And so then, I'm like, 'Oh, but see, that makes sense.'"

Carmella-Beers, who oversaw the technical school's student mental health and discipline, wouldn't elaborate about the incident, citing federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act protections. She said it wasn't drug- or alcohol-related, not violent in nature, and didn't involve cheating or academic integrity.

The podcast reported that the complaint involved female students and that Kohberger denied the allegation. "He was steadfast that he didn't do it," Carmella-Beers told the Statesman. She said the complaint about Kohberger wasn't filed by a group of people but wouldn't say how many complainants there were. 

"There were some circumstances that led us to believe that maybe there were going to be some difficulties in Bryan's life that weren't going to … contribute to him having an easy time of it," Carmella-Beers said on the podcast. "Just, it wasn't going to be just ending up in the police academy kind of thing for him. It was going to be a little bit more of a challenge for him to get there."

In other interviews, friends have said Kohberger began using heroin in high school, which led him to drug rehab. At age 19, he was charged with a misdemeanor for stealing his older sister's cell phone and selling it at a local mall. Kohberger later earned bachelor's and master's degrees in criminal justice from DeSales University in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University at the time of the murders. 

After being removed from the law enforcement sequence, Kohberger switched to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) program at the half-day technical school for his junior year. There were no additional complaints or incidents involving Kohberger that year, Carmella-Beers said. Kohlberger didn't attend the school for his senior year, choosing to earn his diploma through the Pleasant Valley School District's online program.

The former administrator recalled that pursuing law enforcement was Kohberger's dream, and he was an "exceptional applicant" for the school's competitive program, she told the Statesman. "He appeared to be the total package, and he was," Carmella-Beers said. "Other than that incident, Bryan was a very strong student, performed well and he took his program very seriously. His uniform was immaculate every day, everything about him was perfect, so to speak — everything."

On the podcast, Carmella-Beers said Kohlberger was greatly disappointed by his expulsion from the program."The reason that I remember his application was because of the way the guidance counselor just really played it up, how it was all he wanted," Camella-Beers said on the podcast. "So my feeling was that he was defeated, you know, because it's the only thing he ever wanted in life, and you have it, and now that's falling through." 

Donna Yozwiak, Kohberger's guidance counselor for most of the high school, told the Statesman "how excited" he was for the technical school's law enforcement focus. "He wanted to explore that line of work as a possible career choice," Yozwiak said by email. "Many students switch career paths. I was surprised, however, when he left MCTI in his senior year." 

The four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death at an off-campus house in November. They were seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, each 21, and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, each 20. Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. Prosecutors say DNA evidence links him to a knife sheath found at the crime scene. Kohberger's public defender said the grad student was out driving his car alone at the time of the killings. Kohberger's trial is scheduled to start Oct. 2.