Sister Warned Bryan Kohberger About “Psycho Killer” on the Loose Before His Arrest, Says Family Member

January 4, 2026 — In a revealing new account, Mel Kohberger, the younger sister of convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger, said she once warned her brother there was a “psycho killer on the loose” in the Moscow, Idaho area — not knowing she was speaking to the man who would later be convicted of the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students. Her comments, shared in a recent interview, shed new light on how close family members processed events in the weeks leading up to his arrest and their shock afterward.

The warning came in late November 2022, shortly after students Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves were found stabbed to death in an off‑campus residence near the university. Mel told The New York Times she felt alarmed by local news coverage and reached out to Bryan, who was living nearby at the time. “Bryan, you are running outside and this psycho killer is on the loose,” she recalled saying to him. Bryan thanked her for checking in and assured her he would be safe, according to her account.

Mel said she was motivated to caution him because he was the kind of person who often went on late‑night runs and left his door unlocked, raising her concern about the dangers posed by an unidentified attacker.

Family Shock and Disbelief After Arrest

Mel’s warning, innocent in intent, took on a starkly ironic tone once law enforcement identified and later arrested Bryan in December 2022. She recalled receiving a phone call from her older sister, Amanda Kohberger, informing her that FBI agents had taken Bryan into custody. At first, Mel thought it might be a prank. “I was like, ‘For what?’” she said, only to hear, “The Idaho murders.” The realization left her physically sick.

Bryan Kohberger, a Ph.D. student in criminology, ultimately pleaded guilty in late 2025 to the murders and was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the deaths of the four students.

Family Reaction and Public Scrutiny

Mel’s interview also touched on the intense public and online scrutiny the family faced after the arrests. She said her life was significantly disrupted, including stepping down from a new job as a mental health counselor in New Jersey after inquiries flooded her prospective employer.

She expressed frustration with online speculation suggesting that the family knew of Bryan’s involvement in the killings, calling those assumptions hurtful and unfounded. “If I ever had a reason to believe my brother did anything, I would have turned him in,” she emphasised.

Mel described Bryan as socially awkward and sometimes abrasive, recalling that he had been bullied as a teenager. Online posts from his younger years, she noted, included statements about feeling little remorse or emotion, and self‑descriptions that alarmed some observers — though she said she never saw him as violent.

Bryan also had a troubled past as an adolescent, having struggled with heroin addiction, including an incident where he once stole and sold Mel’s phone to buy drugs. Despite these struggles, she said, the family was proud of his progress after undergoing treatment.

After the murders, Mel said the family “felt victimized but not really a victim,” acknowledging the painful emotional toll of having a close relative responsible for such heinous crimes. At the same time, she emphasised compassion for the families of the victims, recognising that their suffering was far greater.

The Wider Case Context

The murders of the four University of Idaho students in November 2022 shocked the nation, leading to one of the most high‑profile criminal investigations in recent U.S. history. Law enforcement used forensic genealogy and phone records to link Kohberger to the crime scene, culminating in his arrest on December 30, 2022.

While prosecutors presented strong evidence, including DNA and digital data, Kohberger agreed to a plea deal in 2025 that spared him the death penalty but resulted in multiple life sentences without parole for each of the four victims.

The case also generated extensive public and media discussion about true crime culture, social media speculation, and the emotional experiences of relatives of both victims and perpetrators — discussions that Mel herself has criticised for lacking empathy and spreading unverified assumptions.

Summary

• Mel Kohberger, sister of convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger, revealed she once warned him that a “psycho killer” was at large in Idaho — unaware the killer was her brother himself.
• She described her shock and disbelief when the FBI arrested Bryan for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.
• Mel has publicly defended her and her family’s lack of prior knowledge about his crimes and condemned online speculation that they should have known.
• Bryan Kohberger is serving life without parole after pleading guilty to the killings.