Suit: WSU Failed to Respond to Kohberger Warnings

The university where Bryan Kohberger studied is now facing a lawsuit from the families of the four University of Idaho students he admitted killing. In a complaint filed in Washington state court, relatives of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, accuse Washington State University of negligence and violating federal gender-discrimination law under Title IX, reports NBC News. The suit argues that WSU failed to respond adequately to numerous warnings about Kohberger's conduct while he was a criminology graduate student there, calling the murders "a foreseeable—and, in fact, predictable—tragedy."

The filing alleges WSU received 13 formal complaints about Kohberger's "inappropriate, predatory and menacing behavior," particularly toward women. According to the lawsuit, his actions were so disturbing that some female students reportedly left class mid-lecture, leaving belongings behind. The complaint says women on campus felt threatened by his behavior—including alleged intense staring, blocking exits, looming over them, and following them to their cars—and that they often needed security escorts. The families say the university's response to these reports was "negligent."

"This effort is not about vengeance or speculation," the families' lawyers said, framing the case as an attempt to push schools to act more decisively on safety concerns. WSU declined detailed comment but told the New York Times that its "hearts remain with the families and friends impacted by this horrific tragedy." Kohberger, arrested in Pennsylvania more than a month after the November 2022 stabbings in Moscow, Idaho, was linked to the crime through DNA, surveillance footage, and cellphone records. In July, he accepted a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table and received four consecutive life sentences for first-degree murder, plus 10 years for burglary.