Bryan Kohberger, the killer of four University of Idaho students, remained calm during his first police interview, speaking at length about his Ph.D. program before abruptly shifting focus to his parents, his dog, and his constitutional right to an attorney.

According to a newly released police summary from the Moscow Police Department, Kohberger, 30, acknowledged receiving a crime alert from Washington State University (WSU) and admitted, “of course” he knew about the killings but invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when pressed for details.

Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne and Idaho State Police Det. Darren Gilberton spoke to Kohberger at the Pennsylvania State Police barracks in Stroudsburg. When Payne introduced himself, Kohberger said, “you do look familiar,” according to a report from Moscow police.

Kohberger said “the only thing he heard of from Moscow was an alert that came to his phone,” according to that report.

Police said that he began to speak about the beauty of the environment and its relationship to God and a higher power.

“We spoke about this for some time and Kohberger said he was raised Christian but was always a skeptic except when confronted with the beauty of the natural world,” the police document said.

Bryan Kohberger was stopped by Indiana police on Dec. 15, 2022 before he was identified as a suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students. (Hancock County Police Department)

Bryan Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra is seen during a traffic stop. (Hancock County Sheriff’s Department)

When asked if his father and he had made any stops on their lengthy road trip back to Pennsylvania, Kohberger said that their “main goal was just [to] drive.”

“Kohberger then told a story about seeing an unmarked police car near Kansas City speed up behind him, catch up to another vehicle, turn on its emergency lights, then drive away.

“Kohberger thought this was strange and was unsure why it occurred,” the document said.

When the police told Kohberger that the attack on the Idaho students was why they were there and asked him if he wanted to talk about that, Kohberger replied: “I think I would need a lawyer.”