The families of four students tragically murdered by Bryan Kohberger have initiated legal action against Washington State University. They argue that the university could have prevented the murders had it properly addressed numerous complaints about Kohberger’s “inappropriate, predatory, and menacing behavior” during his time as a criminology PhD student.

The lawsuit, a significant legal move filed in Skagit County, Washington, on Wednesday, involves the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. They are demanding a jury trial and seeking unspecified financial compensation for what they claim is negligence leading to the wrongful deaths of these University of Idaho students.

According to the 126-page document obtained by the Daily Mail, the complaint accuses WSU of bringing Kohberger into the Pullman-Moscow area by accepting him into its criminal justice program and appointing him as a teaching assistant.

The university reportedly became aware of Kohberger’s “threatening, stalking, and predatory behavior” early on, with over a dozen official complaints lodged by students and staff members.

However, the lawsuit claims that WSU did not act on these warnings, effectively allowing Kohberger’s troubling behavior to persist unchecked, ultimately leading to the tragic events.

‘On November 13, 2022, a foreseeable – and, in fact, predictable – tragedy occurred when Kohberger entered the bedrooms of four undergraduate students and violently stabbed them to death,’ it reads.

‘These deaths should not and would not have occurred if WSU had acted appropriately.’

Kohberger, 31, broke into 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, in the early hours of the morning and stabbed best friends Goncalves and Mogen, both 21, and young couple Kernodle and Chapin, both 20, to death. His motive remains unclear and no connection has ever been found between the killer and his victims.

Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle (left) and Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves (right) were murdered by Bryan Kohberger

Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse during his sentencing hearing 

At the time, Kohberger was a PhD student and teaching assistant in criminal justice at WSU, living just 10 minutes from King Road, just over the state border in WSU housing in Pullman.

He had moved to Washington state in June 2022 – the first time he had lived away from his family home in Pennsylvania, aside from some stints in rehab for heroin addiction as a teenager.

As part of his PhD program, Kohberger had also applied for an internship with Pullman Police Department but was unsuccessful.

Based on hundreds of pages of investigative records, released after he was sentenced to life in prison in July, Kohberger’s concerning behavior was quickly picked up by students and staff early into the semester.

‘Almost immediately upon his arrival to the Pullman-Moscow community, Kohberger developed a reputation for discriminatory, harassing and stalking behavior, instilling substantial fear among female students and fellow WSU employees,’ the suit claims. 

At least 13 complaints were filed against him by other students on the criminology program, the records show.

Many classmates and professors found him sexist and creepy – so much so that female students avoided being left alone with him and one faculty member warned he had the potential to become a ‘future rapist’.

‘He is smart enough that in four years we will have to give him a PhD,’ one faculty member warned, according to a police report. 

‘Mark my word, I work with predators, if we give him a PhD, that’s the guy [in] many years when he is a professor, we will hear is harassing, stalking, and sexually abusing … his students at wherever university.’

Others complained about his stalking behavior and that he would physically block people from leaving rooms. 

Kohberger broke into 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, and murdered the four UI students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle

Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders) Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke

He also showed a strong interest in sexual burglary and serial killers, according to the records.

Ultimately, he was placed on an improvement plan before being fired as a teaching assistant and losing his PhD funding in mid-December 2022. Just days later, he was arrested in a raid on his parents’ home and charged with the murders.

The string of complaints revealed in the investigative files ‘paint a deeply disturbing picture of the breathtaking level of organizational paralysis and inaction by WSU that enabled Kohberger, over a period of months, to stalk his victims, and plan and commit these heinous murders,’ the lawsuit claims.

The complaint lists multiple other complaints and concerns raised about Kohberger, including how one student said he would try to talk to her about Ted Bundy – the serial killer who broke in and murdered students in a sorority house.

Others believed he was an incel and, on one occasion, a sophomore student was so scared that she hid in the bathroom because of his ‘scary’ behavior.

Fears of Kohberger were so prevalent that WSU provided ‘safety escorts’ for students and staff, with one employee told by a colleague to send an email with the subject line ‘911’ if they needed help due to Kohberger, the complaint says.

The victims’ parents allege in the suit that this all shows WSU’s ‘awareness of the significant danger’ the killer posed. 

‘These police interviews, along with other evidence, demonstrate that WSU had extensive knowledge of Kohberger’s discriminatory, harassing and stalking behavior – beginning as early as the first week of the 2022 fall semester – but repeatedly failed to take proper, necessary and decisive action to address Kohberger’s behavior and eliminate the imminent and serious threat that he posed to the Pullman-Moscow community and the four young victims.’ 

Moment Kaylee Goncalves’s dad confronted her killer in the courtroom at his sentencing

The college did not conduct a proper threat assessment or take action, in part because they feared that firing Kohberger might open WSU up to a lawsuit, the complaint says.

Students later told investigators that they were unhappy with the lack of action taken after they filed complaints. 

‘There was no indication that WSU acted on these formal complaints, or that it acted in an urgent and decisive manner commensurate with the imminent and serious threat that Kohberger posed,’ it says.

Instead, on November 8, 2022, WSU held a mandatory discrimination and harassment training session for all graduate students – a session students said they all knew was aimed at Kohberger.

The following weekend, Kohberger broke into the student home in Moscow and committed the murders. 

After the murders, Kohberger’s supervising instructor and some fellow graduate students at WSU ‘immediately thought Kohberger committed the murders,’ the complaint also alleges. 

But they did not notify law enforcement. 

The plaintiffs named in the suit – Goncalves’s dad Steve Goncalves, Mogen’s mom Karen Laramie, Kernodle’s dad Jeff Kernodle, and Chapin’s mom Stacy Chapin – argue that WSU was obligated to control Kohberger as a graduate student, teaching assistant and employee, and a resident of campus housing.

WSU now has 20 days from the date of filing to respond to the lawsuit. 

The Daily Mail has contacted WSU for comment. 

Evidence photos revealed the inside of Bryan Kohberger’s apartment, soulless and abandoned after he upped sticks and left Washington after the murders

Evidence photos show multiple books from Kohberger’s criminology studies inside his apartment at WSU

Back in May 2023, tort notices against WSU were filed on behalf of the families of Goncalves and Mogen, reserving the right for them to take legal action against the college down the line.

Then, this November, an attorney for the Goncalves family released a statement announcing their intentions to sue, saying it was about gaining ‘accountability and transparency’ from the college.

WSU President Elizabeth Cantwell said in a statement to the Daily Mail at that time: ‘My heart goes out to the families, friends, and entire community grieving this tragic loss of life. 

‘We share in their sorrow and we recognize the profound pain and shock that this act of violence has caused. On behalf of WSU, I extend our deepest condolences and stand with all who are mourning.’

Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of murder and one count of burglary in July and was sentenced to life in prison.

He is now being held in Idaho’s maximum security prison in Kuna, where he has made multiple complaints about his conditions.