“He’s my angel.” These poignant words were spoken by Bryan Kohberger’s mother, defending her son in the face of a shocking accusation. In the dead of night, armed FBI agents descended upon their family home, arresting Kohberger for the brutal slayings of four university students.
“My son would not do this. I will stake my life on that,” she insisted. Her conviction paints a portrait of a mother standing resolutely by her son, even as the world around them seemed to crumble.
It had been 47 harrowing days since the tragic events unfolded. On November 13, 2022, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were fatally stabbed in their off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho. The crime sent shockwaves across the nation, igniting a relentless manhunt.
Throughout the investigation, law enforcement faced criticism for their silence, leaving the public hungry for answers. However, behind closed doors, they meticulously focused on the enigmatic figure of Kohberger, a criminology PhD student from nearby Washington State University. By the time they made their move, Kohberger had already traveled 2,500 miles away, seeking refuge at his parents’ home in rural Pennsylvania.
While police were criticized for releasing little information, behind the scenes they had quietly homed in on the loner criminology PhD student at nearby Washington State University, who had since fled the state and traveled 2,500 miles across the country to his parents’ home in rural Pennsylvania.
In a stunning dawn raid on December 30, 2022, agents stormed the family home and pulled mother-of-three Maryann Kohberger, her husband Michael and daughter Amanda from their beds as the killer was taken into custody.
Now, Maryann’s comments to law enforcement in the immediate aftermath of her son’s arrest can be revealed for the first time by the Daily Mail, shedding new light on Kohberger’s home life and his unusually close relationship with his mother.
They come from transcripts and reports from Maryann’s interviews with three FBI special agents that day and are set to be published in the upcoming book Broken Plea: The Explosive Search for Truth Behind the Idaho Murders by Christopher Whitcomb.
Bryan Kohberger’s mom Maryann (center) and sister Amanda (front right) leave his sentencing at Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025
For the first time, Maryann’s first comments to the FBI have been revealed – showing her denial that her ‘angel’ son could be responsible for the murders of four students
With his parents staying silent in the three-plus years since that day – aside for two brief, carefully crafted written statements – the comments offer the first glimpse into Maryann’s thoughts about her only son’s involvement in the murders.
They reveal how a seemingly blindsided Maryann instantly insisted that her ‘angel’ son could ‘never ever’ be a killer and that there must be some sort of terrible ‘mistake.’
‘What’s going through my mind right now is that this is a really, really bad mistake, what’s going on, like what’s happening here,’ she told the agents. ‘We know what our, you know, who our children are, you know.’
In the interview, the high school special needs assistant also offered up an innocent reason for why Kohberger had bought the knife used in the murders.
In a stunning twist, she even suggested the purchase had been her idea when her son moved from Albrightsville in the Poconos to Pullman, Washington, that summer to enroll at WSU.
‘Maryann recalled a conversation in which she suggested Bryan obtain something to defend himself in the event of a bear attack while Bryan hiked in the western US,’ the FBI report read.
The agents added that Maryann did not know if her son had ‘purchased anything for this purpose and was unaware of Bryan specifically purchasing a knife for this purpose.’
Kohberger bought a military Ka-Bar knife and a brown leather sheath from Amazon in March 2022 – eight months before the murders and three months before he left for Washington. They were delivered to the family’s Pennsylvania home.
Bryan Kohberger during a physical exam on January 5, 2023 inside Latah County Jail in Moscow, Idaho – days after his arrest
He was arrested in a dawn raid on the family home in Pennsylvania on December 30, 2022
Kohberger’s father Michael Kohberger cleans up after the raid on the home in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania
While the knife itself has never been found, the sheath became the smoking gun in the investigation.
In the frenzy of the massacre, Kohberger left the sheath behind at the scene and DNA on the clasp came back a match to him.
During the December raid at the Kohberger home, Maryann, Michael and Amanda were taken to the Pennsylvania State Police Fern Ridge Barracks in Blakeslee to be interviewed separately while Kohberger was taken into custody on a warrant for murder.
The couple’s third child Melissa lives in New Jersey and was not present at the time.
Maryann’s comments to FBI special agents Jessica Mahoney, Matthew Mark Phillips and Eric Bailey revealed her apparent lack of awareness for what her son was capable of despite their close bond.
When the agents asked if she had any concerns about behaviors that might indicate his involvement in the murders, Maryann was steadfast in her denial.
‘Never, ever, ever,’ she said.
‘There’s a mistake, something is wrong somewhere. And that’s what I believe. And that’s what I know in my heart.’
Maryann repeatedly denied her son’s possible involvement and insisted her youngest child did not have anger issues or hold grudges.
To her, it was simple: ‘He’s my angel.’
Young couple Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were murdered by Bryan Kohberger on November 13, 2022
Best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were found dead on the third floor of the student home
Of everyone in his life, Kohberger’s mother confirmed that she was the person he spoke to and confided in the most.
The pair would have ‘mother-and-son talks,’ she said.
He would speak to ‘mostly me,’ she said, but would sometimes call his father and talk to his sisters ‘once in a while’ too.
The Daily Mail previously revealed that Kohberger had an intensely close relationship with his mother – calling her multiple times and speaking for hours on the phone every day.
He named his parents ‘Mother’ and ‘Father’ in his phone contacts and addressed them as such in texts.
His mom was his ‘primary source of communication’ and he spoke to her ‘all the time… every day and night,’ Heather Barnhart, a forensic expert who analyzed his electronic devices for the state, told the Daily Mail.
Calls from Kohberger to his parents would often begin as early as 4am and would end very late at night.
Kohberger called his mom just two hours after his killing spree at around 6am on November 13, 2022, speaking for 36 minutes. Maryann does not appear to mention that call to the agents.
Despite being the person he was closest to, Maryann’s interviews reveal there was a lot she did not know.
Kohberger’s father Michael, mother Maryann and sister Amanda at his extradition hearing in Pennsylvania on January 3, 2023 – days after his arrest
Kohberger left this brown leather knife sheath at the scene of the murders. His mother offered an innocent explanation for her son’s knife and sheath purchase
Kohberger’s move to Washington that summer marked the first time he had lived outside the family home.
As far as she was aware, he had adapted well to the move, seemed happy and had been ‘making friends,’ according to the transcript, though she didn’t ‘know the names of a lot of them.’
In reality, Kohberger’s time in Washington was tumultuous.
At WSU, at least 13 formal complaints had been made against him by other students in the criminology program, with classmates and professors describing him as sexist, creepy and exhibiting stalker-like behavior.
He was fired as a teaching assistant and lost his PhD funding when he returned home for the holidays in mid-December, just days before his arrest.
Yet, when asked if there were any concerns about his time at WSU, Maryann told the agents there weren’t, adding that ‘he just finished the semester with a 3.8.’
Outside the classroom, he had struggled to interact with people and women who encountered him later described his bizarre, socially-awkward and creepy behavior.
‘He doesn’t have any girlfriends right now,’ Maryann said of possible romantic interests, adding that he had ‘a couple, not a lot’ in the past.
He was ‘not a party animal, not a drinker,’ but just a regular guy who liked running, being outdoors and nature, she told the FBI.
Bryan Kohberger in yearbook photos in his sophomore year (left) and senior year (right) at Pleasant Valley High School
When he returned home for the holidays, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, she said.
Kohberger had been happy to see the family dog Scout, who he called ‘his Bubba’ or ‘Bleeben,’ and largely spent time with family, she said.
Maryann described her son as a ‘homebody’ who ‘doesn’t have a big group of friends.’ ‘He touched base with one of his best friends from Arizona who’s still in Arizona. Um, but no he’s been mostly home with the family, just chilling,’ she said.
She described her son as ‘very organized’ and acknowledged that ‘sometimes he’s up at night’ – traits that would later track with the level of planning that went into his nighttime crimes.
At another point, Maryann voiced concerns about the impending media coverage once news of Kohberger’s arrest would break.
‘So now my son’s face is gonna be plastered all across the country?’
Based on her comments to the FBI, Maryann believed her son was innocent and that his arrest for the murders of four young students was nothing but a ‘really weird’ catastrophic mix-up.
‘This is a nightmare. This is an absolute nightmare,’ she said at one point.
The home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, where the four University of Idaho students were murdered
Left to right: Dylan Mortensen, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen (on Kaylee’s shoulders) Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Bethany Funke
After fighting the charges for more than two years, Kohberger suddenly pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in July – weeks before his capital murder trial was set to begin.
Under a plea deal, he avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole, while also waiving all rights to appeal.
His parents Maryann and Michael attended his change of plea hearing, watching their son confess to his vicious crimes.
Two weeks later, Maryann was joined by Amanda at his sentencing. Michael and Melissa were absent.
Since then, Maryann has maintained her public silence about her son’s crimes. Her daughter Melissa – the only family member to speak out – told the New York Times that their mother prays for the victims and their families every single day.
