Childhood Friend Reacts to Bryan Kohberger’s Admissions of Guilt in Quadruple Murder Case
A childhood acquaintance of Bryan Kohberger has expressed her horror upon learning that he committed a brutal quadruple homicide. Casey Arntz, 32, who reminisced about her childhood days playing with Kohberger and her brother in Pennsylvania’s Poconos, is grappling with the implications of Kohberger’s recent controversial guilty plea in the murders of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle.
“Did he ever have those thoughts about me or my friends? Did we evade harm simply because we knew him?” Arntz shared her fears with the Idaho Statesman.
Arntz and her younger brother, Thomas, were stunned when Kohberger was first accused of the horrific stabbings that took place on November 13, 2022. The recent turn of events, culminating in Kohberger’s admission, has reignited their feelings of disbelief.
“I’m appalled that he could commit such a dreadful act,” she stated. “I completely understand the distress of the victims’ families; they were seeking justice, and I would feel the same anguish in their position.”
Despite this, Arntz acknowledged that there was no certainty he would receive the death penalty. “His plea deal is undoubtedly better for everyone involved,” she remarked. “He’ll spend life behind bars; let the system handle him there.”
Thomas voiced a sense of relief over the guilty plea while expressing sympathy for Kohberger’s family. “I truly feel for Bryan’s parents; they’re good people and don’t deserve this,” he said. “As for Bryan, I hope God has mercy on his soul.”
Counselor Donna Yozwiak, who worked at Kohberger’s high school, also articulated her empathy for both Kohberger’s family and the victims’ families. “I hope his family can endure this terrible experience and move forward in their lives. I sincerely wish for healing and closure for the victims’ relatives.”
Another former peer, Jack Baylis, 31, remarked that the guilty plea eliminated any lingering doubts about Kohberger’s culpability. He noted, “If he were innocent, he would’ve fought vigorously for his freedom.”
Baylis speculated that Kohberger may have committed the murders as part of his criminology studies. “I think he wanted to understand the killer’s experience firsthand. To write accurately about what drives someone to kill, one must have that experience themselves,” he explained.
Kohberger was actively enrolled at Washington State University when he traveled to Moscow, Idaho, to carry out the murders while the students slept. Until recently, he had maintained his innocence and was due to stand trial in August, potentially facing execution if convicted.
His guilty plea, however, allowed him to avoid the death penalty, resulting in a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Some family members of the victims expressed outrage over the plea deal, feeling it denied them critical answers that could have emerged during a trial and robbed them of the chance to see Kohberger face execution. Steve Goncalves, father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, put it plainly, stating that prosecutors “failed my whole family.”
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