Experts say Bryan Kohberger is ‘vulnerable and notorious’ as he enters prison system after receiving four consecutive life sentences
BOISE, Idaho – Bryan Kohberger will spend the rest of his life in prison, but the details about how and where he’ll be kept are still emerging.
In a new mugshot obtained by Fox News Digital from the Idaho Department of Correction, Kohberger was seen sporting a death stare – looking straight ahead with no emotion. The 30-year-old appeared clean-shaven in the snap.
The former criminologist received four consecutive life sentences plus another 10 years for the murders of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
A source with knowledge of the case told Fox News Digital Kohberger was already in custody at the state prison in Kuna, about 16 miles from the Ada County courthouse, by Wednesday afternoon.
Kohberger’s sentence amounts to “life and death in prison,” as Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson put it during a rare news briefing after the hearing.
The Idaho Department of Correction declined to give specific details about the transfer process.
“Once in IDOC custody, the person goes through a Reception and Diagnostic Unit (RDU) process to evaluate their needs and determine appropriate housing placement; this process takes 7-14 days,” a spokesperson told Fox News Digital. “We wait until a person completes RDU to determine their classification, housing placement, and privileges.”
That evaluation will include a psyche check to determine whether Kohberger may be a threat to himself, other inmates, or prison staff, said Paul Mauro, a retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor who has closely followed the case.
He’ll probably be placed in solitary confinement, Mauro said, at least for a while. But inmates are typically not kept there indefinitely, he said, and eventually he could wind up in general population with other killers.
“In the general population, he is vulnerable, and he’s notorious — and in prison, especially for lifers, your reputation as being dangerous and just your reputation in general is the currency,” he said. “So there could be somebody looking to do him. On the other hand, we do want to remember Idaho is a death penalty state, and if you’re in for life, and you kill somebody, well, that’s going to get you to death penalty.”
Kohberger could try to request an out-of-state transfer, but that would be a rare move, according to Josh Ritter, a criminal defense attorney and the host of “The Courtroom Confidential” podcast.
“He’s not going anywhere,” he told Fox News Digital.
During their impact statements during Kohberger’s sentencing Wednesday, the victims’ families delivered a range of messages, from outrage to forgiveness.
“They ran the gamut, right, you have people who were willing to forgive him, and saying you know, ‘If you ever want to talk, please call me I’ll hear you out,’ and then you had people who we’re wishing death on him,” Mauro told Fox News Digital.
Kristi Goncalves, Kaylee’s mother, invoked the words Kohberger is believed to have said to the victims, overheard by one of the surviving roommates.
