Bryan Kohberger was reportedly fired from his position as a teaching assistant at Washington State University following an investigation into his interactions with a professor and his behaviour toward women in the weeks preceding his arrest for the murders of four University of Idaho students.
According to The New York Times, Kohberger, a Ph.D. student at WSU, met with faculty members to discuss his job performance and disturbing behaviour with female students.
According to the termination letter received by the newspaper, on September 23, 2022, he had a verbal dispute with Professor John Snyder, whom he was assisting.
The Times stated that Kohberger met with a university administrator to “discuss norms of professional behavior,” citing three sources and a letter informing him he had failed to satisfy the requirements necessary to preserve his financing.
According to the outlet, a professor wrote Kohberger the following month regarding “the ways in which you had failed to meet your expectations as a T.A. thus far the semester.”
11 days prior to the discovery of the bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, department officials allegedly met with Kohberger on November 2 to discuss an improvement plan.
The Times said that Kohberger had another “altercation” with Snyder on December 9.
According to the article, educators were alerted in December that Kohberger had made many female students feel uncomfortable.
In one occasion, he reportedly followed a woman to her vehicle, according to two anonymous people who spoke to the Times on condition of anonymity.
Two persons informed the newspaper that the institution did not find Kohberger guilty of any violation involving the female student.
According to the sources, the decision to cancel his funding and remove him as TA was based on his poor performance in the role, especially his inability to adhere to “norms of professional behavior” in his interactions with the faculty.
The department told Kohbrger on December 19 that he “had not made progress regarding professionalism” and dismissed him from his post, according to the publication.
Phil Weiler, a spokesman for Washington State University, told the Times that a federal student privacy law prevented him from speaking more about Kohberger, stating only that he was no longer enrolled at the university.
The attorney did not reply to the Times’ request for comment.
Several accounts indicate that Kohberger makes women uncomfortable.
The owner of Seven Sirens Brewing Company in Pennsylvania said that Kohberger harassed women at his pub, where he sat alone “observing and watching” other patrons until he became intoxicated.
Late in December, the man who reportedly murdered four University of Idaho students as they slept in their off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho on November 13 was captured at his family’s residence in Pennsylvania.
He remains held in the Latah County Jail in Moscow, Idaho, on four charges of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. On June 26, he is set to reappear before the judge.
»Bryan Kohberger fired as teaching assistant before arrest in student killings«