Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Bryan Kohberger is Being Harassed by Inmates 'Waiting for Him' in Prison

Episode Date: August 13, 2025

Bryan Kohberger, 30, has been serving his four consecutive life sentences in Idaho's Maximum Security Institution for less than a month. He's currently in J-Block's long-term restrictive housing and there's word coming from a prison insider that fellow inmates are harassing Kohberger and keeping him up with messages being sent through the vents in the prison. Retired homicide detective and host of "The Interview Room" joins Law&Crime's Angenette Levy to discuss what he has heard from the prison in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code CRIMEFIX at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: http://incogni.com/crimefixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Chris McDonough https://www.youtube.com/@TheInterviewRoomLarry Levine https://www.youtube.com/@larrylevine5605 Producer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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Someone in the know says he's upset about being harassed. by other inmates. I have the scoop and what one prison expert has to say about the claims. And the guy's in prison. He killed four kids. What does he expect? Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Brian Coburger is an admitted mass murderer. There's no doubt about it. But at Idaho's maximum security institution, he's simply known as inmate 16, three, two, one, four. But that doesn't mean the other inmates don't know who he is and why he is there. And let me tell you, murdering four beautiful college students you've never met doesn't exactly make you a popular guy when it comes to fitting in in prison. Yes, prison is

full of criminals, but this crime was heinous. It was a heinous, heinous crime, murdering women and a young man in their sleep and possibly chasing one of them down. It's an act. grounded in absolute cowardice. Brian Coburger is not a tough guy. He's a coward, who apparently derived some type of pleasure out of attacking defenseless women in their sleep. It's sick. Koberger admitted to murdering Maddie Mogan, Kaley Gonzalez, Ethan Chapin, and Zana Kurnodal

in the early morning hours of November 13th, 2022. He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences on July 23rd, and he was immediately transferred to Idaho's maximum security. institution in Kuna, just south of Boise. It took a little more than a week for prison staff to assess Koberger. He was moved to J-Block, where he is kept in a cell for 23 hours per day. He gets out one hour of day for wreck time outside in an area like this. And anytime he is moved, Brian Koberger is in restraints. He also only gets to shower every other day, which he probably doesn't like. An inmate in the Laton County Jail reported to detectives that Koberger took

hour-long showers each day. He's been described as a clean freak, a bit of a germaphobe. And now there's a report that Koberger is upset about the conditions in J-block that inmates are harassing him through the vents and that he has complained about the treatment to prison staff. And now the Idaho Department of Corrections has actually confirmed that Brian Koberger has complained. about being taunted by other inmates. I'll have more on the DOC's response here in just a little bit. I cover a lot of really scary crime stories here on crime fix. And if it's taught me anything, it's that privacy and personal safety absolutely cannot be

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mcdona he is the host of the interview room on youtube it's a great great channel you should check it out he's also the director of the cold case foundation and a retired homicide detective so chris thanks so much for coming on what are you yeah i'm so excited to have you what are you hearing coming out of the Idaho maximum security institution where Brian Coburger appears to be the newest resident of J Block. Well, it sounds like Brian is having quite a difficult time because the other inmates in the area that he's at in the J Block there in what they call the special housing at the maximum security prison. They are taunting him through the vows. The venting system. And they somehow have created an alliance together to where they are keeping

him up at night purposely. But, you know, they're kicking the doors. They're whispering or whatever they're they're doing. But it's driving him absolutely crazy. So Brian Coburger, you know, he was when he was incarcerated in Ada County and then before that in Laita County, you know, know, he was probably kept separated from other inmates, of course, for his own safety. The same is happening here because he's in the long-term restrictive housing. But county jail, way different than maximum security prison. And so these inmates in there, you know, who are in there with him, they're the worst of the worst, just like, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely. And it is, to your point, the county jail system is just established, you know, know, essentially to get them through, you know, the court system and or up to a year in, let's say, county punishment, right? And meaning they're, they're sentenced to a year in a county jail system. So they'll stay there. But once an individual has their case has been adjudicated, they've been sentenced, like Brian Colberger, then the jail system shifts over to the Department of Corrections.

And so they, at that point, then send him on to the. the IMAX where he's at right now. And you're right. The inmates in both the county system don't have the life sentences like they do at the IMAX. So it's a whole different game once he gets over there. And, you know, they have a lot of time on their hands. They're in cells 23 hours a day, just like Brian Koberger, at least if they're in that J-Block in the long-term restrictive housing. so this is like they've got like a new toy they've got a new focus and so you know what are the

taunts that you're hearing that are coming or that are being kind of directed at him you know and they're taking turns I guess doing this having shifts like directing messages at him and stuff like that yeah you know I don't know the specific verbiage I just know that they have aligned themselves to do it collectively, which, you know, obviously gives us a little insight to your point, and Jeanette, that this, they were waiting for him. And once he got there, they had a plan already in place to, you know, get it going. So I don't know why other than the fact that He, you know, projected himself as a high profile, you know, inmate. And there are a lot of individuals in that prison doing life just like him that just don't care.

And in fact, you know, they're in his house. I mean, meaning he's in their house now. And that's a whole different ballgame once you step into that arena. Brian Koberger, you know, I could see him as somebody who sees himself as being a little bit. superior to the other inmates in J. Block. I mean, there are no angels in J. Block. Let's just be clear about that. There are no angels in J. Block. There are killers, murderers. These are all bad guys, okay, because they're in long-term restrictive housing, which means they're likely lifers and that they're dangerous or they're being kept separated from others for their own safety, like Brian

Coburger. However, I could see Brian Coburger thinking like, I'm smarter than these guys. These guys are like, you know, all scumbags. And I'm, I was getting my PhD in criminology. I was going to be a professor. And I may still be a professor. So I'm sure there's some of that going on. They may think that he is weak. I could see them looking at him as being weak because he is somebody who targeted women in their sleep. Yeah. No. And, and if you, You don't, if you're not careful with, you know, crossing the T's and dot in the I's in that type of facility, they just, you know, if you, if you attack their respect for lack of a better term, that's what it's, right, the terminology they use in the prison, right? If you don't respect another inmate, i.e., you try to capitalize on your crimes in the prison, they don't care. they have their own you know baggage that they've brought with them and some of those people

and inmates are in there like you said are the worst of the worst and they're in protective custody not necessarily to keep them safe but to keep other inmates safe so they're sitting in those you know cells 23 hours a day and then they give them a one hour exercise time and or recreation time out in the you know the center of the pod potentially in a cage, okay? And at that point, all the other inmates are looking through their cages at the other lion out in the middle of the pod. And they start kicking the doors, they start yelling, they start taunting. And I don't think Brian Kloberger mentally had prepared himself for that type of environment. It is literally an environment where people walk in and they

look at you sitting in a cage, no different than going to the zoo and looking at a lion. The trial probably is looking pretty good right now. Maybe he's thinking that. Maybe I should have rolled the dice here. I don't know what he's thinking. But if he's complaining to prison staff, you know, I can't I can't imagine. I mean, prisons basically, as you said, they have their own hierarchies. They have their own kind of politics, if you will. I mean, they're not fun places. Prison is not a hotel. It's not designed to be fun.

You are basically put in there, especially in a place like J Block or in the maximum security institution because you did something really awful and you can't be a part of civilized society. That's why you are there. And so I can't imagine the prison staff is going to like go down to J Block and hold a little meeting and say, hey, guys, you got to be nice to Brian. That's not, that's not what's going to happen. No, you're 100% right. And that's not going to occur in any way, shape, or form. The corrections officers, their first priority is keep people alive within the facility. The second

priority there is keep people separated if that means there could be a threat assessment. And so right now, Brian's sitting in this, you know, 23-hour cell and the staff is thinking, okay, how do we get this person prepared for general population? Or do we have to as a facility and the state of Idaho start thinking about long-term care for this individual? And so the most they can do right now is separate him from, you know, the taunting. hypothetically right that that prison was built in 1989 so imagine yourself in just this very large echo chamber and imagine a bunch of these other individuals in there for life like him knowing that he's on his way and when he gets there they start you know kicking the doors they start you know whispering through the vents uh and believe it or not uh they they can use the toilet

in these facilities. They take the water out, and they can actually yell into the toilet, and the system, the pipe system will carry that messaging into other cells. And that is one creative way that these individuals and inmates communicate with each other. So I don't know if they're doing that as well, but I definitely know that they are using the vent system. I'm Saruti, one of the hosts of Red-Hounded, a multi-award-winning weekly true crime podcast, and we have just taken a big old deep dive into the case everyone is talking about. Aaron Patterson and the Mushroom Mass Murders. On the 29th of July, 2023, in the small town of Leanne Gathar in Australia,

five people sat down for lunch. Within a week, three of them would be dead, and one of them would be in a coma for two months. Was the host, Erin Patterson, the world's most unlucky cook, or a cold-blooded killer? To find out, join us over two episodes as we analyse all the gritty details, including what happened at that fateful lunch, the aftermath, the investigation, the trial, and of course, all the lies. Only on Red-Handed. Listen to Red-Handed wherever you get your podcasts, or listen early in ad-free on Amazon Music or Wondry Plus. you know everybody said you know he's waived his appeals you know he can't appeal um you know there is still a way that he could file a notice of appeal under garza v idaho i mean

that's the that's the case i mean anne taylor would be deemed ineffective if she didn't file that notice of appeal but then hippler said well that could jeopardize your plea bargain you could be back where you were uh we're still waiting for that 42 day clock to run on that but is this something where maybe he he's like wow you know i mean i don't know i can't get inside brian coberger's mind because i i don't i don't um you know i don't fantasize about doing what he did but is there maybe a way where he starts thinking to my thinking to himself oh my god do i go to the federal route i mean what what do you think is going on with this guy You know, that's a really interesting question because, you know, with all the meticulous planning that he put into this and then, of course, ultimately, you know, he, the discovery of the DNA, you know, it was kind of like the, you know, putting on the chopping block, right? And, and the fact that he did not anticipate that and or as the crime was going down, you know, he panics and that she somehow gets dropped up there. And, uh, and the fact that he did not anticipate that. And, or as the crime was going down, you know, he panics and that she somehow gets dropped, uh, up there. Uh, and

Maddie and Kaylee's room. If he has thought that far ahead, remember, he purchases the knife eight months before the homicides even occur. So this guy is what we would call an organized offender. And after, during the commission of the crime, the crime becomes disorganized, meaning there are things that he was not anticipating, Zana coming, you know, potentially into the picture, dropping the sheath, et cetera. And so I don't think he was anticipating having to even be in the court system. But now that he is, okay, and after meeting with his counsel, Ann Taylor, who, in my

opinion, did her job by trying to get the death penalty off the table. She did it. You know, that's what she's supposed to do. Whether we agree with it or not, right? It's a, it's a, It's our system and that's what she's supposed to do. But now that he's in the holding facility and the max, this appeal process is probably extremely important in his mind to try to get to the next level, whatever that means, because Brian Coburger is about Brian Coburger. He doesn't care about anything else other than himself. And so I think that appeal.

potentially could be on the horizon you know Brian Coburger is not a dumb guy we can argue common sense all day but with his case you know because he is he has a certain level of intelligence do you think that you know when they carted him off from Ada County over to you know the Idaho Department of Corrections did he have like bankers boxes full of files and stuff like that because wouldn't his team have wouldn't anne taylor have wanted his input as somebody who has a level of intelligence to assist with his own defense on the discovery materials so does he have the discovery materials well i right during the initial phase uh right up until you know he pleads guilty the defense team as you know more than anybody will retain all of those files a

in his case. Now, he, because he's a defendant, he gets access to those files during that process. He can look at all the photographs. He can do whatever he wants. He, in fact, he's obligated or the defense is obligated to get his input because it's his defense. But once that case is adjudicated, like it has been now, and he's transferred over to the Department of Corrections, he if he's entertaining this idea of an appeal those documents potentially will go with him and they may be retained by you know the staff but they can't go through them and at some point if he says hey i want to see my legal docs those documents are brought into his shell and he now has full or full access to each and every document

with the inside of that case file now and if we think about how grotesque that may sound just think this is the guy that slaughters four innocent sleeping college students he was there he did it he said he was there he said he did it but now he gets the photographs of all of his sick horrible fantasy work. And he gets to keep those photographs in his shell for as long as the legal process is moving forward. There's souvenirs. As souvenirs, it's horrible to even think about for the families to even try to process that piece of the puzzle. It's horrific. And that may be happening. That may be happening. Chris McDonough, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate it. Thank you so much for having me here.

I want to turn now to Larry Levine. He is the director and founder of Wall Street Prison Consultants, also the author of Prison Politics 101, A How to Guide to Get Along and Get By Behind Prison Walls. Larry, welcome back to Crime Fix. I appreciate you coming back on. I want your response to all of this news about Brian Koberger, allegedly, I say allegedly because, like, I haven't heard back from the prison yet, being tortured and tormented through the vents by other inmates in J. Block.

Yeah. Well, he's not being tortured. It's more of like, okay, psychologically tortured, but this stuff happens. They're telling him they're going to kill him. They're going to get to his family. They're going to rape him. They're yelling through the vents. They're pounding on the walls.

They're getting into his head. But when it comes down to it, they can't, you know, there's nothing that can be done. They can't get to him. And the guy's in prison. He killed four kids. What does he expect? He doesn't have a popular crime or anything. A bank robberer would get more respect than him, a drug dealer.

This guy's got nothing coming. And think of it like this. The cops hate him to. There's no question about that. And it's like when I was in custody, we had people that were there for, kitty porn and they would lie and say they were there for fraud or drugs or something and then the cops would be the ones that would tell the inmates what they were there for because the cops didn't like him either so the inmates could torment him or torment them so the cops are under no real

obligation to do anything to stop this he's just going to have to suck it up now for the rest of his life that's a fact the reporting is and you know we heard from chris mcdonna earlier in the program uh you know he is getting this word um he has a lot of sources he's a former law enforcement officer you know he is getting the word that the coberger is complaining about this that he doesn't like it uh you know oh well i mean that this is kind of how prison works well i mean there's like you come in and you're a well-known defendant uh you know there's going to be a level of hazing. He is in J. Block.

He's in long-term restrictive housing. So he is in a cell 23 hours a day. He gets out in the rec yard for one hour a day. Every time he's moved anywhere in this prison, he is in restraints and he gets to shower every other day. So, you know, he's not in a good spot. And I'm assuming even though there's going to be some bad dudes in J-block, because if you're in long-term restrictive,

housing you're there for a long time and there's a reason you're in those you know cells 23 hours a day they're probably like you know that the prison the prison guards are probably like well this is just how it goes you're going to kind of get hazed you're going to get razzed and i'm assuming it's their job to keep him safe and to keep everything in order but they don't care if people are harassing him through the the vents cole burger's just going to have to suck it up now he's facing the realities of prison life. There was a Supreme Court Justice, God, 50 years ago, I think it was Thoroughgood Marshall that said that an inmate civil rights do not stop at the prison gates. So he has some civil rights, but that's the right to be safe. He is safe. He's locked in a cell.

These other people can't get to him. He's filing grievances about being harassed and being hazed. Big deal. I mean, nobody cares. But eventually, I mean, he should be concerned about, I don't know, scared, concerned. He should be concerned about his life for the rest of his life because sooner or later, someone will get to him. Look at Jeffrey Dahmer. Look at Whitey Holder. Look at Ramirez, the Nightstalker. All these people were like in secure custody. And they got to every one of them. And maybe this. is going through Colberger's head. I don't know. But every little noise he hears the rumors, the pounding, and it's all like going round and around in his head. And I imagine it is driving him

nuts. And somebody will take him out and that person will get folk hero status for the rest of their life. I wanted to ask you about that because it is the prison's job, the Department of corrections to keep him safe. It's their job to keep all of the prisoners safe. But we know the reality of that. You especially, Larry, know the reality of that. I've seen it in other high profile cases. They can't always keep these people safe. And sometimes they transfer them out of state. They have these interstate compact deals or what have you. There's an example. Yes. And so I've saw I saw it. I'm watching it right now unfold in the, Pike County Massacre case in Ohio they have transferred two of the defendants in that case

out of state we don't even know where Jake Wagner has been transferred because they couldn't keep him safe in an Ohio prison and he's considered a snitch so I'm kind of like I'm thinking to myself if he's in long-term restrictive housing and he's in a cell 23 hours a day he gets out in the rec yard one hour a day. I'm wondering, does that mean he's kind of isolated in that rec yard? Where could he possibly be in

danger? Because maybe like five years down the road, they move him into Gen Pop. Yikes. Where could he be in danger? Maybe. Maybe a spaceship will land outside your studio, too. There's never,

they're never, ever, ever and a million ever is going to put this into general pop. they know immediately what will happen to him. But here's what will happen. You brought up an interesting point. Let's go five years down the road. It's not as popular. It's not as high profile. Things slip through. Somebody has an opportunity. A door. Oh, my God. Somebody left the door unlocked. He was left unsupervised in the shower and someone else got in there. somebody got to his food and put glass or poison in his food it's just a matter of time that someone will get to him i mean

you can manipulate staff in my book prison politics 101 i teach inmates i sent a copy of it into him i teach inmates how to manipulate staff how to manipulate other in other inmates so a situation will occur that somebody eventually will get to him and that's a a fact and there's nothing anybody can do about it. Absolutely nothing. When I look at Brian Koberger, this is not somebody who was out on the street doing a drug hit or something to that effect. You know, this is not like a gang murder, a street murder. This is somebody who meticulously in his mind, I mean, he didn't do a good enough job to not get caught, but he did a meticulous job of planning this. He wanted to go into a house and kill people. He was

determined to do that. And we're learning more details about this. And he's somebody who is like studying to get a PhD. So, you know, this is not some guy that you, I think, would typically think of as being a typical J Block resident. Right. So I look at it that way. This is not somebody who thought, I'm assuming he didn't think he was going to get caught or hoped he didn't. So he is like totally probably out of his element, even though he's got the criminal mind and he's in the right place. He is out of his element in J Block. Absolutely, because he's with real criminals in J. Correct. And he is a real criminal, but you know what I'm saying.

Yes, he is. But all right, take the person who goes and commits like I'm getting a lot of people who have PPP fraud from COVID. they mistakenly filled out an application and signed their name. They made poor choices. He knowingly killed these people, and I don't think that Colberger, as much as I think he's a piece of crap, I don't think he went into that house knowing he was going to kill four people because he had really no idea who was there, what room they would be in.

He stumbled upon these people, and he killed people as he went. through the house because they knew he was there. They discovered him. Now, do you really think he went there with the intent of killing her? Maybe not. Maybe he went there with the intent of raping her. But in his mind, because the guy's cuckoo, things got out of control. One thing led to another.

I'm not fully convinced he went in there with the intent of killing four people. I mean, why didn't he kill? I agree with you. I agree with you. I don't think he went in there to kill four people. I think he maybe went in there targeting one and it's in his mind. It's spiraled out of control. I think he's not as smart as he thinks he is.

But I want to go back to you sending him the book. You sent him the book. Did you ever hear back from him? No, I never heard anything back from him. I know that he got the book. The book's on Amazon because like I sent it to Puff Daddy and Luigi and it got returned. I sent it to Just Lane Maxwell. She got it in.

And when they return it and they reject it to Amazon, I get a notice of rejection. I never got a rejection notice on Kohlberger, so I know he got it. And he has a lot of time on his hands. So maybe he did read it. He should live by my book because this might just save his life one day. Well, Larry Levine, any final thoughts on any final thoughts on Brian Koeberger behind prison walls and all this talk about him being. Razzed. Yeah. I hope he has a miserable existence. He's scared for the rest of his life. And when the time comes that someone can get to him, that he suffers, he suffers as much as those four kids did. Larry Levine, thank you so much for coming on. I appreciate your time. Certainly.

Now, after I recorded those interviews, a spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Corrections responded to my email asking about all of this. And he actually said, that yes, Brian Koberger has complained about what he considers taunting by other inmates. This spokesperson went on to say that it's very common for inmates in prison to try to communicate with one another. He also said that Koberger is housed alone in a cell and that the Department of Corrections is committed to providing a safe and secure environment for all incarcerated individuals. So guess what? There you have it. We'll keep an eye on. on all of this. Thanks so much for joining us for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Janette Levy. I'll see you back here next time.