Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Bryan Kohberger's Victims Sue WSU In EXPLOSIVE Lawsuit

Episode Date: January 9, 2026

The families of four University of Idaho students that Bryan Kohberger has pleaded guilty to murdering have filed an explosive lawsuit against Washington State University claiming wrongful death and negligence. The suit claims WSU ignored major red flags about Kohberger, a PhD student, when it came to concerns he was stalking female students on campus. Kohberger was a PhD student and teaching assistant in WSU's criminology department when he murdered Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the suit in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest: John DayCRIME 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.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondry app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty? Yes. A little more than six months after Brian Koberger admitted to murdering four University of Idaho students, the families of those students are going to court, suing the university that brought Kovberger to the Pacific Northwest. I go through the claims the families are making. the explosive lawsuit and the huge red flags that prompted it.

Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Annionette Levy. We knew this was coming and now it's official. The families of Kaylee Gonzalez, Maddie Mogan, Zana Kronodal, and Ethan Chapin have sued Washington State University for wrongful death and negligence. Brian Koberger has now admitted to murdering those four beautiful students in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, four students that as far as we know, No, he's never, ever met. Koberger was in his first semester at Washington State University, working on his Ph.D. in criminology, and we learned from Idaho State Police Records that Koberger's field of study was sexual burglary. And he talked about it a lot, according to students and faculty interviewed by investigators at

WSU. I told you about the interviews with students and staff last year after we got the reports, and they were stunning. red flags all over the place, almost flashing neon. A fellow graduate student described Koberger as a potential future rapist. That's a direct quote. Those investigative reports have formed the basis for the lawsuit where the families of Maddie Kaley, Zana, and Ethan claim WSU brought Koberger to Washington State. And when they realized they had a problem on their hands, they didn't do enough to get rid of him. According to the investigative reports and the lawsuit, the plan was to let Koberger remember. Maine is a teaching assistant until the end of the fall semester in 2022. That would have been in December of 2022, a month after the killings. And then the criminology department wasn't going to renew his funding. That would have sent Koberger back to Pennsylvania to his parents, more than likely. Now one Washington State University professor told Idaho State Police, he feared a potential lawsuit

from Koberger if they got rid of him too soon. Now look where we are. All four families are united in suing WSU essentially claiming the faculty-enabled Koberger over months to stalk the victims and plan the murders. The suit says the ISP documents paint a deeply disturbing picture of the breathtaking level of organizational paralysis and inaction. The suit begins. This case arises out of the violent assault and murder of four University of Idaho students by a Washington State University WSU employee with a known history of threatening, stalking, and predatory behavior. It continues, Pullman, Washington is only a few miles from Moscow, Idaho, home of the University of Idaho, and the combined area is referred to as the Pullman Moscow community. Almost immediately

upon his arrival to the Pullman, Moscow community, Koeberger developed a reputation for discriminatory, harassing, and stalking behavior, instilling substantial fear among young female students and fellow WSU employees necessitating regular security escorts for multiple females. Despite receiving at least 13 formal reports of Coburgers' inappropriate, predatory, and menacing behavior, WSU failed to respond in any meaningful way and allowed Coburgers escalating behavior to continue unchecked. The lawsuit also points to Coburgers passed in Pennsylvania, his troubled teen years, and his history of addiction. Before WSU, brought Coburger to the Pullman-Moscow community. He had a history of heroin addiction,

had been arrested for theft, and had made numerous posts over a period of years on public online forums commenting about his inability to feel emotion and crazy thoughts. He had been removed from a vocational program in high school because of problems with women. And later, local business owners had become so alarmed at his behavior toward young women that staff kept electronic notes about him to warn female staff when he arrived. He also had pursued a graduate degree in criminology, where he demonstrated a particular fascination with serial killers. A key focus of this lawsuit, the lawyers say it was WSU that brought Koberger to the area. Moscow and Pullman, as it was mentioned earlier, were in two different states, but it was essentially

one big community separated by a long road and a state line. Without WSU, the suit claims Koberger, would never have been there. They paid him. They gave him a job and health insurance. And almost immediately upon his arrival, the suit claims Coburger was giving women on campus the creeps. The suit says he would stand close to the desks of women, loom over them, block their exits from offices. And one, as I told you on a prior episode of crime fix, claimed that Coburger would go to her office and try to talk to her about Ted Bundy, the infamous serial killer responsible for dozens of murders, including the Kai Omega murders where Bundy murdered two sorority sisters and attacked others in Tallahassee, Florida. The lawsuit claims that Koberger followed female students to their cars. Security escorts

were arranged for some students after 5 p.m. because he made them so uncomfortable. The suit claims one female student left a classroom in tears because Koberger had verbally attacked her. He was described as very angry as if he had built up fury or rage. The suit says a few female student reported that she told her boss that Coburger had followed her. And in response, she was told that she shouldn't be alone with Coburger and it was suggested that campus security escort her out. The student said she had been told that others had made similar complaints. And the suit claims there was a code among WSU employees about Coburger. The suit claims on more than one occasion, WSU employees would stay in a room where Koberger was engaging with one of their

colleagues out of concern that the colleague should not be left alone with him. On another occasion, a WSU employee told her colleague to email her with the subject heading 911 if she needed help because of Koberger. On yet another occasion, a WSU undergraduate fled into a bathroom to hide from Koberger because she was so uncomfortable with his scary behaviors. The suit claims that professors in WSU's criminology department knew they had this big problem on their hands in September and October, and they were planning an intervention. The suit claims WSU's Office of Compliance and Civil Rights had 13 complaints about Coburger. But the person in charge of acting on those complaints admitted to not doing anything about them or meeting with Brian Koberger. And this next part even quotes one of the WSU professors who was interviewed by Idaho. Ohio State Police and her stunning, stunning analysis of Brian Koberger. The suit states one female graduate student reported that she wondered why people in the WSU criminal justice department did not meaningfully address Koberger's behavior during

one of several faculty meetings where Koberger was discussed extensively. One faculty member remarked, mark my words, I work with predators. If we give him a Ph.D., that's the guy that in that many years when he is professor, we will hear he is harassing, stalking, and sexually abusing his students. The same WSU professor believed that Coburger was already stalking people. The suit goes on to claim that WSU had an obligation to control Coburger since he was employed by them and didn't. One portion of the suit states, under WSU policies, one condition of employment was that

Koberger complete a sexual misconduct declaration prior to his hire. He had to declare whether he was the subject of any findings or investigation into sexual misconduct. A failure to provide complete and accurate information in this declaration can result in WSU withdrawing the offer of employment. The suit also points out that WSU has a policy requiring background checks for its employees. The suit states, had WSU performed a comprehensive pre-employment background check on Koberger, it likely would have revealed significant red flags and the risk of hiring Coburger and bringing him to the Pullman-Moscow community. The suit against WSU makes claims of wrongful death, negligence, and outrage, along with the nine violations for not preventing stalking. There are a number of images in the suit, including the improvement plan WSU placed Coburger on as they plan to oust him at the end of the semester, where he was required to meet weekly with a supervisor.

Also, the front cover of WSU's graduate school's policies and procedures manual, along with a trespass notice to Koeberger on the date of his arrest, telling him he's not allowed on university property any longer. There are also news stories about a WSU police sergeant resigning over sexual misconduct allegations. The suit claims the university's recent history of sexual misconduct claims served as a backdrop for Koeberger and how he was handled by the school. The chief also stepped down in that instance. The suit also details Coburger's obsession with serial killers like the Gainesville Ripper, Danny Rowling, who dressed in all black and murdered female college students with a K-bar knife. As Coburger admitted to doing, Rolling broke into a home through a sliding glass door, wearing a mask. The suit also discusses Coburgers' fixation with non-consensual pornography,

searches for which were found on his cell phone. The lawyers for the family said in a statement, The information now coming to light paints a disturbing picture of institutional inaction in the face of repeated and dire warnings. These failures were not the result of a lack of authority or available safeguards, but rather a breakdown in accountability and responsibility at critical moments. The victim's families have come together with a shared purpose to seek transparency, accountability, and meaningful reform. This effort is not about vengeance or speculation. This is about ensuring that institutions, entrusted with the safety of young people, take threats seriously and act decisively when warning signs are present. Okay, so to discuss this wrongful death lawsuit filed by the families of the

four victims in those Idaho murders, just awful case. I want to bring in John Day. He's a criminal defense attorney, but also has experience in wrongful death cases. John, what are your first thoughts? I mean, this is a 126-page lawsuit chock full of information. Basically, there's, there's They're saying, look, Washington State University, they knew they had a predator on their hands, a potential future rapist is what they called him. And they literally, they did nothing, but give the guy an improvement plan. Right. Thanks for having me. So it is sort of a fascinating and tragic lawsuit. The story that unfolds is the families of the victims saying basically Washington State, why didn't you step in?

Why didn't you do anything? There were these red flags, massive red flags about Koeberger. And the families say the university had done something other than simply set up an improvement plan. They could have, something could have intervened and their victims would have been alive today. So, I mean, it's tragic to read through it. And it does raise questions about what responsibilities the university had to take action. And why didn't that? So, John, one of the great ironies here is that this lawsuit, you know, it relies heavily.

upon these Idaho State Police documents that were released last year in which there are these interviews with faculty, staff, students at Washington State University. And one of the stunning things in there is that it quotes Coburgers supervisor as saying, you know, I'm afraid, you know, if we kick him out right now, there could be a civil suit. So they go the route of this improvement plan. They give him this improvement plan. And it's like they have this grand plan that, you know, they don't think he's going to do great on the improvement plan, so they'll just boot him at the end of the semester, not renew his funding. Despite the 13 complaints that apparently the Office of Compliance and Civil Rights didn't even deal with, didn't meet with him,

despite these stalking complaints and things like that, they were worried about a lawsuit from Koeberger. Now they're dealing with a lawsuit from the families of four slain college students. So what do you make of that? Right. Well, it just highlights that the university was operating out of fear, not out of fear that Coburger would do something drastic and dangerous and tragic as he did. They're operating out of fear that somehow if they take some kind of action, if they step in, if they intervene, that they'll get sued by Coburger. And I mean, it's, it's bizarre to read through that and follow the logic, which is the university is saying, you know, We're afraid of this guy, not because he could do something violent, not because he could be dangerous, but because we might wind up in court in a courtroom if we take action against him.

I mean, this was not happening in a vacuum. He was on their radar screen. He was on multiple radar screens as somebody who was problematic to say the least, and that's an understatement. And yet you get the sense of these bureaucrats at the university being afraid, being so afraid to do anything that they basically, just sat back, sat on their hands. And if you're the families of the victims, I mean, you can imagine the level of frustration knowing what the university knew, knowing all the, the number of people at the university, the number of administrators who had information and didn't do anything. So you can understand where this is coming from. And you can also picture a university that was paralyzed with fear of a lawsuit when they should have been taking action according to the families to step in.

Basically, the claim in this lawsuit, too, is that Washington State University has had its own issues with, like, sexual harassment. You know, with the police department, there was an issue with an officer having sex with a victim. You know, there were some other headlines about sexual harassment and the president of the university at one point saying, you know, we're not going to stand for this type of thing. It was in prior years. So they're saying basically that's the backdrop for all of this. This is a university that has this like institutional problem. There's a culture of just not dealing with things properly there. Does that help the families?

Right. Well, it's the, you know, it's the backstory. It's the context for what's happening. And you've got to remember the plea that Coburger entered that saved him from the death penalty. It also spared the family going through a trial. But at the same time, it also didn't allow for a, if you can imagine from the family's perspective, of a complete airing of what happened. There's argument that they didn't get the satisfaction of going through a trial.

So the civil suit against the university may be the next best thing for them to get some type of justice for the context of what happened, some type of justice for the idea that if the university had all this information, why didn't somebody step in? And if the context was also that the university had these significant problems, significant issues, it points to, you know, a failure at the top all the way down. So you can understand why the family is seeking some type of justice because they didn't get it necessarily with a trial that ended up with a conviction. There was a plea, but I think there's an argument to be made that if there had been a trial,

they would at least have had some more level of satisfaction. So the civil suit may be the next best thing, and pointing the fingers at the university for having a failure from the top down, may give them some level of justice that they might not. not have gotten otherwise. And they didn't find out about any of this stuff, the gravity of it until much later, until well after the plea. So I'm sure there's some anger on the part of these families as well that, oh my God, look what, look at this. Like, this is a mess. There is also an allegation of a title nine violation here because of the stalking. He's on campus and there are all these

complaints, he's following women to their cars. I mean, these are criminologists. They're, they're criminologists in the criminology department labeling him a potential future predator, potential future rapist, these types of things. And it's just like, oh, we'll just wait till the end of the semester. I'm not saying any of them were like thinking, oh, he's going to go out and murder four beautiful college students. But come on. I mean, these are experts. Right. They are experts. And that's what makes it even more horrifying, the idea that these are people, this was their field. This was their, the things that they had studied. And these were the people who were observing this and the complaints that were piling up. And so the Title IX claim that the violent, I mean, it does seem like, you know, in the scope of things, these four, you know, sweet kids were murdered. But the title nine claim is a way that the family can try to achieve justice by saying to the university, you had an obligation to protect our students and you violated that obligation by not taking some kind of action against Coburger. So while it may seem sort of technical to claim a title line violation, it's one of the cards that the families get to play in fighting back against this incredibly horrific injustice.

And if they've got, they can't hold Coburger responsible any further because he's already been convicted. But they can't hold the institution where these students were enrolled. where they assume that they would be protected from this. So you can understand where the family is coming from, saying to the university, you did not fulfill your obligations to protect our children. If you're the university, though, how do you defend this? I mean, this is a big one. I mean, you have your own staff saying we thought he was going to be a predator.

We can't give this guy a Ph.D. Right. Well, it's a tough one to defend. And most likely this case is going to settle before it gets to a trial. Because, you know, what are the university? universities of defenses. Well, you know, how do you predict the future and so on at the same time? There are plenty of ways that their own criminology department, their own specialist in criminology, were predicting the future and they didn't listen. The university administrators didn't listen.

So it's not one I would want to defend on the university's side because there were so many failings. There were so many failures along the way that if they had just paid attention, you can see the family's point. If the university had just paid attention, those four might be alive. And that is the most sickening part of this. There is no reason for those four kids. I call them kids because they were in college, but there's no reason for them to be dead except for what happened. It's horrific.

John Day, thank you so much. Thanks for having me. Washington State University has not yet responded to this suit. And that's it for this episode of Crime Fix. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. remember you can watch and listen to us on Spotify along with watching us here on YouTube. We'll see you back here next time.