Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - Police Chief in Bryan Kohberger Case Breaks Silence

Episode Date: July 18, 2025

Chief Gary Jenkins interviewed Bryan Kohberger for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in April 2022. Jenkins passed on hiring Kohberger. But months later, in December 2022, Kohberger's name came up again when he was asked to assist in executing search warrants at Kohberger's apartment when the graduate student became the suspect in the murders on King Rd. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy talks with the current WSU chief in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:Watch Dr. Layke's step-by-step video free and uninterrupted at https://BHMD1.com/FixHost:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Guest:Chief Gary JenkinsProducer: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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You know, I think there's only one unanswered question at this point, and that's motive. The police chief who interviewed Brian Koberger for an internship months before he murdered four University of Idaho students is talking about his experience with the now-admitted killer. The hair on the back of my neck stood up. It was chilling to hear that he was a suspect and for one that he had been living on WSU campus. I talked one-on-one with Chief Gary Jenkins about his interaction with Coburger.

And when he found out he was the suspect in the King Road murders. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Anjana Levy. Brian Coburger is just days away from officially becoming a convicted quadruple murderer. He has now admitted to murdering four University of Idaho students, Maddie Mogin, Kaylee Goncalves, Zana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. Now why he targeted the home on King Road, we still don't know. And why he went into the home and killed four people,

we don't know that either. But Coburger matter of factly entered his guilty pleas to the murders that he so vehemently denied committing for so long on July 2nd. Did you on November 13th, 2022 in Laetaw County, state of Idaho kill and murder Madison Mogan, a human being? Yes.

And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, and with premeditation and malice of forethought? Yes. Did you honor about that same date in Moscow, Idaho, kill and murder Kaylee Gonzalves, a human being? Yes. And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, and with premeditation and malice

of forethought? Yes. And did you on that same date in Moscow, Idaho, kill and murder Zana Kernodle, pardon me, a human being? Yes. And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation and malice of forethought? Yes. And then on or about November 13, 2022,

again in Laetok County, Idaho, did you kill and murder Ethan Chapin, a human being? Yes. Did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately with premeditation and malice of forethought? Yes. Now, there are still so, so many questions. But we do know that in the spring of 2022,

Brian Coburger was planning to move from Pennsylvania to Washington state all the way across the country to start working on a PhD in criminology. Coburger wanted to study the criminal mind. He wanted to see what made criminals tick, and he wanted to work for a police department. Can you believe that? It seems really ironic and really scary when you think about it, knowing what we know now. But Brian Coburger, even when he was younger, he was a cadet in a law enforcement program. He also worked as a security guard at one point. And as he prepared to make the move from Washington to Pennsylvania, he applied for

an internship at the Pullman Police Department in Pullman, Washington. Coburger was going to work on his PhD at Washington State University in Pullman, so the internship at the PD seemed like a perfect fit. The job was a graduate research assistantship for public safety, and Coburger wanted to do research and help collect and analyze data to make suburban

and rural police departments operate more efficiently. In his three-page essay, Koberger wrote about the dearth of data that is available to be analyzed. Now, we knew about Koberger applying for this position in the past, it was referenced briefly in the probable cause affidavit. Koberger wrote, in order for a criminal justice agency to be adaptable

to the complex social environment that shapes any single interaction between police and citizens, an in-depth look at the unused data is of extreme significance. So Brian Koberger, someone who has now admitted to committing four brutal murders, wanted to be involved in the inner workings of a police department. Sifting through data, he went on to write,

With consideration to the needs of rural and suburban criminal justice agencies, the Graduate Research Assistantship for Public Safety is paramount to enabling the success of public safety agencies in the city of Pullman and the city of Pasco by organizing and analyzing data, recommending different data collection practices, writing reports, and aiding the agencies in the creation of a research agenda. I would be honored and grateful to accept the position as a graduate research assistant on this important and worthwhile endeavor." Now, Coburger said he really preferred to work at the Pullman Police Department because

that is where he would be living for three years. He wrote, in particular, I would like to work with the City of Pullman as this city will be my home for my time as a PhD student in the Criminal Justice and Criminology program at Washington State University. Along with the City of Pullman having personal significance. I would also be fortunate to have the opportunity to, through data analysis and research project management, contribute to the criminal justice agency that facilitates the safety and security of the areas within and surrounding Washington State University.

Though assisting the City of Pullman is my primary choice, I would be equally as dedicated to working with the city of Pasco. Now, Koberger boasted about the leadership role that he had taken in other research projects during his time at DeSales University, where he claimed to have found solutions to problems in his research projects.

The aforementioned experience as an undergraduate researcher provides evidence of my leadership potential, dedication to those involved in a collaborative endeavor, capacity to think outside of the box and navigate the unknown, dedication to finding practical solutions to problems, data literacy, as well as my willingness to let stress and resistance hinder my resolve in accomplishing a research goal or meeting a deadline.

These are some of the qualities that the Graduate Research Assistant for Public Safety must possess. Now, Koberger included a copy of his resume detailing his educational history. He listed his research interests as the cause of violent crime, emotion and decision-making, legal and forensic

psychology, and cognitive psychology. Was Brian Coburger trying to understand himself? What was going on up here? I don't know, but what I do know is that behind this facade of a PhD student was really the guy in this selfie featured in the Dateline special appearing to relive what he had done, playing dress up. He's wearing all black, almost a similar outfit to what surviving roommate DM described, a man in all black walking through the house with bushy eyebrows.

Coburger appeared to be reliving his fantasy. It was another version of the thumbs up selfie that Brian Coburger took hours after the murders in his fantasy. It was another version of the thumbs up selfie that Brian Coburger took hours after the murders in his bathroom. We've all heard that wrinkle creams are the secret to looking younger, but according to one Beverly Hills doctor, that might not be the whole story.

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Again, that's bhmd1.com slash fix. That's bhmd, the number one, dot com slash fix. So I'd like to bring in Chief Gary Jenkins. He is the police chief at Washington State University and was the police chief at the Pullman Police Department in 2022, in April of 2022. So Chief Jenkins, thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me. First of all, take me back, if you will, to that interview that you did with Brian Koberger for the internship, the research assistantship program. Does anything stand out to you from that interview? You know there was nothing

that was really significant about that interview or that that stood out about it. I interviewed four people, two on one day, two on the next, all on Zoom. And I just made an assessment about who would be the best fit for that position and selected someone other than Brian Koperger. And there was only one position open? Correct, just one position. And he was applying in his essay, he said for not only a position,

possibly for consideration with the city of Pullman, but also with the city of Pasco. Right. Well, that program is run through the Washington State University Criminal Justice and Criminology program and they had that program running at Pullman Police Department and the Pasco Police Department. So there was a position open in each department. Why did you feel that Brian Coburger was not the right fit for that position? So that position really requires someone who can establish trust and rapport with my staff and that's not

an easy task with law enforcement, someone coming in from the outside, that's not law enforcement. It's difficult to develop that trust to be an effective researcher. And in talking with him, he didn't communicate in a fluid or conversational manner. He wasn't particularly personable. And so I just didn't feel like he would be able to develop that trust or rapport with

my staff and therefore wouldn't be an effective researcher with us. So it wasn't that there was something like, oh, there's a, this, this guy's got some red flags, but it was more like, maybe he's a little awkward. He's just not going to be a good fit. That's exactly right. You know, I didn't pick up on any, anything that was a significant red flag. It just was a matter of not being a good fit. And he does kind of have a more formal, I guess if you would, way of speaking from the little bit we've seen. And even in his essay that he wrote, I mean, it's very, for lack of a better word, I mean, it's very formally written as you would expect, but it's also, I would say, on the wonky side.

Yeah, yeah, I think he has an awkward way of communicating verbally and in writing. And so that that definitely was something I recall. So Chief Jenkins, let's now fast forward a little bit from the spring of 2022 to fall of 2022. The homicides happened on King Road. And no, it's not in your jurisdiction, but my God, it's literally in your community. You know, on my visits to Pullman and Moscow,

you know, it's almost like one big community, even though they're in two different states. It was always described to me that, you know, there's a lot of going back and forth, people from Pullman to Moscow and vice versa, maybe for shopping. And a lot of the kids in Pullman know some of the kids in Moscow. So this had to be just absolutely shocking and startling. I'm thinking, my God, you know, 10 minute drive away, 15 minute drive away.

This happened. It was, It was shocking. It was not, it definitely was not in character for our region. And we are, we are close-knit communities. We're somewhat isolated. You know, the next closest bigger city would be either a 40 minute drive down to the Lewiston area or an hour and a half drive up to Spokane. So we rely on each other a lot and so that does make us close-knit and we work together frequently. And on that day, when I heard about it, I made a cell phone call to Chief Fry to offer any kind of assistance that they might need. And he was actually out of town, I believe, in his car, traveling back to Moscow.

And so he thanked me for the offer and he said he would let me know if he needed anything from us. And ultimately he didn't. They brought in a lot of other resources. A lot of times that state line is somewhat of a barrier in regard to resources, but if someone needs something quickly, we definitely provide assistance to each other. This had to be something though,

since you also are in charge of basically keeping students safe, something that you might have been closely monitoring. Sure. Just like there was a vandal alert that was sent out to the University of Idaho campus, we also sent out an alert to the Washington State University campus to let them know what had happened and to you know take precautions and just so that they knew that there was a serious crime you know quadruple homicide that occurred and the killer was at loose was loose and so we wanted wanted to make sure that people were aware of that and they can take their own precautions.

A BOLO went out in November, a couple of weeks after the homicides, to law enforcement only. And there were a couple of Washington State University officers who actually noticed that there was a white Hyundai Elantra owned by Brian Coburger on campus. It was a different, you know, year than they were looking for. But can you explain to me what happened with that? Because it's

mentioned in the probable cause affidavit, but I feel like a lot there's a lot of confusion about that because people think, oh, well, they were looking at him that early, but that's really not the case, I don't think, because they then made that a public BOLO on December 7th. Right, the BOLO that we got was, I think, identical to the one that eventually went out to the public, but this was on November 28th.

They sent a Bolo out to the local law enforcement agencies with a vehicle of interest that they labeled as law enforcement sensitive, meaning that we should not share it beyond the law enforcement community. And the description of the vehicle was a white Hyundai Elantra a white Hyundai Elantra between the years of 2011 and 2013. And so one of our officers within 16 hours of receiving that BOLO was checking our parking database that includes information about vehicles that have parking permits or that pay to park on campus and found a white Hyundai Elantra

that was with Pennsylvania plates registered to Brian Koberger, but it was a 2015. So the Bolo was very specific about the vehicle make, the vehicle model and the vehicle year parameters and the color. So he didn't submit that as a tip. And then later that was on graveyard shift. And then later on, on day shift,

one of our officers was driving around and saw that same vehicle parked in graduate student housing. And again, it was not within the date parameters. So those two officers didn't end up sending that information over to Moscow PD because of the date discrepancy or the model year discrepancy? That's correct. Yeah, it was not sent over to their tip line. Interesting.

So did it just come up that they had queried it on that date? Right. When Moscow PD did identify Brian Koberger as the suspect and connected him with the vehicle, then they ran some checks to see who had run that play previously and discovered those two officers had checked the vehicle as well as a previous traffic stop that one of our officers made on Brian Koberger

and his vehicle from, I think back in October. So let's fast forward. When is the next time you hear from Chief Fry about this investigation? So I got a text from Chief Fry on December 19th, asking if I could meet with him at Moscow Police Department the next morning. And so I went to Moscow PD the next morning and met Chief Fry out in their lobby and he walked me upstairs. And we went into a room

that included their entire investigative team. I think there were maybe 30 or 40 people in that room. I was the only non-investigative team person in that room. They had held a couple of regional law enforcement briefings before, but this time it was just me. As soon as I walked in, I knew that they had something big and that it was somehow related to Washington State University.

So they told me that they had developed a suspect based on DNA at the crime scene and that that suspect was a Washington State University graduate student by the name of Brian Koberger who lived on the WSU campus in graduate student housing. When I heard the name, it's somewhat of an unusual name. It took me a minute, but then I remembered that I had interviewed Brian Koberger and I told the investigative team I had interviewed him previously for that intern position and I had his resume and cover letter

for that position that I could provide to them. And then after that I collected information about And then after that, I collected information about his apartment where he lived and his graduate assistant student office that he shared with another PhD student and in preparation to prepare a search warrant later. Interesting. And so that was even that was back on December 19th that Chief Fry texted you? Correct. Okay. Because that's the same day the FBI said you guys need to look at this guy. That's

when they got the name from the FBI through the genetic genealogy. So I think that's really interesting. So when he says this to you and you're standing in the room and you know, you're, are you kind of floored? The hair on the back of my neck stood up. It was it was chilling to hear that he was a suspect and for one that he had been living on WSU campus and that I had interviewed him some months prior. And I know I'm kind of asking you to speculate a little bit here, but you know, at this point he's a suspect, but the DNA is a pretty damning and you know, overwhelming piece of evidence. It's a strong connection. Plus you have the white vehicle.

As far as circumstantial evidence goes, those are two very incredibly, those are incredible pieces of evidence. So are you thinking to yourself, you know, I'm assuming you spring into chief mode. I mean, you've got to get to work, but you're saying the hair stood up on the back of your neck and you had interviewed him. Are you thinking, oh my God, we could have hired this guy and he, you know, to be an intern and he could have been in our department and maybe this was, maybe even thinking back now,

was this gonna be a cover for him to be involved in a police department so he could maybe run around and commit crimes? Well, I mean, that's always possible. It's also possible that this had all been calculated and he was hoping to be in a position to find out about confidential information. And so, yeah, there's lots of possibilities there. But ultimately, I definitely was, I was very relieved that I had not hired him. Sure, of course.

So from there, you go back to WSU and you have to get to work because you know that stuff is going to be happening. So what do you do after that? Well, they had asked me not to share that information with anyone including my own department. So for me I was getting information about where he was working on campus and where he lived on campus again and because I knew that there would be search warrant served at some time and then ultimately when they kept me in the loop about when they were planning to make

the arrest and serve a search warrant at Brian Coburger's home in Pennsylvania, we wanted the search warrants to be served pretty much simultaneously, just so there were no issues with any potentially someone else that may have been involved or assisting that could circumvent, you know, those those warrants. So we ended up serving those warrants on December 30th. We had Idaho State Police come over to assist our staff with those warrants and doing the searches. So when do you get the call that, okay, we've got them in custody and you can go in and do the search warrant now? Well, we had a tentative time set up.

It was early in the morning of December 30th. And then we got a call that they had made entry to the house and made the arrest. And then that's when we started the war. And it was, I think, maybe five or six in the morning. And when you get in there, what's it like? The apartment was sparse. It didn't look like someone was actively living there. It was almost to the point where someone maybe was not planning to come back. So it was not a typical occupied type of an apartment.

Interesting. So, I mean, lack of, I mean, no clothes hanging in the closet, or was it just no books or just, I mean, was there furniture? Could you describe it a little bit? There was furniture, very few clothes, not even a shower curtain. I don't recall if there were any books there, but there was just very little. So Chief Jenkins, you guys get in there and the place looks like it's deserted essentially. So you get in there and you do the work

of executing a search warrant. So what do you do next? Well, Idaho State Police collected some items and we held onto it. They couldn't take it into Idaho yet without a court order since it's across state lines. So, we held on to those items until a court order was obtained and then Idaho State Police came over and and picked up the evidence. We're doing a lot of communication

with our campus students and faculty and staff were concerned and scared. It was during, this was however during winter break, so there were not a lot of people on campus at the time, but there were still students that would be coming back for the next semester and parents that had been following this. And so we spent a lot of effort with all of our campus partners, with our Dean of Students Office and Counseling and Psychological Services, the President's Office and the Provost's Office, just communicating with everyone about what we knew, communicating with everyone about what we knew, what measures we're taking to keep our campus safe, and a commitment to keep everyone informed with the information we had. As the case moves forward and it's heading toward trial, he tried to get all of the evidence

thrown out, of course, and those efforts failed. You know, we heard about the stargazing, driving around alibi, all of these things. I mean, were you following this closely in the news or was it just something that kind of was happening in the background? No, I was following it. Very interested to see how it was gonna play out. We obviously had a big stake into what had happened

and what is going to happen. So we followed it closely. So he's heading toward trial. We're all, everybody's getting ready for a trial. I mean, obviously, you know, the police, the Moscow PD, the Laetaw County Prosecutor's Office, everybody's preparing for a trial. You know, the courts PD, the Laetaw County Prosecutor's Office, everybody's preparing for a trial. You know, the courts are preparing for a trial and then boom, plea deal.

What was your reaction when you found out about that? Well, initially, I was surprised, particularly with how aggressive the defense had been in their emotions. So I wouldn't have guessed that there would have been a plea deal, but ultimately I'm relieved. I think it's a great deal. And I think, you know, I understand that some of the victims' families have difference of opinion about that plea deal, and I don't fault any of them for the opinions that they have. I can't imagine what they're going through and how they're dealing with it.

But I think in the long run, it's a good deal because whenever there's a death penalty case, there's always appeals and continued hearings. And every time that happens, that brings everything back up, particularly for the victims' families. And so I think it's going to be good for, I think it does bring them justice. I know it's not exactly what some families wanted, but I think it's a good deal. And if you really kind of break it down and think about what could have happened, you know, even if he was convicted by the jury at trial, there was no guarantee that the jury would then later

come back with a verdict or a recommendation that he be sentenced to death. I mean, it just takes one juror. Right, yeah, there were lots of unknowns, lots of what ifs had it played out. So this removes all of that. arrests, had it played out. So this removes all of that. There were a lot of rumors and things like that after his arrest that possibly he could have done some strange things on the WSU campus or around Pullman. There were rumors about

a break-in at the chemistry lab and you know things like that and there was also some reporting by Dateline NBC that he had possibly broken into the the apartment of his office mate at Wilson Short Hall, a woman with whom he shared an office and with whom he was friendly. Are you able to give us any insight into either of those events? I don't have any evidence to show that he did. I did hear about the break-in of someone that he worked with or a neighbor and that was never reported to us and so it was something that we didn't investigate. So we just don't have any evidence to show that he committed any crimes on campus.

What are your thoughts now as we head towards sentencing and he's going to be spending, as far as we can tell, the rest of his life in prison behind bars? I think there's only one unanswered question at this point, and that's motive. I think we can look at his interests and his past and come up with some possibilities, but I think that's the one unanswered question. But I'm happy to see that there's no chance of appeal. I suspect that he'll get four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

So I think there is justice for the families and the community. And my hope is, and I think this will happen, is that these murders aren't going to define the community of Moscow or Pullman. That the way that the communities came together and supported each other, I think that's what's going to define these communities moving

forward. No doubt. And I, I hope people can focus on honoring and remembering Maddie, Kaylee, Zana and Ethan. And the focus can go back to them and some healing can begin. Thank you so much, Chief Gary Jenkins of the Washington State University Police Department. I really appreciate your time. You're very welcome. And Brian Koberger will be formally sentenced to those four consecutive life sentences

on July 23rd in Boise, Idaho at the Adie County Courthouse, and I will be there. So stay tuned for more coverage on CrimeFix. I'm Anjana Atlevi. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.