Bryan Kohberger’s Mom Called Son an ‘Angel’ After Idaho Murder Arrest

The mother of convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger insisted her son was an “angel” who could never have killed four Idaho college students, telling stunned FBI agents they had arrested the wrong man. Maryann Kohberger made the desperate plea during a December 2022 interview following the raid on the family’s Pennsylvania home.

“He’s my angel,” she told three federal agents as her son was taken away in handcuffs. “My son would not do this. I will stake my life on that.” The newly unsealed transcripts capture a mother grappling with the accusation that her youngest child had slaughtered four young people just weeks earlier.

Maryann described Bryan as a quiet “homebody” who maintained a 3.8 GPA but had no “big group of friends” or romantic relationships. She told investigators the pair were close and shared frequent “mother-and-son talks,” adding that nothing seemed unusual when he returned home for the winter holidays.

When agents pressed her on whether her son had ever displayed violent behavior, her response was absolute. “Never, ever, ever,” she stated, according to the transcripts. “There’s a mistake, something is wrong somewhere. And that’s what I believe. And that’s what I know in my heart”.

Bryan Kohberger later pleaded guilty to killed four Idaho college students in their off-campus home near the University of Idaho. The victims, Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022.

Under a plea deal reached last summer, Kohberger avoided the death penalty and received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. The deal left victims’ families without a public trial or any explanation of a motive.

During the FBI interview, Maryann revealed she had suggested her son buy a knife for protection against bears while hiking out west. She told agents she was unsure if he had actually made the purchase . Court records later showed a K-bar knife was the weapon used in the attacks.

As reality set in, Maryann expressed dread about the media storm to come, asking if her “son’s face is gonna be plastered all across the country.” She called the situation an “absolute nightmare”.

Phone records later revealed an intensely close relationship between mother and son. Kohberger called his mother multiple times daily, sometimes for hours at a time. On the morning of the murders, he called her less than two hours after fleeing the crime scene . Days after the killings, Maryann texted her son a news article describing the graphic injuries suffered by one of his victims.

The newly released FBI transcripts will be featured in the upcoming book “Broken Plea: The Explosive Search for Truth Behind the Idaho Murders” by Christopher Whitcomb . Kohberger is currently serving his life sentence in an Idaho prison.