Brian Coberger reportedly called his mother several times after the tragic killing of four University of Idaho students with a knife back in November 2022. The first call happened when he crossed into Pullman, Washington, and later, he returned to his apartment and then to the crime scene after sunrise, according to a recent report.
The 30-year-old defendant was described as socially challenging in court documents and was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in an unsuccessful attempt to eliminate the death penalty as an option if the case went to trial. Forensic analysis revealed that the only messages on his phone, aside from those to friends and family, were from a single “benign” group chat.
In a new interview, Heather Barnhart shared that Coberger, who is the senior director at Cellebrite, a company focusing on digital forensics for law enforcement, sent a disparaging text message regarding his parents, referring to them as “mother” and “father.” This detail emerged as part of ongoing court proceedings.
The former doctoral student in criminology evidently showed a tendency to reach out to his mother more often than to his father. Barnhart mentioned that he frequently switched back and forth in his messages, asking, “Father, why didn’t her mother respond? Why didn’t she pick up?”
Forensic analysis indicated that Kohberger was in contact with his mother, Mary Anne Coberger, around the time he returned to the crime scene on King Road in Moscow, Idaho. The horrific incident occurred shortly after 4 am on November 13, 2022, and Kohberger lingered in the area until approximately 9 am, during which he had two conversations with his mother. Police, interestingly, weren’t alerted until nearly noon.
If Kohberger had chosen to go to trial, Barnhart’s team would have provided testimony on how he might have attempted to obscure his movements by keeping his phone fully charged during those critical hours. Ultimately, he opted to plead guilty to the murders of Madison Morgen, Kaylee Goncalves, Zana Carnordal, and Ethan Chapin.
Judge Stephen Hippler issued the maximum sentence allowed under the plea agreement, and Coberger waived his rights to seek reductions in his sentence. Presently, he is held in solitary confinement in Idaho’s largest security prison.
