Bryan Kohberger's Sister Says He Overcame a Heroin Addiction, and Family Had Been 'Proud' of Him By Liam Quinn

Bryan Kohberger’s sister revealed that he once overcame a heroin addiction before pursuing higher education.

Kohberger is currently serving a life sentence for the murders of four University of Idaho students, who were stabbed to death in 2022.

The revelation about his addiction was made by Kohberger’s sister Mel in an interview with The New York Times.

Mel said that growing up, her brother was overweight and became a target of bullies. He ultimately developed a heroin addiction, she told the paper.

At one point, Mel said Kohberger once stole her phone and sold it at the mall in order to buy drugs.

Eventually, Kohberger went through treatment and began studying psychology at DeSales University before pursuing a Ph.D. at Washington State University.

“We were all so proud of him because he had overcome so much,” Mel told the Times.

Kohberger was attending Washington State at the time of the murders, which occurred in Moscow, Idaho, less than 10 miles from his school’s campus in Pullman, Wash.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were the four Idaho students stabbed to death in an off-campus home on Nov. 13, 2022.

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Kohberger was identified as a suspect after his DNA was found on a knife sheath left at the scene of the murders. He ultimately confessed and pleaded guilty to the murders in 2025.

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A deal reached with prosecutors meant Kohberger would not be sentenced to death in exchange for a guilty plea. He was instead sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the chance for parole.

Mel Kohberger told the Times that she was in shock when she learned her brother was arrested by federal agents at his family home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30, 2022.

“I have always been a person who has spoken up for what was right,” she told the paper. “If I ever had a reason to believe my brother did anything, I would have turned him in.”