Idaho Prison Officials Respond to Bryan Kohberger's Claims that He's Going 'Crazy' from Jailhouse Taunts By Sean Neumann

Just weeks into his life term in prison, convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger appears to be at his wit’s end amid taunts from other inmates — and now the state of Idaho is responding.

A spokesperson for the Idaho Department of Corrections told PEOPLE on Thursday that Kohberger, 30, has complained about “taunting” from other inmates at the maximum security prison where he’s serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022.

“We are aware of Kohberger’s complaints about what he considers taunting,” the Idaho Department of Corrections official said in a statement. “Incarcerated individuals commonly communicate with each other in prison. Bryan Kohberger is housed alone in a cell, and IDOC security staff maintain a safe and orderly environment for all individuals in our custody.”

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The statement came after retired homicide detective Chris McDonough spoke out in the media about inmates at the prison making Kohberger’s life “miserable” since he arrived following his sentencing last month.

“It’s driving him crazy,” McDonough, who now works for the Cold Case Foundation, told The Daily Mail. “The inmates are tormenting him at night and almost all hours of the day — taunting him through the vents in his cell.”

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McDonough added: “They’re utilizing the vent system. They’re kicking the doors. They’re taunting him. And they’re basically, you know, torturing him through, you know, using psychology.”

The retired detective later appeared on NewsNation’s Banfield and said the inmates at the Idaho prison “were apparently waiting for him.”

“And when he got there, they are now making his life absolutely miserable,” McDonough said.

Last month, Kohberger was sentenced to four lifetimes in prison without parole for the murders of four University of Idaho students: Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. 

Kohberger confessed to the murders of the four students on July 2, avoiding the possibility of facing a death sentence.