Bryan Kohberger will spend the rest of his life in prison for the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students, and according to a retired homicide detective with knowledge of the situation, other inmates where Kohberger is housed are making his life a living hell.
Kohberger is in solitary confinement in the J Block at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution (IMSI) outside Boise after pleading guilty in a deal to the murders of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle in November 2022.
Kohberger’s cleanliness habits were known to reach the point of obsession, like showering several times a day for up to an hour, even while in custody, and often wearing gloves before his arrest.
And according to Chris McDonough, a retired homicide detective speaking exclusively to Daily Mail, one aspect of solitary confinement has become a major problem for Kohberger in this regard.
Kohberger can only shower every other day
According to McDonough, part of life in solitary confinement at IMSI’s J Block means Kohberger can only shower every other day, far less than he typically would. As CBS News reported, before Kohberger was sentenced, someone housed next to him at the Latah County Jail reported what Kohberger’s behaviors were like before he changed his plea, including at least 45-minute daily showers and repeatedly washing his hands every day.
Other inmates won’t let him sleep
As Kohberger is unable to shower as often as he’s driven to, McDonough also told Daily Mail that other IMSI inmates are shouting at Kohberger at all hours of the night through heating and air conditioning vents. A Latah County Jail inmate already revealed that Kohberger would stay awake all night and only nap during the day. “It’s driving him crazy. The inmates are tormenting him at night and almost all hours of the day — taunting him through the vents in his cell,” McDonough said.
He continued, “They are literally getting up into the grate and yelling at him. The inmates are taking it in turns doing it. It’s relentless.”
Kohberger’s relationship with his mom
Details have also emerged about Kohberger’s relationship with his mom, including reports that he spent hours before his sentencing on video calls with her, and in one case, confronted another inmate who yelled “you suck” at a sporting event he was watching during one of those calls, but Kohberger instead thought he was talking about himself or his mom.
According to recently revealed court documents, “[The inmate] said ‘you suck’ to one of the players on the team. At which point Kohberger immediately got up and put his face to the bars and aggressively asked if [he] was talking about him or his mother.”
Kohberger’s decision to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty proved controversial, but according to McDonough, Kohberger’s life in prison won’t be peaceful, nor should it be. There’s also little hope prison officials will offer Kohberger relief, because he is after all, in solitary and therefore theoretically safe from danger.
Still, McDonough added, “the inmates are not happy with him, and he’s just started in the prison system. There’s some inmates that would want nothing more than to hurt him just to make a name for themselves,” McDonough said.
Published: Aug 12, 2025 01:17 pm