The clip on YouTube shows killer Kohberger behaving surprisingly calm and relaxed (Picture: YouTube/Christy’s Chaos)
Bryan Kohberger may well have admitted murdering four University of Idaho students, yet details of his behaviour in the days after the killings are still pretty jarring.
One encounter, now uploaded on to the Christy’s Chaos YouTube channel, shows just how ordinary he appeared to be while carrying out routine errands after the murders. It took place less than a week after the attack that shocked and devastated the quiet college town of Moscow, Idaho.
On November 18, 2022, Kohberger walked into a Department of Motor Vehicles office in Pullman, Washington. The visit came five days after the killings in nearby Moscow. He arrived in the afternoon and joined the queue just like any other customer.
Bryan Kohberger is serving four life sentences without parole for the brutal murders of four young University of Idaho students (Picture: Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
At 3.13pm, he approached the counter to sort out some paperwork for his car. There was nothing outwardly remarkable about him whatsoever, or any sign of the violence he had unleashed just days earlier.
‘I definitely need to get my license plate changed,’ Kohberger told the worker behind the desk.
He began chatting as the process got underway. The conversation drifted between small talk and musings about local life. The worker spoke about the area and compared it to where she had lived before. She said she felt the region was generally safer. Then she referenced the murders that the man she was talking to had carried out.
‘I like how small, quiet and I would say safe, but the whole Moscow thing, kinda makes it feel a little less,’ she said. Kohberger nodded in response. ‘Yeah,’ he nonchalantly replied.
The exchange was brief yet deeply unsettling given what’s now known. He stood there involved in a conversation about the very crime he had carried out. However, there was no reaction beyond polite acknowledgement.
The conversation mostly revolved around what it’s like to live in the area and the seasons their favourite baseball teams were having (Picture: YouTube/Christy’s Chao)
The discussion then moved on to baseball. Kohberger noticed the worker’s clothing and used it to keep the chat going. It was almost disturbingly casual in nature.
‘Are you a Giants fan?’ he asked after spotting her San Francisco Giants sweatshirt. ‘I’m actually from the East Coast, I’m a Yankees fan. I’m hoping you guys don’t catch up,’ he said.
He carried on talking about the sport while completing forms. The tone remained light and breezy. It was the kind of everyday exchange that would usually be forgotten within minutes. But in hindsight, knowing what the world does about the man, it’s deeply unsettling.
During the visit, he filled out paperwork for new Washington state plates for his white Hyundai Elantra. He wore black gloves as he wrote.
Perhaps the most surprising element of the exchange is how normal and socially adept Kohberger appears in the clip. It’s long been assumed by many that the Pennsylvania-born killer is awkward, shy and not overly sociable.
At the time of the murders, Kohberger was actually a PhD student studying criminology at Washington State University (Picture: REUTERS)
The worker asked about his situation in Pullman. Kohberger explained he was studying. ‘Yeah, PhD,’ he said. ‘I’m definitely not an undergrad.’
He described the area in measured terms. ‘It’s an interesting community,’ he said. ‘Where I came from in Pennsylvania, I came from a very small university, so this is big.’
The conversation moved on to his future plans. He suggested he might not stay long term. ‘I do like Pullman, but I’m not entirely certain if I can. Depends if I can get a job. I may have to go pretty much anywhere. I like Washington state,’ he said.
He also mentioned travel plans. ‘I picked the worst time,’ he said, referring to an approaching snowstorm as he prepared to drive back to Pennsylvania.
Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, two of Kohberger’s four victims (Picture: Mad Greek/ZUMA Press Wire Service/Shutterstock)
Behind the routine conversation sat the grim reality of what had happened just a few days earlier. Kohberger broke into an off campus home in Moscow in the early hours of November 13. Prosecutors allege he was searching for Madison Mogen and attempting to fulfil what has been described as an obsessive fantasy’.
Inside the house, Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were found sleeping in the same bed. Both were repeatedly stabbed. The scene left behind was described as blood soaked and brutal.
He then moved through the property. Xana Kernodle encountered him and fought back before being fatally attacked. Ethan Chapin, her boyfriend, was also killed inside the home.
After the killings, Kohberger left the scene and later the state. He was eventually arrested on December 30 at his family home in Chestnuthill Township, Pennsylvania. For a time, he denied the charges against him.
That changed on July 2, 2025, when he pleaded guilty to four counts of murder. The plea deal meant he avoided the death penalty. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
Comment now
Comments
Add Metro as a Preferred Source on Google
Add as preferred source
