“He’s an Angel”: Bryan Kohberger’s Mother Defends Him as 4 Student Murders Shock the Nation

Bryan Kohberger’s mother reportedly refused to believe her “angel” son had slaughtered four University of Idaho students – insisting to federal agents they had made a “mistake” after hauling him into custody.

The cold-blooded killer’s mom, Maryann Kohberger, fiercely stood by her son in newly released police transcripts obtained by the Daily Mail – telling three FBI agents on the night of his December 2022 arrest that she was certain he didn’t commit the heinous murders a month earlier.

“He’s my angel,” the stunned mom said immediately after the feds stormed her Pennsylvania home.

“My son would not do this. I will stake my life on that.”

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Bryan Kohberger’s mother, Maryann, and sister, Amanda, leave the Ada County Courthouse after the quadruple murderer’s sentencing on July 23, 2025.AP
Kohberger described her twisted son as a quiet “homebody,” telling agents the Washington State University grad student had a 3.8 GPA but no “big group of friends” or “any girlfriends.”

She said he seemed happy and was “making friends,” adding he enjoyed running and the outdoors and wasn’t into partying or drinking, the transcripts show.

“What’s going through my mind right now is that this is a really, really bad mistake, what’s going on, like what’s happening here,” the mom-of-three told investigators of her youngest child.

“We know what our, you know, who our children are, you know.”

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Bryan Kohberger attends his sentencing hearing in Boise, Idaho, on July 23, 2025.AP

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Kohberger admitted to fatally butcher Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin on Nov. 13, 2022, in their off-campus house in Moscow
Kohberger told investigators the pair were close and had frequent “mother-and-son talks.”

She even said it was her idea for her son to purchase a knife to defend himself if he ever came upon a bear while hiking – but she said she didn’t know if he had “purchased anything.”

Her son later used a knife to fatally butcher Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin on Nov. 13, 2022, in their off-campus house in Moscow.

The cold-blooded killer’s mom told investigators nothing seemed unusual when her son came home for the holidays.

But when pressed by agents if the convicted murderer had shown any behavior suggesting he could be capable of the vicious killings, she quickly shot it down, according to the transcripts.

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“Never, ever, ever,” she said.

“There’s a mistake, something is wrong somewhere. And that’s what I believe. And that’s what I know in my heart.”

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Bryan Koberger wears a suicide vest during a mugshot at the Monroe County Correctional Facility after his arrest on Dec. 30, 2022.AP

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The cold-blooded killer’s mom told investigators nothing seemed unusual when her son came home for the holidays.AP
Kohberger later called the situation an “absolute nightmare” as she asked whether her “son’s face is gonna be plastered all across the country” when the news of his arrest was made public.

“This is a nightmare,” she said. “This is an absolute nightmare.”

Bryan Kohberger is serving four life sentences without the possibility of parole after copping to the killings last summer and taking a surprise plea deal just weeks before his highly anticipated trial was set to start.

The deal saw him skirt the possibility of the death penalty, enraging some of the families of his victims and leaving the loved ones with no explanation for why he committed the ruthless murders.

His mother’s FBI interviews will be featured in the upcoming book “Broken Plea: The Explosive Search for Truth Behind the Idaho Murders” by Christopher Whitcomb.