One of the former professors of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in November, says that the accused was “one of my best students, ever” — and that the then-master’s candidate was one of only two students she had ever recommended to a Ph.D. program.
Michelle Bolger, 33, an associate professor at DeSales University in Pennsylvania, told the Daily Mail that Kohberger, who was arrested in the brutal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, was a “great writer” and “brilliant student.”
“In my 10 years of teaching, I’ve only recommended two students to a Ph.D. program and he was one of them. He was one of my best students, ever. Everyone is in shock over this,” she told the outlet, saying that the suspect was “always perfectly professional” with her.
The associate professor at the private Catholic university said she was stunned that one of her former students had been charged in the shocking crime.
“I’m shocked as s— at what he’s been accused of. I don’t believe it, but I get it,” Bolger said. “This news is upsetting. I haven’t slept at all since hearing about Bryan.”
Bolger said that she had taught Kohberger in an online class last year and helped him with his master’s thesis at DeSales.
“I never saw him in person, I couldn’t tell you how tall he was or how much he weighed, my only interaction with him was via email and Zoom. I didn’t know anything about him, whether he was married, had a girlfriend, etc.,” Bolger told the Daily Mail.
“He seemed normal to me, but then again, I only knew him from teaching him online. I didn’t know anything personal about him. I believe he worked full time like most of our graduate students do,” she added.
Bolger had advised Kohberger with his thesis, which involved questioning people about their thoughts and feelings during the commission of a crime.
“I was one of the professors who helped Bryan with his proposal on his graduate thesis, his capstone project. He did put out a routine questionnaire for his thesis. It looks weird, I understand from the public view. But in criminology it’s normal,” she said. “It’s a criminology theory called script theory, it’s a normal theory on how and why criminals commit their crime, etc.”
Kohberger enrolled as a doctoral student at Washington State University in Pullman, just 15 miles from Moscow, after graduating from DeSales last year.
The 28-year-old was arrested on Friday in an early morning raid of his family home in Pennsylvania. He will be extradited to Idaho to face four counts of first-degree murder after waiving his right to an extradition hearing.
His public defender Jason LaBar said in a statement to CNN that Kohberger “is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible.”
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