Documents detailing the Moscow Police Department’s investigation into the four murders committed in 2022 by Bryan Kohberger describe an interview conducted with a former friend who described the convicted killer as “intelligent but also selfish.”
Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne met a student of the Washington State University. His name was redacted and he was referred to as “L,” which is his first initial, according to the document information dated October 10, 2023.
This student was a former teaching assistant for the criminology program with Kohberger, and they shared an office during the Fall 2022 semester. “L” considered Kohberger a friend, according to the report.
The document shows Payne was accompanied by an FBI agent as well as an FBI interpreter who was present via phone because “L” is not from the US, and his country of origin was redacted.
Here are details from the document:
“L” described Kohberger as very intelligent but also selfish, saying Kohberger would often mislead him when it came to their shared work and would have “L” complete work meant for Kohberger.
Kohberger attempted to use his authority as a teaching assistant to inappropriately interact with female students, “L” said, and added that he thought Kohberger wanted a girlfriend, since they spoke about that on many occasions. “L” said Kohberger asked him to help fight allegations that threatened his teaching assistant position with a Dr. “S.”
After the homicides, “L” said Kohberger began to talk much more than usual and characterized those conversations as coming from someone who wanted to vent.
“L” also told the police he thought he noticed injuries on Kohberger’s face and hands on two occasions in October and November 2022: One was a large scratch on Kohberger’s face which “L” described as looking like scratches from fingernails. Another injury he thought he saw was Kohberger’s wounded knuckles on two separate occasions. He said he asked Kohberger about it who told him he had been in a car accident.
When asked what the two liked to talk about, “L” said they liked to discuss his area of study, which was criminal decision-making and crimes like burglary.
