In a recent development in the University of Idaho murder case, it has been revealed that Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old murder suspect, may have been trying to message one of the victims on Instagram just a few weeks before the murders took place.
In late October, one of the female victims – it has not yet been revealed which one – began receiving messages in her inbox on Instagram in late October. The messages came from an account that is suspected to belong to Kohberger.
An unidentified investigator reported on the attempted contact, saying, “He slid into one of the girls’ DMs several times, but she didn’t respond. Basically, it was just him saying, ‘Hey, how are you?’ But he did it again and again.”
It has previously been reported by authorities that Kohberger stalked the victims prior to the murders according to his cell phone location history.
In addition to his alleged interactions with one or more of the victims prior to the quadruple murder that occurred at the University of Idaho, Kohberger reportedly posted to an online message board on multiple occasions, once admitting that he had “crazy thoughts” and “delusions of grandeur.”
The message board that Kohberger posted on was devoted to a rare neurological condition called ‘visual snow syndrome,’ which is when the affected individual’s vision is disrupted by static like one might see when watching television on an old TV set, or what has been described as “flickering white dots.”
Between 2009 and 2012, Kohberger allegedly contributed 118 times to this forum under the username “exarr.” In these posts, it appears he was experiencing deep internal distress and that he was lacking emotion in any capacity.
In January 2011, Kohberger shared the shift in his persona since being diagnosed with visual snow. He wrote, “I have had VS [visual snow] since September 1st of 2009. Since then I have changed, mainly from the anxiety and sense of derealization and hopelessness.”
In May 2011, Kohberger allegedly wrote that he has “depression, no interest in activity, constant thoughts of suicide, crazy thoughts, delusions of grandeur, anxiety, poor self image, poor social skills, NO EMOTION.”
He also wrote, “When I get home, I am mean to my family. This started with VS did. I felt no. emotion and along with the depersonalization, I can say and do whatever I want with little remorse.”
Just a couple of months later, in July, Kohberger posted, “I have had this horrible Depersonalization go on in my life for almost 2 years. I often find myself making simple human interactions, but it is as if I’m playing a role playing game. … As I hug my family, I look into their faces, I see nothing, it is like I am looking at a video game, but less. … I am blank, I have no opinion, I have no emotion, I have nothing.”
Kohberger made his last alleged post on February 20, 2012, saying, “I have just accepted my visual snow finally. I don’t even feel the need to stay away from the forum, it doesn’t scare me anymore! anyone else come to terms? I feel like comign [sic] to terms could be a bad thing though.”
