Bryan Kohberger previously worked as fish cutter with attitude problems. Ex boss said he was withdrawn and didn’t show proficiency using knife.
Years before Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger was reportedly fired from his teaching job at Washington State University, the PhD criminology student worked as a ‘fish cutter’ at a lake in Pennsylvania.
According to Charles Conklin, the owner of Big Brown Fish and Pay Lakes in Effort, Pa., Kohberger, 28, previously worked for him for a period of four months in 2011 as a seasonal employee when Kohberger was in high school.
Conklin said he trained Kohberger how to slice raw fish using industry-standard blades — but that he barred him from interacting with customers due to his demeanor.
‘He never warmed up and got friendly,’ Conklin told People Magazine. ‘Most kids that work here, we consider like family.’
‘He was withdrawn and didn’t show improvement,’ Conklin added.
Exclusive: Bryan Kohberger’s ex-boss tells @chriscuomo the accused killer worked as a fish cutter in high school. He shares what kind of employee Kohberger was. #IdahoFour pic.twitter.com/l4neIbh2Ca
— NewsNation (@NewsNation) March 2, 2023
Fillet man who knew how to use knives
Retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer told NewsNation Now that familiarization with a knife could be important for understanding his alleged murders using a large blade.
‘As an investigator, you’re looking at not only why did they commit a crime, but how did they commit a crime and their weapon of choice,’ the former fed told the outlet.
‘Why not manual strangulation or using a ligature or even blunt force trauma? But no, he chose a knife, and when I saw this on this application, I thought, ‘Wow, he has at least a familiarization with knives, comfortable enough to seek employment using one,’’ she said.
‘I think that’s really important because we’ve known he was book smart, but now we know he’s had practical application thereof,’ Coffindaffer told NewsNation Now.
Eleven years later, Kohberger was reportedly fired from his job as a teaching assistant in WSU’s Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology.
The reported firing took place weeks after the killings of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Goncalves, 21, Mogen, 21, Kernodle, 20, and Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13. Ethan was not a resident in the home, but was staying overnight with girlfriend Kernodle.
Kohberger has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary, after DNA and cell phone pings allegedly linked him to the crime scene.
He’s not yet entered a plea to the charges.
Limited information is being shared about the case due to a sweeping gag order that hinders officials involved with the case, including his defense attorney Anne Taylor, from talking to the public or media.
Kohberger will appear in court on June 26.
