BTK Killer's Daughter Sickened To Discover Bryan Kohberger Studied Father

The daughter of serial killer BTK has said she was sickened to learn that Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students, studied her father.

Kohberger, a 28-year-old Ph.D. student and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, was taken into custody in Pennsylvania on Friday.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death at a rental home in Moscow in the early hours of November 13.

Investigators have not released information about a motive for the killings but details about Kohberger's life and education have emerged, including that he studied under Katherine Ramsland, a renowned forensic psychologist, at DeSales University.

The university said Kohberger received a bachelor's degree in 2020 and completed his graduate studies in June 2022.

Ramsland developed a relationship with Dennis Rader and co-wrote Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer with him.

Rader was arrested in February 2005 and confessed to 10 killings in the Wichita, Kansas area between 1974 and 1991. He called himself BTK, which stood for "bind, torture, kill."

Rader's daughter Kerri Rawson told NewsNation's Brian Entin that her "stomach turned" when she learned that Ramsland had previously taught Kohberger.

"Personally my first reaction was just like my stomach turned and I literally physically got ill knowing that there was now a connection back to Ramsland and she connects to my father. It was just a lot," Rawson said.

She added that Kohberger could have been communicating with her father, who is serving consecutive life sentences at the El Dorado Correctional Facility in Kansas.

"Well, obviously we know he studied my father in criminology classes," she said.

"He probably studied him heavier since he had Ramsland as a professor but we need to find out if there's a deeper connection."

Holding back tears, she added: "It's hard to be the kid of this guy and live with this. You know? And then see somebody else go do this and wonder did your dad influence him? Did your dad talk to him? Was he studying my father outside of academics? Am I ever going to get answers to that? I don't know."

In tweets after Kohberger's arrest, Rawson wrote: "Ramsland has, or did have a close academic relationship and friendship with my father, Dennis Rader, BTK.

"I have ongoing concerns, knowing how common it is for criminology students, true crime fans, and others to correspond regularly with my father, that Kohberger could have been in contact with my father at some point, but require proof of this, which currently I do not know of."

She also noted that her father "graduated with a bachelors in Criminal Justice, from Wichita State University, making a mockery of this important field, using his college courses to study his own ongoing murders and get access to [law enforcement] information in the 1970s."

Rawson has been contacted for further comment.

Ramsland has not publicly commented on the case, telling Newsweek on Monday: "I'm making no media statements at this time."

Kohberger's attorney, chief public defender Jason LaBar, has said that his client plans to waive his upcoming extradition hearing so he can be quickly transported to Idaho.

"Mr. Kohberger is eager to be exonerated of these charges and looks forward to resolving these matters as promptly as possible," LaBar said.

Update 1/2/23, 9:19 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a comment from Katherine Ramsland.