Idaho suspect Bryan Kohberger was ‘overweight and bullied at school before becoming a heroin addict’

The Idaho murder suspect used to be tortured at school and, according to his old classmates, was a self-destructive overweight heroin addict in the years before the horrific murders.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, was bullied and lost 100 pounds in his senior year of high school before turning to hard drugs, two of his former friends have revealed.

Graduate student Kohberger is currently charged with the quadruple murders of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were found dead in a college home on Nov. 13.

Details about the suspect’s past are now coming to light – including the fact that he was a “reclusive” person who used her degree in criminology to “try to understand people and herself”.

Kohberger “stalked” the homes of his four victims on 12 occasions before killing them, evidence seems to exist

Casey Arntz, who was friends with Kohberger, has revealed how he was at school

Kohberger lost 100 pounds in high school and was previously bullied, according to his former friends

Two of his high school friends, Casey Arntz and Bree, who asked that their last names be kept secret, said Kohberger was overweight and had been bullied at school.

The Idaho killer suspect lost nearly 100 pounds in his senior year after being the brunt of his classmates’ jokes – when people noticed a change in him.

Arntz told CBS ’48 Hours’: “He was paper thin. After this weight loss, many people noticed a big change.

After losing the weight, it was Kohberger who began bullying Arntz’s brother – putting him in chokeholds and becoming physically aggressive with him.

Bree said the “self-destructive” Kohberger also started using heroin. She added: “You just saw him get more self-destructive. He stayed really withdrawn.”

In the years after high school, the suspect seemed to get his life back on track, telling Bree he “would get better.”

Kohberger, 28, is accused of murdering Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin on November 13 in the quiet college town of Moscow, Idaho

Bree (pictured) said the “self-destructive” Kohberger also started using heroin. She added: “You just saw him get more self-destructive. He really stayed withdrawn.

She revealed: “He told me he wanted to get sober, that he got sober. And he wanted me to know, ‘I’ll do better. I will be better.”

Both women last saw Kohberger at a friend’s wedding in 2017 – where they said he looked “good” and seemed to have a new life.

Arntz said: “I hugged him and said, ‘You look so good. I’m so proud of you.”

And Bree said of his new focus on studying criminology: “His goal was to change the world around him for the better. He wanted to do something that would affect people positively.

“People weren’t his forte. She added, “And I think through his criminology studies, he really tried to understand people and understand himself.”

The suspect reportedly drove about 2,300 miles from Moscow to Pennsylvania. He attended college in nearby Washington State

Bryan Kohberger, accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November, smiles in court on January 5, 2022 after he was denied bail

Speaking about Kohberger allegedly being the Idaho killer, Arntz said, “I honestly think he did it because he wants to see if he can get away with it. Where did it go wrong? What happened…why didn’t I see it?’

Damaging evidence from a newly unsealed affidavit this week showed how police were able to connect Kohberger to the crime scene – after he allegedly “steeled” the college home 12 times before the murders and also returned to the scene five hours later.

Kohberger lived eight miles from the crime scene in Moscow, Idaho, and drove the white Hyundai Elantra that police wanted to pursue.

And using genetic genealogy, cell phone data, CCTV footage and evidence left at the crime scene, they were able to track down their suspect and frame him on four counts of murder.

The affidavit recounts the moments when Moscow police officer Brett Payne entered the Kings Street home and found the four college students brutally stabbed to death.

If convicted, Kohberger faces the death penalty for the murders of Idaho students Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, and best friends Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21.

Kohberger was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police on Dec. 30 at a home in Albrightsville, a small town in the heart of the Poconos Mountains — more than 2,000 miles from where the gruesome killings took place.

After the November 13 murders, Kohberger and his father, Michael, drove 2,500 miles from Idaho to Pennsylvania in a white Hyundai Elantra.

On November 29, police received surveillance footage of the parking lot at Kohberger’s home, about 10 miles from the crime scene, in Pullman, Washington State.

Kohberger now faces the death penalty if found guilty or admits to killing the four students

Moscow police officers visited the parking lot to get a number plate for the vehicle – as it matched the description of the car they saw on footage the night the students were killed.

They conducted a search and found several incidents where the car and its owner – Bryan Kohberger – had been pulled over multiple times in the past.

The police responded with Kohberger’s name and checked historical surveillance camera footage and telephone recordings going back several months.

Then, according to her initial suspicions, Kohberger was pulled over twice while driving through Indiana on Dec. 15 — once for speeding and the other for following too close a car in front.

Cell tower data also appeared to link him to the crime scene — as did a single male DNA left on a knife sheath next to two of the dead victims at the home in Moscow, Idaho.