EXCLUSIVE Why WSU police chief refused to give Brian Kohberger a job after face-to-face meeting... months before he was caught for Idaho murders
He wouldn't find out that the job applicant - polite WSU criminology student Bryan Kohberger - was the same person who stabbed four young University of Idaho students in their beds until more than a month later, just two days before Kohberger was arrested at his family's home in Pennsylvania.
Gary Jenkins, Chief of Police for WSU's campus, spoke exclusively about his brief but eerie connection to Bryan Kohberger to DailyMail.com, who has now admitted to slaughtering four University of Idaho students in their sleep at an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho.
Jenkins was then the police chief of Pullman when Kohberger, who arrived in the summer of 2022 to start doctoral work at WSU, applied for a research assistant gig at the department.
Jenkins came virtual face-to-face with the future convicted murderer via Zoom - and while he is unable to go into specific detail because of the gag order still in effect - indicated that Kohberger did not seem to have the 'social skills' Jenkins felt would be needed for the position.
'I interviewed him for an interim position at Pullman Police Department before I came to WSU,' Jenkins said at his spacious home in Pullman, where he spoke last week to the Daily Mail, accompanied by his two rescue dogs, Lexi and Bailey.
'He wasn't selected – he just wasn't the best fit.'
But Jenkins admitted there was nothing so unusual about Kohberger that he could ever imagine finding out he was responsible for one of the most gruesome murder sprees in Idaho history.
Although he ultimately decided Brian Kohberger wasn't the 'right fit' for the job, Jenkins said he had no sense the criminology student was capable of murder and was stunned to learn months later that he had interviewed the Idaho 4 killer over Zoom in April 2022
'It was a great pleasure to meet with you today and share my thoughts and excitement regarding the research assistantship for public safety,' Kohberger reportedly wrote to Jenkins shortly after they met on April 12, 2022.
'I look forward to hearing from you. Best regards, Bryan,' he added.
Jenkins reportedly replied: 'Great to meet and talk to you as well.'
Kohberger had been on campus for just one semester before the killings in nearby Moscow, just 8 miles away, rattled the twin college towns. Residents who once left their doors unlocked began checking over their shoulders.
'It was shocking,' Jenkins said. 'Violent crime happens very infrequently in this area. To have something of that magnitude occur – it was uncharacteristic and terrifying for the community.'
The chief said his department scrambled to alert students as word of the bloodbath spread.
'We had to issue an alert because the murders happened so close to Pullman and WSU. Students were scared – there was essentially an active stabber out there.'
'You hear it all the time after school shootings – people say, 'We never thought it could happen here,' Jenkins said. 'It was the same here. It made people realize violent crimes can happen anywhere.'
Jenkins didn't find out Kohberger's identity until December 28, 2022, when his friend, the police chief of Moscow, James Fry, phoned him and told him to come to the Moscow police station, according to the new book, The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy, that came out Monday.
Jenkins arrived to find himself in a room packed with local and state cops as well as FBI agents.
One of the Moscow detectives, Brett Payne, said they had identified a suspect, and he was living in WSU housing - cops would arrest Kohberger at his parents' home in Pennsylvania two days later.
When Jenkins heard the name Bryan Kohberger, he 'flinched,' according to the book, and told his fellow cops about his encounter with Kohberger as a job applicant.
Jenkins returned to WSU and sent Kohberger's resume and cover letter to Moscow PD.
According to the book, Fry called Jenkins to thank him for the material.
'No problem,' Jenkins told Fry on the phone.
'Oh and Gary one more thing,' Fry is quoted in the book as saying with a 'small chuckle.' 'Aren't you glad you didn't accept his application?'
'More than you know,' Jenkins responded.
Jenkins spoke to the Daily Mail just one week after Kohberger appeared in a Boise courtroom and admitted in a shock confession that he killed Ethan Chapin, 20, his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, 20, Maddie Mogen, 21 and Kaylee Goncalves, also 21.
Kohberger later pleaded guilty to avoid the death penalty, a deal that split victims' families. Some wanted a trial; others supported the plea to avoid years of painful appeals.
He will be sentenced on July 23 in a Boise courtroom.
Jenkins, who has spent decades in law enforcement, believes the plea brings closure.
'Having a guilty plea without the unknowns of a trial or appeals helps the community move forward,' he said.
The chief also said that Kohberger's academic background in criminology made the case even more chilling.
'It's rare to see someone studying criminal justice at such an advanced level go on to commit something like this,' Jenkins said.
Kohberger now faces life in Idaho's maximum-security prison.
'Prison's going to be a tough life for him,' Jenkins said. 'People who commit certain crimes aren't well received by other inmates.'
But he admitted the case has left a scar on both Pullman and Moscow that may never heal.
'It's part of the history of this region now. But I don't think it defines us. What will define us is how the community came together and found justice for the victims and their families.'
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