Bryan Kohberger spoke with his mother for 36 minutes after arriving home from the murders, and then again as he drove back to the crime scene

New details have emerged about Bryan Kohberger, the 30-year-old criminology student who confessed to murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022, shedding light on his interactions with his mother on the morning of the killings.

According to Heather Barnhart, the digital forensics expert who led the examination of Kohberger’s phone and hard drive, he made two significant calls to his mother within hours of committing the murders, painting a startling picture of the moments before and after the crime.

Barnhart, who joined the investigation at the request of the Latah County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, revealed that Kohberger first attempted to call his mother at 6:13 a.m. on November 13, 2022, shortly after he returned to the residence he was renting near Washington State University.

When she did not answer, he immediately called his father at 6:14 a.m. His mother, Maryann Kohberger, eventually answered at 6:17 a.m., and the two spoke for 36 minutes.

“He would often call his mother first, and if she didn’t pick up, he would call his father right after,” Barnhart explained. “He would text back and forth asking, ‘Father, why did mother not respond? Why is she not answering the phone?’”

This meticulous record of calls and texts, Barnhart notes, demonstrates a disturbing normalcy in his interactions with family immediately after committing a brutal crime.

Less than two hours later, Kohberger made another call to his mother at 8:03 a.m., lasting 54 minutes. Investigators believe he was driving back toward the crime scene during much of this call.

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson later stated during Kohberger’s plea hearing that he spent approximately 10 minutes at the crime scene around 9 a.m., just minutes after getting off the phone with his mother.

Following this, Kohberger spoke with her again for nine minutes at 9 a.m., further connecting his movements with phone activity.

The pattern continued throughout the day. He spoke briefly with his mother for two minutes at 4:05 p.m., then again at 5:53 p.m., a conversation that lasted 96 minutes. By the end of November 13, Kohberger and his mother had spoken for over three hours.

No communications with friends or anyone outside his family were found on his phone, aside from benign group chats, emphasizing how tightly his interactions were confined to his parents.

Barnhart also highlighted the significance of the phone itself. Kohberger had purchased a Samsung Galaxy in June 2022, coinciding with his move from Pennsylvania to Washington.

On the morning of the murders, he had completely powered the phone off from 2:54 a.m. to 4:48 a.m., a move Barnhart interprets as an attempt to shield himself while committing the murders.

“When he powered it off, it was from a human pressing a button, and the battery was at 100 percent charged,” she said, adding that this action undermined potential claims by his defense that his phone had coincidentally died during the time of the killings.

Barnhart, who previously worked on high-profile cases including the Gabby Petito investigation and the Delphi murders, notes that the phone evidence directly contradicted Kohberger’s earlier alibi.

“If you’re stargazing and taking pictures of the sky, your phone needs to be on,” she said, referencing statements filed in court by her husband, Jared Barnhart, who heads CX Strategy and Advocacy at Cellebrite.

These digital forensics findings set the stage for the legal proceedings that followed. Kohberger appeared in the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on July 2, 2025, where he admitted to the murders of Madison Mogen, 21;

Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Three weeks later, on July 23, he was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences. Present in the courtroom were his mother, Maryann, and his sister, Amanda Kohberger.

The Kohberger family’s public appearances since the sentencing underscore a complex, deeply private dynamic.

While the forensic record reveals chilling evidence of his calculated movements and communications on the day of the murders, it also highlights the extensive role of his family, particularly his mother, in his immediate post-crime timeline.

The calls, often long and detailed, suggest a disturbing comfort and routine, even amid one of the most violent episodes in Idaho’s recent history.

Barnhart emphasizes that the totality of phone data, timestamps, and call durations provide an unusually precise reconstruction of Kohberger’s actions, reinforcing the prosecution’s case.

“The detailed phone records allowed us to see not only where he was, but also how he interacted in real-time with his mother and father,” she said.

These revelations, combined with his confession and subsequent sentencing, offer an unprecedented window into the mindset and behavior of a man responsible for one of the most shocking crimes in the region.

As investigations and court proceedings continue to be studied by legal experts and criminal analysts, the Kohberger case stands as a stark reminder of how digital evidence can piece together a day of terror.

From powering off his phone strategically in the early hours to engaging in prolonged conversations with his mother while returning to the scene, every move has been meticulously documented.

For investigators, it provides not just a timeline but an insight into the calculated and chilling patterns of a killer.