Supporters of Bryan Kohberger — known as “probergers” — have doggedly defended the man charged with fatally stabbing four University of Idaho undergrads in 2022, even as he’s accepted a plea deal copping to the unthinkable carnage.
Some fans blame lazy, crooked cops. Others claim he’s a scapegoat in a wide-ranging conspiracy. A handful have even written him passionate love letters.
Now Kohberger has agreed to plead guilty to his crimes – but the proberger party ain’t over yet.
“Still innocent until proven guilty,” insisted Amanda Smith, on X, adding that she was “frozen in shock” after the plea deal was announced.
“Innocent people are regularly strong-armed by crooked cops, corrupt prosecutors, and physical & psychological abuse in jail while awaiting trial to break them down to accept a plea,” X user Solomon Anderson wrote.
Even a New York Times bestselling author, Howard Blum, seemed to think something seemed amiss.
“Why did Kohberger change his mind and take a plea deal? … It reeks of expediency-and arguably a coverup,” Blum posted on X.
Kohberger, a PhD criminology student at Washington State University, didn’t actually live in Moscow, Idaho, where Kaylee Gonclaves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin were found murdered in their bedrooms.
Skeptics found it suspicious that a man with no apparent motive or connection to the victims would become the only major suspect.
A wave of online support groups appeared with names like “Bryan Kohberger is Innocent” and “Bryan’s Girls” – a now-banned Reddit page in which young women posted about their Kohberger crushes and even posted erotic fanfiction about him.
The plea deal sent the r/JusticeForKohberger Reddit page, which has more than 5,000 members, into a frenzy.
“This subreddit was created with a focus on the presumption of innocence and the importance of due process. … Personal attacks and hostile language will not be tolerated,” the page’s moderators wrote.
For many probergers, the true stab in the back from the plea deal was that after three years of theorizing, debating, and combing through evidence, the answers to their burning questions will likely never be revealed in court.
“I’ve been following #Idaho4 for 3 years. This is soul crushing that this isn’t going to trial,” Amanda Smith also posted. “This feels like a massive psyop.”
