Latest / The Vault: The Epstein Files / Kohberger Appealed His WSU Firing Days Before His Arrest (10/1/26)

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Kohberger Appealed His WSU Firing Days Before His Arrest (10/1/26) · The Vault: The Epstein Files

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: What's up everyone and welcome back to the program. After
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Brian Koberger was terminated by Washington State University, he appealed
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: that decision and he wrote a note to the university
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: attempting to get himself back into the program. However, before
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: he was able to get a response to that letter,
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: he was arrested for the murders and the next day
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  Speaker 1: he got the letter that said he'd be suspended immediately. Now,
• 0:29
  Speaker 1: Brian Kohlberger wrote in his appeal that he could not
• 0:32
  Speaker 1: afford to return to WSU without his position as a
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: TA because he depended on that money and insurance the
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: role provided him with. And I find that to be
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  Speaker 1: wild as hell. Imagine you just got done murdering four
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  Speaker 1: people and this is what you're worried about. Am I
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  Speaker 1: going to get back to my TA position? And in
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  Speaker 1: my opinion, this dude thought he was going to get
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  Speaker 1: away with it. He really thought he committed the perfect crime.
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  Speaker 1: And if it wasn't for that knife sheath being left
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  Speaker 1: at the scene, he might have. Today, we have an
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: article from People and the headline, Brian Kohlberger hoped to
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  Speaker 1: return to WSU and wrote a letter begging for his
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  Speaker 1: job to be reinstated after Idaho murders. This article was
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  Speaker 1: authored by Chris Spargo. Brian Kohlberger was informed that he'd
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: been terminated from his teaching assistant position with the Department
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University in
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  Speaker 1: a letter dated December 19th, 2022. Yeah, usually if you're
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: accused of murdering four people, not the kind of publicity
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  Speaker 1: that any kind of job wants. And more times than not,
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  Speaker 1: you're going to get fired. Two days later, on December 21st, 2022,
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  Speaker 1: Kohlberger responded with a letter of his own addressed to
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  Speaker 1: the Dean of Graduate Studies at WSU appealing his termination,
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  Speaker 1: a copy of which was obtained by by people. That
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  Speaker 1: letter made it clear that Koberger had every intention of
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: trying to return to WSU, where he remained enrolled in
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  Speaker 1: his graduate program despite his termination until his arrest. Well, yeah,
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  Speaker 1: he wasn't going to get kicked out of school, right?
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  Speaker 1: But he lost his job as a TA. And if
• 2:16
  Speaker 1: you go back and you listen to what people say,
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: that we're in the classes and that we're going to
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: school with him, he wasn't exactly well suited for that
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: position in the first place. Never mind the fact that
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: he's a quadruple murderer. But even before all of that,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: according to a lot of people that were talked to
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  Speaker 1: after the fact, dude was just straight up weird. Wasn't
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  Speaker 1: very helpful. And in fact, was a cranky little bitch.
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  Speaker 1: And then you add to that the fact that he,
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  Speaker 1: you know, got into an argument with the professor, a
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  Speaker 1: bunch of other stuff. And this is what happens in
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  Speaker 1: the real world. If you can't get along with your co-workers,
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  Speaker 1: or your boss especially, you're going to find yourself on
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  Speaker 1: the breadline. or in Brian Kohlberger's case, in a jail
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  Speaker 1: cell for the rest of his life. He would never
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  Speaker 1: hear back about that appeal because nine days later, he
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: was arrested and charged with the murder of four University
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: of Idaho students, Madison Mogan, Kaylee Gonsalves, Zanna Kernodle, and
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  Speaker 1: Ethan Chapin. That very same day, a letter was hand-delivered
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  Speaker 1: to Kohlberger at the Monroe County Correctional Facility informing him
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  Speaker 1: of the decision by WSU to impose an emergency suspension
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  Speaker 1: against due to the allegations that he committed four counts
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  Speaker 1: of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: that's usually going to get it done. If you're in
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  Speaker 1: college and you do something stupid like this, you're probably
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  Speaker 1: going to get suspended, especially if you're there on scholarship, right?
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  Speaker 1: They're not going to play games with you. And when
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  Speaker 1: we're talking about BK over here, we're not talking about,
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  Speaker 1: you know, somebody that might have cheated on a test.
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  Speaker 1: We're talking about murder. And brutal murder. Not I got
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  Speaker 1: into a fight, punched somebody in the face and they
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  Speaker 1: fell and hit their head and they died murder, okay?
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  Speaker 1: Two very different things. And just the very allegation of
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  Speaker 1: something like this in such a high publicity manner is
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  Speaker 1: going to cause you to lose your job every single time. Now,
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  Speaker 1: approximately four years after Kohlberger moved out of Pullman to
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  Speaker 1: begin his studies, he's serving four life sentences at an
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  Speaker 1: Idaho prison while seeking to overturn the guilty pleas he
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  Speaker 1: entered to those murder charges in July of 2025. It
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  Speaker 1: had been unclear if Kohlberger planned to return to WSU
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  Speaker 1: after he drove back to Pennsylvania for the holiday break
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  Speaker 1: in 2022 with court filings revealing that his dorm room
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  Speaker 1: had been largely cleared out and his shower had no curtain. Well,
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  Speaker 1: he didn't want to come back because he knew. He
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  Speaker 1: knew that he'd murdered these kids and he knew that
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  Speaker 1: eventually he was going to get caught because of Sheath.
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  Speaker 1: Why do you think he was wearing the rubber gloves?
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  Speaker 1: Why do you think he was putting things in the
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  Speaker 1: neighbor's trash? Why do you think he changed his plates?
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  Speaker 1: All of that just happened in a vacuum, coincidentally? Or
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  Speaker 1: was he trying to cover up the fact that he
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: murdered these four kids? His letter to WSU, which was
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  Speaker 1: filed as part of the federal civil suit his victim's
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  Speaker 1: parents filed against the university, makes it clear that he
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  Speaker 1: wanted to return to Pullman to continue his studies, but
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  Speaker 1: needed his TA position to do so. Upon being accepted
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  Speaker 1: into the criminal justice department, and criminology PhD program at WSU,
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  Speaker 1: I believe that my journey towards self-actualization, involving goals of
• 5:29
  Speaker 1: contributing positively to society through research, was reaching its next step,
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  Speaker 1: Kohlberger wrote in his appeal. Imagine that's what this dude said, self-actualization? Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: of your morbid fantasies to murder people. You sick, twisted
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  Speaker 1: degenerate you. He went on to say that he was
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  Speaker 1: further impressed by the financial aid package he was provided
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  Speaker 1: because without it, he didn't have the funds possible to
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  Speaker 1: attend WSU. Welcome to the real world, dude. Go get
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  Speaker 1: a job. Go get a job at Burger King or
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: something and pay your way. I mean, I don't know
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  Speaker 1: what people expect. You know what you're getting into when
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: you go to college? We all know how stupid expensive
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  Speaker 1: it is. And if you're counting on the TA position...
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  Speaker 1: Or some sort of position within the school that's part
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  Speaker 1: of your scholarship. Breaking news, dude. You better follow the rules.
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  Speaker 1: You better walk the line. Because if not, well, why
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  Speaker 1: should the university continue dealing with your shit? And how
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  Speaker 1: many other people would love to be in that position?
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  Speaker 1: To have the role that Brian Koberger had? So yeah,
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  Speaker 1: I think the university did the right thing. And that's
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  Speaker 1: even before the murders. And I'm basing that on what
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  Speaker 1: we heard from the people that were around them. That
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  Speaker 1: all changed when Kohlberger lost his position at the school.
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  Speaker 1: Kohlberger had been placed on an improvement plan less than
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  Speaker 1: three months into his role following an altercation with faculty
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  Speaker 1: he supported as a TA. And a letter from the
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  Speaker 1: same faculty member detailing how Kohlberger had failed to meet
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  Speaker 1: expectations in his position according to a copy of his
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  Speaker 1: termination letter obtained by people. And that's what I was
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  Speaker 1: just talking about. It wasn't just the murders, right? This
• 7:12
  Speaker 1: was all bubbling. And Kohlberger was spiraling. And I think
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  Speaker 1: that this all played a part in what ended up
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  Speaker 1: going down. Because he was obviously planning this for quite
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  Speaker 1: some time. Premeditated for sure. You know, casing out the house, etc, etc.
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  Speaker 1: So I think that Brian Koberger was finally pushed over
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  Speaker 1: the edge. And he decided, well, now's the time. At
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  Speaker 1: a meeting a month into that plan, it was acknowledged
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  Speaker 1: that Koberger had made progress. But two days later, there
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  Speaker 1: was another altercation with the same faculty member. And 10
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  Speaker 1: days after that, a letter was signed by the department
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  Speaker 1: chair informing him of his termination. And once he got
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  Speaker 1: that news, it was enough to make this dude snap.
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  Speaker 1: And I think there is a fair amount of strong
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  Speaker 1: evidence that points in that direction. The letter ended by stating,
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  Speaker 1: the termination of your teaching assistantship does not affect your
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  Speaker 1: enrollment as a PhD student in the program. It just
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  Speaker 1: means you got to pick up your weight, right? You
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  Speaker 1: got to pay for it. Koberger wrote in his appeal, however,
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  Speaker 1: that this would not be possible for him without his job.
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  Speaker 1: Without this assistantship, I'm left without health insurance, income, and
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  Speaker 1: security for the upcoming months, he wrote. Welcome to being
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  Speaker 1: in college, bro. Like, I don't know what people are thinking,
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  Speaker 1: but it's a grind. If you don't have people paying
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  Speaker 1: for your school and you're relying on scholarships, you better
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  Speaker 1: dance the tune. And if you don't have that, You
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  Speaker 1: gotta work, man, and it might not be in the
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  Speaker 1: field that you desire. I know I had a bunch
• 8:45
  Speaker 1: of jobs growing up I didn't want to do. But
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  Speaker 1: one thing I learned early on in life is that
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: about 80% of the time, I have to do shit
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  Speaker 1: I don't want to do. I only get to do
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  Speaker 1: what I want to do about 20% of the time.
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  Speaker 1: And once I reconciled that fact, things got a lot
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  Speaker 1: easier for me. And unless you have generational wealth, that
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  Speaker 1: grind continues your whole ass life. Koberger said that there
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  Speaker 1: had been no effort to speak with him about what
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  Speaker 1: happened prior to the decision to fire him, and wrote,
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  Speaker 1: hearing all sides of the story is imperative, and failing
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  Speaker 1: to do so reflects that my supervisors did not do
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  Speaker 1: their due diligence in investigating this alleged incident. Without proper fact-finding,
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  Speaker 1: the process of rightful termination of employment is inherently tainted
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  Speaker 1: and biased towards one party's recollection. He then went on
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  Speaker 1: to contest the description of what happened between himself and
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  Speaker 1: the faculty he worked for as an altercation, and claimed
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  Speaker 1: that there had been an eyewitness who would back his
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  Speaker 1: account of what happened that day. Oh, I'm sure. Has
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  Speaker 1: that eyewitness come forward? Has anyone heard from them? Well,
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  Speaker 1: that's right. They haven't. Kohlberger then made a more personal
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  Speaker 1: plea to close out his letter. I am a member
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  Speaker 1: of the Washington State University family who was left in
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  Speaker 1: a dire predicament. Without health insurance or adequate finances to
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  Speaker 1: continue my education, this decision will virtually upend my life,
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  Speaker 1: Koberger wrote. He then closed out by informing the dean,
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  Speaker 1: I wish to continue my education in the Department of
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  Speaker 1: Criminal Justice and Criminology in Washington State University, for I
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  Speaker 1: have grown fond of my cohort members, professors, and cougar family.
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  Speaker 1: Unless this decision is reconsidered and appealed, I must part
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  Speaker 1: ways without much financial security. Again, tough luck, dude. You
• 10:35
  Speaker 1: make the bed, you gotta lie in it. You can't
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  Speaker 1: have altercations with your boss, your professor, or anybody in
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  Speaker 1: a professional setting and not expect there to be some
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  Speaker 1: kind of ramifications, so the whole entire woe-is-me act falls
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  Speaker 1: on deaf ears as far as I'm concerned. And I
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  Speaker 1: know that Brian Koberger is trying to set himself up
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  Speaker 1: as some kind of victim. And it's true, he is
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  Speaker 1: a victim. But not the kind of victim he wants
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  Speaker 1: you to think. He's a victim of his own narcissism.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: A victim of his own hubris. So he can save
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  Speaker 1: the whole entire song and dance for somebody else. I'm
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  Speaker 1: not buying it. Because the real victims here, they can't
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  Speaker 1: appeal their sentence, can they? And that's because, well, you
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  Speaker 1: killed them. So we'll see what happens up here, right?
• 11:19
  Speaker 1: There's going to be a lot more coming, and there's
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: going to be a lot more coming out as the
• 11:23
  Speaker 1: days go by. And as usual, when we have something
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: new to add to the catalog, we'll get it added.
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  Speaker 1: But until then, all the information that goes with this
• 11:32
  Speaker 1: episode can be found in the description box.