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Classmates of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger have revealed how he lost his way to addiction, even duping one of them into driving him to buy heroin and needles.
One estranged friend said heroin ‘goofed him pretty bad’ as others claimed he was looking for ‘validation’ in the drug scene while at the same time he lost half of his body mass and became more ‘aggressive.’
Kohberger is facing four counts of felony first-degree murder in the violent slayings of college students Madison Morgen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Xana Kernodle, 20, Ethan Chapin, 20 on November 13.
The 28-year-old attended school in Pleasant Valley, Pennsylvania – a region with one of the highest rates of overdose deaths and one of the worst-hit states for the US opioid epidemic.
Casey Arntz, who graduated two years ahead of Kohberger, told The Idaho Statesman: ‘I feel he was looking for validation, and that’s why he fell into that crowd.
Kohberger’s schoolfriends reveal he changed dramatically after starting to take heroin. At the same time he lost around half of his body mass after becoming hyper-fixated on what he ate
Former schoolfriends Casey Arntz, left, and Jack Baylis, right, have spoken out about Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger changed dramatically after becoming involved with drugs
‘And honestly, it’s why he fell into the whole drug scene.’
Casey, who belonged to the same friendship group as Kohberger along with her younger brother Thomas added that the suspected killer had manipulated her to help him score drugs.
‘He literally used me to get it. I was freaking out and not happy I had heroin in my car and didn’t even know.’
Locals described Kohberger – who had no known criminal record before being accused of the homicides – as a normal child, with Thomas saying he was drawn to hit wit and observational skills.
But they reveal his personality started to change as he started to use heroin.
At the same time he became hyper-fixated on what he ate and started kickboxing everyday, causing him to shed more than half of his 300-pound frame.
He lost so much weight so quickly he was required to have a tummy tuck.
In a yearbook photo, Kohberger’s caption said he aspired to be an Army Ranger. Previously overweight and bullied, he lost about 100 pounds and transformed into a ‘totally different person’
Former friend Jack Baylis, 28, said: ‘I think drugs goofed him pretty bad. He was having a time.
‘He’d tell me, ‘I’m clean now, I’m totally clean now,’ and he’d have bleeding track marks’ on his arms.’
Kohberger is said to have been introduced to heroin by neighbor Jeremy Saba.
A photo posted to Facebook in August 2016 shows Saba and Kohberger posing together.
It was around four months after Saba was arrested and charged with a DUI and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Speaking of Saba, Baylis said: ‘I don’t like him personally because he got my boy into heroin.’
It had previously been revealed that Kohberger would also consume heroin with former classmate Rich Pasqua, 31.
Pasqua, who now works in a drug rehab clinic, told Fox News last month: ‘He didn’t have many friends, so he would do anything to fit in,’
‘He was a big heroin addict, and so was I. … I work in treatment and everything, but back then I was using, and so that’s how I know for a fact he was using. I got high with him a couple times.’
Meanwhile Thomas Arntz, who was a year behind Kohberger in school, told the Idaho Statesman: ‘He always wanted to be dominant physically and intellectually,’
‘He had to show that he was smarter and bigger than you, and try to put me down and make me feel insecure about myself.’
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
Rich Pasqua, who now works in a rehab facility, previously revealed he had done heroin with Kohberger
‘So much of that was a torment and I didn’t want to be around him anymore.’
Kohberger was arrested in December while living at his parents’ home in Chesnut Pennsylvania, some 2,500 miles away from the scene of the crime.
Before the arrest, he was working toward a doctorate in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, located 9 miles west of the University of Idaho in Moscow.
He is no longer enrolled at WSU.
Kohberger has not yet had the opportunity to enter a plea, and Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall has placed the attorneys and other people involved with the case under a sweeping gag order.
The suspect is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing — where the judge will decide if there is enough evidence to justify the felony charges — on June 26.
It comes after Dailymail.com revealed girls made fun of Kohberger in school as classmates recalled him as a chubby misfit who was bullied and tortured by more popular studfents.
The suspect’s middle-school crush Kim Kenely, 27, a former cheerleader, spoke with the FBI about her memories of Kohberger.
Kenely’s mother Sandra told Dailymail.com: ‘She told the FBI whatever she could tell them,’
‘It was so long ago. I couldn’t imagine what she had to tell the FBI. I guess it was for the character purpose.’
Kohberger, then a chubby, awkward misfit, would become relentless in his pursuit, repeatedly leaving love letters in her locker and telling her he liked her, according to the mom.
‘He would always say, ‘Oh Kim, I think you’re very pretty.’ Just like weird comments. And she’d say, ‘Oh my God, leave me alone.’
‘She did not give him the time of day,’ the mom noted. ‘When kids are little, they’re mean. They don’t say, ‘Oh my god, thank you, but no.’
Kenely and Kohberger were sixth-grade students at Pleasant Valley Intermediate School together.
Kohberger attended Pleasant Valley Intermediate School in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania, where he developed a crush on fellow student Kenely and began pursuing her romantically. They are both pictured in their school yearbook photos
Kenely, 27, now lives in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she works as an occupational therapist at an assisted living facility
Despite the evidence against him, thousands of social media users have come forward as advocates for Kohberger with many insisting he is innocent.
Two Facebook groups have been set up titled ‘Justice for Bryan Kohberger.’
Together they have over 16,000 members.
One Facebook group shows a cover image with the quadruple murder suspect pictured alongside Ronald Jones, a Chicago man who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a mother of three. His conviction was overturned.
‘There is just something so magnetic about Bryan. If he really did creep women out, I don’t know why. If he stared at me intensely I would have walked over to him,’ a Reddit user who frequents the Kohberger pages told Fox News.
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