Episode Details

In the aftermath of Bryan Kohberger’s December 2022 arrest, reports emerged that both of his sisters suffered serious professional consequences simply because of their relationship to the man accused of murdering Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. NewsNation reported in March 2023 that both women had lost their jobs and that the family was struggling financially as a result. One sister, Amanda Kohberger, had worked in counseling and education, while Melissa “Mel” Kohberger was preparing to begin work as a mental-health counselor. Years later, Mel provided more detail about what happened to her: she said she had been training for a new counseling position when her employer became inundated with inquiries after Bryan’s arrest, and she ultimately agreed to walk away from the job before she could properly begin it.

The fallout illustrated how quickly the notoriety surrounding the Idaho murders spread beyond Kohberger himself and engulfed members of his family who had not been accused of wrongdoing. Reporting at the time described his parents as retired and the household as being in extremely difficult financial circumstances after both daughters became unemployed. Mel later described the experience as confusing and painful, while also making clear that she did not equate her family’s suffering with what the victims’ families had endured. Whatever anyone believed about Bryan Kohberger, the employment consequences suffered by his sisters became an example of guilt by association: two women found their careers disrupted not because authorities accused them of participating in the murders, but because their last name suddenly became inseparable from one of the most notorious criminal cases in the country.


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