Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger wanted to be Army Ranger, yearbook reveals

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The daughter of BTK serial killer Dennis Rader, Kerri Rawson, joined ‘America’s Newsroom’ to discuss Bryan Kohberger’s potential ties to her father. 

EXCLUSIVE – STROUDSBURG, Pa. – Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger aspired to be an Army Ranger and is featured in his high school yearbook exercising in uniform, Fox News Digital has learned.

In the 2011 Pleasant Valley High School yearbook, the accused killer is pictured in a law enforcement class with other students mid-push-up. 

An insignia on his right sleeve shows a U.S. flag as a badge dangles from his left pocket.

“Sophomore Bryan Kohenberger [sic] performs his daily push-ups as part of his law enforcement class,” the photo caption says. “Kohenberger [sic] used the skills he learned to help him reach his goal to one day serve in the Army Rangers.”

UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO MURDERS TIMELINE: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER OF FOUR STUDENTS

A yearhbook photo of Bryan Kohberger in a high school law enforcement class doing a push up. 
(Stephanie Pagones/Fox News Digital)

Kohberger’s name is misspelled in the yearbook photo caption. Yearbook records from 2011, 2012 and 2013 show no student by the name Kohenberger.

The Army Rangers, a premier infantry force, is a branch of the elite Special Operations Forces, according to the U.S. Army’s website. 

Army Rangers “specialize in conducting raids and assault missions deep inside enemy territory,” the website says.

The Pennsylvania high school student, who was bullied for his weight, appears to have slimmed down by his senior year, the yearbook photos show.

The caption under a photo of Bryan Kohberger his sophomore year doing push-ups in a law enforcement class.
(Stephanie Pagones/Fox News Digital)

A former high school classmate, Sarah Healey, previously told Fox News Digital that Kohberger was shy and mercilessly picked on by a group of girls who would throw things at him and tell him to “go away creep.”

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“Bryan was bullied a lot, and I never got a chance to say something to defend him, because he would always run away,” added Healey, who described him as socially awkward.

A side by side of Kohberger’s Pleasant Valley High School yearbook photos for his sophomore and senior years. Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students.
(Stephanie Pagones/Fox News Digital)

At some point, Kohberger, 28, pivoted from his dreams of military valor to a career in academia. 

He was a Ph.D. student at the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington – a 10-minute drive from the rental home where he’s accused of fatally stabbing four Idaho college students.

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Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were knifed to death in the early morning hours of Nov. 13. Kohberger was arrested Friday at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, for the mass murder.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested Friday morning in connection to the murders of four University of Idaho students. Officials released few details about the killings or the suspect during a Friday news conference.
(Washington State University/Instagram)

After wrapping up the semester, Kohberger and his father drove 2,500 miles from his campus to his parents’ home in the Keystone State for the winter holiday. 

He was in his white Hyundai Elantra – the same car model that police said was spotted near the crime scene at the time of the murders and urged the public to come forward with tips to help them track it down.

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Kohberger waived extradition Tuesday morning in the Monroe County Courthouse, wearing a red prison-issue jumpsuit and shackles on his wrists.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger arrives at the Monroe County Courthouse for his extradition hearing on Jan. 3.
(The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

By Wednesday morning, he was en route to Idaho, where he’s charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. 

Moscow police, working with the FBI and other agencies, were able to track down Kohberger through genetic genealogy, a law enforcement source told Fox News.

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Using DNA left at the crime scene, investigators were able to tie him to a relative who submitted a DNA sample to a public database, the source added.

Haley Chi-Sing contributed to this report.

Stephanie Pagones is a Digital Reporter for FOX Business and Fox News. Story tips can be sent to stephanie.pagones@fox.com and on Twitter: @steph_pagones.