PhD vs. Surgeon: Why Educated Killers Make the Same Mistakes

Bryan Kohberger studied crime for a living. Michael McKee allegedly studied his ex-wife's home for hours before he came back to kill her. Both believed preparation was protection. Both were wrong.

Kohberger—the criminology doctoral student who pled guilty to the Idaho student murders—turned his phone off during the killings but created a traceable return route when it came back online. McKee allegedly achieved a 17-hour phone blackout by leaving his device at the hospital where he worked. On paper, that's smarter. In practice, police tracked his vehicle arriving in Columbus before the murders and leaving after. They found it in his workplace parking lot with fresh scrape marks where a sticker had been hastily removed.

The pattern goes deeper. Kohberger's phone pinged near 1122 King Road 23 times in the months before the murders. All between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. He was watching. McKee allegedly made a reconnaissance trip to the Tepe home on December 6, 2025—24 days before the murders—spending hours on the property while the family was at the Big Ten Championship game. According to the affidavit, Monique Tepe left the game early, upset about something involving her ex-husband. She may have seen him on her security cameras.

The indictment says McKee used a suppressor. That's why no one heard shots. But the ballistics matched anyway. NIBIN linked the gun found at his Chicago condo to casings at the scene. Intelligence creates arrogance. Arrogance creates blind spots. And the system only needs one mistake.

#TrueCrimeToday #BryanKohberger #MichaelMcKee #SpencerTepe #MoniqueTepe #IdahoStudentMurders #ColumbusOhio #Premeditation #CriminalMindset #JusticeForVictims

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This publication contains commentary and opinion based on publicly available information. All individuals are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. Nothing published here should be taken as a statement of fact, health or legal advice.