Who is Pappa Rodger? Police finally share whether mystery Facebook account belonged to Bryan Kohberger

Bryan Kohberger has been handed four consecutive life sentences for the murders of four University Of Idaho students in November 2022, marking the end of a case surrounded by mystery, after a gag order previously prevented those close to it from speaking out.

During Wednesday's sentencing the 30-year-old former criminology student, who recently plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, appeared expressionless as he sat for over two hours hearing how the brutal murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen had affected the lives of their friends and families.

In particular, the scathing statement of Alivea Goncalves, the older sister of Kaylee Goncalves, has gone viral, after she branded Kohberger a "disappointment" and a "psychopath".

"The truth is, the scariest part about you is how painfully average you turned out to be. The truth is, you're as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty", she told him, while locking eyes.

"Let me be very clear. Don’t ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud. I see through you. You want the truth. Here’s the one you’ll hate the most, if you hadn’t attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night, like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your f****** ass."

It's thought Kohberger had stalked the off-campus house the students shared with their two other friends (who were home at the time) multiple times before committing the atrocity - although his motive is still unclear.

When it occurred in November 2022, the manhunt for the killer sparked a social media frenzy, with Facebook groups dedicated to sleuthing racking up hundreds of thousands of members sharing their theories.

As new information emerged from police, the public took matters into their own hands, even attempting to track down a white Hyundai Elantra car that would turn out to be Kohberger's.

But among the noise, there was one name which consistently cropped up during the investigation: Pappa Rodger.

   Facebook  

The mystery account was seen regularly interacting with posts on the 'University Of Idaho Murders - Case Discussion' Facebook page, even often seemingly posting information that hadn't been released publicly by officials at the time.

The now-deleted account's profile picture was an AI-generated image of a man in military uniform, and bizarrely, the man's face bears a similar resemblance to the appearance of Kohberger.

"Did the killer stop at 4 victims out of exhaustion, convenience, or lack of knowledge?", the account wrote 8 December, while the search for a suspect was still ongoing.

"Regardless of what has been released, I believe this is a sexually motivated crime", they posted on 21 December.

The account even attempted to throw those interested off the scent of Kohberger's white car, by branding it a "red herring".

In that seven week period, there were tens of posts that didn't offer new information, but raised questions about what people already knew, with members of the group left confused as to why the account would make such seemingly informed comments about the crime.

The name of the account is thought to be in reference to Elliot Rodger, the incel who murdered six people and injured 14 others in the 2014 Isla Vista attack.

  Facebook/Getty

Rumours quickly began swirling that the account did in fact belong to Bryan Kohberger upon his arrest at his family home in Pennsylvania on 30 December, because quite simply, no one ever heard from the account again.

The identity behind the account has since remained unsolved, and even became a talking point in the new Amazon Prime 'One Night In Idaho' documentary, with experts and those close to the case dissecting why they believe it could be Kohberger - including that his approach to criminology and analysing the behaviour of criminals was reflected in the posts.

However, on 24 July 2025, approaching three years after the murders took place, police have finally addressed whether they believe he was connected to the account.

"There was no connection. There wasn't at all. We looked into every bit of it. We took a deep dive into it. We researched it," investigators said at Wednesday's press conference.

When directly asked if the account belonged to Kohberger, they responded clearly: "It wasn't him."

For now, the mystery remains unsolved, and we may never know the real answer.

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