The murder of University of Idaho student Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapinand Maddie Magen shocked the whole nation, people who have never met this young man. But there was one stranger he was particularly struck by: his name Kerry Rawson.
Kerri is the daughter of a serial killer Dennis Raderthe well-known BTK killer. His childhood was a true crime buff – he even wrote two books about it: Daughter of a Serial Killer and Breaking Free. So like many people out there, he followed the case closely before realizing that it had anything to do with him. Then Bryan Kohberger arrested. And everything changed.
Related: How Bryan Kohberger Was Caught Using a Genealogy Website
As you may have heard, Kohberger is a PhD student in criminology. This is one of the things we know about him. Well, it turns out that he studied under a famous criminologist, a woman named Dr. Katherine Ramsland. He also wrote a book about BTK – in fact, he wrote a book with BTK, 2016 Confessions of a Serial Killer, which features a conversation with Rader. The fact that the suspect in this case had learned under the most prominent expert about his father was a gut punch for Rawson.
In an interview with NewsNation at the end of the week, he recalled:
“My first reaction was that I felt sick to my stomach and I was physically sick. I was already quite invested in the Idaho case, and I was shocked to see that it had something to do with Ramsland and my father.
Maybe, as Kerri sees it, Kohberger went to Washington State University only because of Ramsland and BTK. After all, his family was from Pennsylvania, so he traveled all over the country.
He may “have communicated with” Rader himself! Kerri explains:
“It is very common for students of criminal justice and the general public of true crime or fans to contact my father by mail and sometimes talk on the phone. Knowing how personally Ramsland connects with my father, I would not be surprised if at least Kohberger tried to write to him.
wow He noted:
“If he had contacted my father there would have been a letter at his house and in my father’s jail cell.”
The thought hit Rawson hard. He cried:
“It’s hard to be this boy and live with this. And then see other people doing this and think did your father have this influence? Did my father talk to him?”
It’s really annoying. He mentioned in Twitter also he has a “persistent concern, knowing how common criminology students, true crime buffs, etc. must be with my father on a regular basis, that Kohberger might be in contact with my father” – but clearly he has no proof. it happened.
Related: Is Bryan Kohberger Posting True Crime TikToks About Murder?!
However, there is one more connection – his father also study criminology. He warned his followers:
“My father graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice, from Wichita State University, making a mockery of this important field, using his college courses to study serial killings and gain access to LE information in the 1970s.”
The idea that criminology is a potential way to approach murderers is a very real possibility regarding Kerri. He wondered out loud NewsNation:
“Did he study my father outside of academia? Will I ever get an answer, I don’t know.
If he studied criminology because of BTK and it helped him commit crimes in the future, then how long did he have to do this?? A truly disturbing thought…
For Dr. Ramsland, who declined to comment, said only about the case:
“I can’t make a media statement about him right now.”
See the full interview for yourself (below):
[Image via KWCH/ABC7NY/YouTube.]