Bryan Kohberger’s Sister: Mel’s NYT Interview, Amanda’s Court Role

Bryan Kohberger has two older sisters, Amanda and Mel Kohberger, both of whom lost their jobs after his December 2022 arrest for the University of Idaho murders. Amanda, the eldest, was the only immediate family member placed on the prosecution’s trial witness list, and Bryan agreed to a plea deal days after that filing. Mel, the younger of the two, gave the family’s first extended public interview to the New York Times in January 2026.

Who Amanda and Mel Kohberger Are

Amanda Kohberger, born around 1988, and Mel Kohberger, born around 1991, grew up with their younger brother Bryan in the Pocono Mountains of eastern Pennsylvania, first near Effort and later in the Indian Mountain Lake community in Albrightsville.¹ Their parents, Michael and Maryann Kohberger, both worked at the Pleasant Valley School District, where all three siblings had been students.²

Before Bryan’s arrest, Amanda worked as a licensed school counselor in Pennsylvania. She also had a small role in 2011 as a character named Lori in a low-budget slasher film titled Two Days Back, directed by a Penn State Mont Alto professor and filmed by students. It appears to be her only acting credit.³ Mel trained as a mental health therapist and, at the time of Bryan’s arrest, was preparing to begin a new job as a mental health counselor in New Jersey.⁴

How They Learned of the Arrest

Bryan Kohberger was arrested on December 30, 2022, at his parents’ Albrightsville home in connection with the November 13, 2022 stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students.⁵ Mel learned about it from a call from Amanda: “I’m with the FBI, Bryan’s been arrested.” When Mel asked what for, Amanda said the Idaho murders. Mel’s first reaction was to wonder if it was a prank, then came what she described as “a sense of nausea.”⁶

Weeks earlier, when news of the Moscow killings first broke, Mel had actually called Bryan out of concern for his safety, since he lived roughly 15 minutes away as a doctoral student at Washington State University. She told him, “Bryan, you are running outside and this psycho killer is on the loose. Be careful.” He assured her he would.⁶

Both Sisters Lost Their Jobs

The arrest cost both women their careers. Mel’s prospective New Jersey employer was flooded with media inquiries, and she agreed to leave the counselor position before it formally began.⁴ Amanda was also fired from her school counselor role. According to reporting by the New York Post, both sisters were terminated solely because of their familial connection to the defendant, and the family was left in “very, very bad shape financially” with both women unemployed.⁷

Mel also said strangers had tried to profit from the case using her name, including an Amazon book listing incorrectly attributed to “Melissa J. Kohberger.”⁴

Amanda on the Witness List

Amanda’s most consequential involvement in the case came in June 2025, when unsealed court documents revealed she had been included on the prosecution’s list of 180 potential trial witnesses. She was the only member of Bryan’s immediate family on that list.⁸⁹¹⁰

Amanda was separately listed among the defense’s 56 potential mitigation witnesses, who could have offered testimony aimed at reducing the severity of sentencing.⁹

The timing drew attention. The prosecution filed its witness motion on June 25, 2025. Bryan agreed to a plea deal five days later, on June 30, and formally pleaded guilty on July 2, taking the death penalty off the table and waiving his right to appeal.¹¹¹² The plea eliminated the need for any witness to testify. Amanda never took the stand.⁸

Amanda had also been interviewed by the FBI after agents raided her parents’ home following the arrest.⁹ She has not given a public interview about the case.

Amanda at the Sentencing Hearing

Amanda and her mother, Maryann, were the only Kohberger family members in the courtroom on July 23, 2025, when Bryan was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without parole. Maryann was visibly distressed, at times shuddering and putting her head in her hands, and was seen crying when a victim’s uncle said the crimes had “tainted” the Kohberger family name.¹³ As Bryan was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, he did not acknowledge either his mother or his sister. Amanda was described as stone-faced, staring blankly ahead as she led her mother out of the courthouse, attempting to shield her from cameras. Both women were escorted by defense attorney Anne Taylor.¹⁴

Mel’s 2026 New York Times Interview

In January 2026, Mel Kohberger, then 34, became the first member of the family to speak at length about the case, sitting for an interview with the New York Times. She described the position of being a killer’s sibling as “confusing” and “painful,” saying it was “like being victimized but not really being a victim.”¹

Mel said she had set annual digital calendar reminders for the birthdays of each of the four victims to honor them, and that her mother prays daily for the victims’ families. At the same time, she said the family has maintained regular contact with Bryan in jail but avoids discussing the murders on their calls, focusing instead on trivial subjects like future plans, food, and family pets. During one of Bryan’s birthdays behind bars, he asked that the family bake a cake to Amanda’s tastes and that Mel blow out the candles on his behalf.¹

Mel was direct on one question that dogged the family: “I have always been a person who has spoken up for what was right. If I ever had a reason to believe my brother did anything, I would have turned him in.”⁶ She said the family fully accepts the “gravity and evil” of what Bryan did, though they have not severed ties with him, and still does not wish to discuss the details of the killings publicly.¹

The Black Heart Drawing

Mel also cleared up a small mystery from the sentencing hearing. Observers had noticed a black heart drawing on the defense table during the proceeding, and one of Kohberger’s attorneys was seen picking it up, briefly speaking with him about it, and taking it with her.¹⁵ Mel said she had drawn it herself as a message of support. She stayed home in Pennsylvania during sentencing to care for their father, who was dealing with heart problems, and sent the drawing to Bryan as a gesture showing the family had not disowned him. The original was photocopied and given to Kohberger for the hearing.¹⁶

1
Idaho Statesman. Bryan Kohberger Sister Mel Kohberger Interview
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New York Post. What We Know About Idaho Suspect Bryan Kohbergers Parents
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New York Post. Bryan Kohbergers Sister Starred in Horror Film
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People. All About Bryan Kohberger Sister Mel Kohberger
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NBC News. Idaho College Student Killings Summary Timeline
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New York Times. Idaho Murders Bryan Kohberger Family
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New York Post. Bryan Kohbergers Sisters Were Fired for Connection to Alleged Killer
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Oxygen. Bryan Kohbergers Sister Was on Prosecution Witness List
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People. Bryan Kohberger Sister Amanda Prosecution Trial Witness
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ABC News. Idaho College Killings Suspect First Arrested in 2014
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Fox News. Bryan Kohberger Took Plea Deal Days After Prosecutors Listed His Sister as Potential Witness
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Idaho Statesman. Bryan Kohberger Plea Deal
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People. Bryan Kohberger Ignores Family Mother Sister in Court Sentencing
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New York Post. Bryan Kohberger Ignored His Sobbing Mom Lookalike Sister After Being Sentenced to Life
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New York Post. Bryan Kohberger Gave Eerie Heart Picture to His Lawyer After Sentencing Hearing
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Metro. Mystery Behind Bryan Kohbergers Creepy Black Heart Drawing Revealed