While threatening self-harm, Bryan Kohberger is reportedly reaching out to serial offenders across the country — trying to build relationships with the very people he once studied academically. It’s a pattern that has stunned investigators and raised deeper questions about identity, belonging, and psychological validation.

Today on Hidden Killers, psychotherapist Shavaun Scott helps us untangle what this behavior reveals. Why would someone convicted of killing four college students seek connection not with family, supporters, or advocates — but with other violent offenders? What does that choice of outreach tell us about how he sees himself and the world around him?

Sources say Kohberger views himself as “above” the general prison population. He expected notoriety, maybe even dark fascination, when he entered the system. Instead, he got contempt — rejection from inmates who taunt him, mock him, and refuse to engage. For someone craving recognition, rejection can feel like psychological collapse.

So why turn to serial offenders? Shavaun explores whether this is about validation, identity fusion, or the need to belong to a group he believes mirrors his own self-image. She also explains the recognizable profile of individuals who study violent offenders not to prevent harm — but because they identify with them emotionally or intellectually.

Kohberger’s behavior is happening in tandem with his escalating demands and self-harm threats. These aren’t random, disconnected acts, Shavaun says — they’re part of a larger pattern: a man whose sense of identity relies heavily on external reinforcement. And inside prison, he’s not getting the reaction he believed he deserved.

We also discuss why he clings so tightly to the “why” behind his crime — the one thing prosecutors never demanded and the one thing he refuses to give up.

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