As Idaho murderer Bryan Kohberger seeks to take back the guilty plea, a neuropsychological evaluation conducted on him over three months ending in February 2025 has been unsealed, offering a glimpse into his mental state, People reported. Kohberger’s defense team hired Rachel Lawson Orr, PsyD, ABPP-CN, to conduct the psych evaluation.
Orr diagnosed Kohberger with four different mental health disorders: autism (level 1), OCD, ADHD and ARFID (avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder). The evaluation revealed that Kohberger previously suffered from additional mental health disorders, including developmental coordination disorder (DCD), depression, anorexia nervosa and opioid use disorder.
Kohberger allegedly used heroin when he was a teenager. Orr’s report claimed that he has been in "sustained remission" from his addiction.
People reported that Kohberger's attorney Anne Taylor hired Orr to evaluate him because she felt that the prosecution might try to point to his mental health issues as "aggravators" in their case against him, which would in turn "[criminalize] his status as a disabled person." Per reports, Taylor was not pursuing an insanity defense with the evaluation.
Orr noted in her findings that a number of unusual characteristics led to her diagnosis of Kohberger, including his "lack of descriptive or emphatic gestures," "atypical speech tone and cadence," "awkward comments," and "inconsistent understanding/acknowledgment of humor." She further noticed his "poor reciprocity of interaction, including very frequently re-focusing of conversation back on his own experiences or unusual responses to my sharing," and wrote that he displayed "impulsive tendencies throughout evaluation."
Kohberger, 30, was a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University. Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the murders. The sentencing took place in a Boise court on Wednesday, July 23, 2025.
Kohberger filed a petition last month to have his guilty plea overturned and seek a trial, saying his plea deal was "hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation" and "MUST be withdrawn,” according to the New York Times.
Sumanti Sen covers everything that’s happening in the US, from politics to entertainment, but her expertise lies in covering crime news. She has comprehensively chronicled the Idaho student murders, the Laken Riley and Iryna Zarutska cases, and the killing of Charlie Kirk, among other incidents. Over the years, she has interviewed several victims/families of victims of crimes seeking justice. She digs up stories that might otherwise remain unheard, and does her bit to ensure that victims and survivors’ voices are heard. Sumanti’s many years of experience also include interviews with Hamas attack survivors and mental health experts, among others. Her coverage of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel and interviews with survivors of the tragedy, coupled with her other works including the Titan submersible coverage, earned her the Digi Journo of the Quarter award during her first year at Hindustan Times. Sumanti actively tracks missing person cases in the United States, and peruses Reddit and other social media platforms to bring to light cases that frequently elude public attention. She has extensively covered the disappearances of Nancy Guthrie, Thomas Medlin, Beau Mann, and Sudiksha Konanki, among others. When not at work, you will either find her with her novels, or with her beloved rescue pooches.Read More
