'Incel complex’ may be behind University of Idaho murders

A former FBI agent has speculated that an “incel complex” drove University of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger, 28, to commit multiple homicides in November 2022.

Pete Yachmetz, a security expert and former agent of the FBI, called the murders “an effort to assert some type of dominance,” behavior consistent with the incel profile, in an article published by the New York Post.^[]

What is ‘incel complex’?

The term “incel” is an abbreviation of “involuntarily celibate,” which is used to characterize men who are unable to form sexual or romantic relationships. It has been linked to online forums where participants discuss topics relating to misogyny and, in some cases, crimes fueled by the incel identity.

One notable example was the 2021 arrest of Tres Genco, a self-identified incel who pleaded guilty to plotting a failed mass shooting of 3,000 female students at an unnamed university in Ohio.^[] Genco currently faces life in prison.

While the incel identity is not recognized as a formal psychological condition, it has been investigated by mental health professionals. Psychology Today wrote in 2022 that men who identify as incels often suffer from poor mental health and feel inferior, lonely, and victimized.^[]

A 2022 study published in Evolutionary Psychological Science comparing findings from 151 incels with those of 378 non-incels found that incel characteristics included moral elitism, a lack of empathy, a need for recognition, and a tendency to fixate on negative thoughts.^[]

Experts cite incel traits

Kohberger was arrested in late December 2022 for the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students (three female, one male) that occurred at an off-campus home in Moscow, ID, on November 13.

“I think he may have developed a sort of incel complex,” he theorized, citing the suspect’s description as “socially awkward with a long history of interpersonal problems.”

Yachmetz’s speculation followed statements made by forensic psychologist Carole Lieberman, MD, PhD, on CourtTV on January 6 that Kohberger matched the incel profile.

“I’ve been saying from the beginning that he’s an incel,” Dr. Lieberman said, basing her conclusion on Kohberger’s alleged “choice of victims” targeting mostly females.

Dr. Lieberman noted that evidence implied that Kohberger went to the crime scene soon after the murders happened. “On the one hand, he wanted to commit the perfect crime and not be caught, but on the other hand, he did want to be caught, and be proud, in a sense, of what he did,” she said.

Suspect was criminology student

Kohberger was pursuing a doctorate in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, WA, a 15-minute drive from the murder site. People who grew up with him in Albrightsville, PA, described him as a loner.

The suspect reportedly expressed suicidal thoughts and depression in a series of posts on online forums, including one in 2011 in which he described himself as being “like an organic sack of meat with no self-worth,” or another in which he wrote, “I am blank, I have no opinion, I have no emotion, I have nothing.”

According to a January 5 New York Post report, a knife sheath found at the crime scene that had Kohberger’s DNA on it was a key piece of evidence that led to his arrest.^[] Surveillance camera footage showing his white Hyundai Elantra traveling near the crime scene at the estimated time of the murders along with cell phone data placing him at the location also led to his arrest.