“You’re determined to stab four people living in a single home in the still of the night and then disappear without leaving a clue to your identity. […] But you did it! The perfect crime.”

Chapter 1 opens with what the author calls a “thought dream,” the first of seven brief, fictional inner monologues that preface each of the book’s six parts and epilogue. These speculative passages are notable because (in the author’s words) they “are exceptions to the strict journalistic rules that govern this nonfiction book” (219). An attempt to get inside the thoughts and feelings of various figures of the narrative (the murderer, the suspect’s lawyers, the victims’ parents, members of the community), these “metaphors” seek to “nudge the reader closer to the beating heart of the story.” (219)

“It was not just that he had been unprepared to raise such a troubled child, but the cascade of problems were of a sort that was more than he could fathom. He rejoiced that it was all in the past.”

Michael Kohberger, father of doctoral student Bryan Kohberger, reflects on his son’s troubled upbringing and feels relief that he has at last (he thinks) settled down. In his teens, Bryan had a substance use disorder, was an indifferent student, and committed petty thefts, including from family members. However, his new habits of discipline and his prestigious doctoral program suggest, on the surface, that his many problems are now safely “in the past.” Michael’s relief, however, introduces a note of irony, since the ominous tone of the first chapter suggests that his son’s troubles are far from over.