The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy

In Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains, three teenage boys play Marines in the woods. One is Bryan Kohberger: “a tall kid with bulging eyes” (75). That boy watches the house of Mark Baylis, a former Navy SEAL. His son is one of the other boys playing. Baylis is frustrated by recent thefts at his home: “his knives, his coins, his prescription pills, his girlfriend’s jewelry” (75). He wonders if the thief is one of the veterans he charitably houses nearby. Later, he will realize the thief is one of his son’s friends, the tall, pale, creepy one (Bryan). Jack, Mark’s son, tells his friends that his father is angry about the thefts. Bryan tells Jack that he “reveres” his father (75). Someone (Bryan) begins stalking Mark, hiding in the trees and dropping empty Reese’s Peanut Butter cup wrappers on the ground. He waits until Mark leaves the house to break in and steal prescription drugs and jewelry.

Bryan’s father brings him to Jess Harris’ boxing gym. Harris opened the gym “to offer local people who’ve given up—teens, mostly—hope. Purpose” (78). Bryan is “lumbering” and overweight; his dad says Bryan wants to lose weight, build some muscle, and increase his metabolism. The other gym goers are skeptical about Bryan, thinking he won’t fit in—but as Bryan continues to come to the gym consistently and work hard, the other regular gym members start to acknowledge him.