Bryan Kohberger set to serve sentence and die in one of America’s worst prisons

Bryan Kohberger is set to spend the rest of his life in one of America’s worst prisons — a maximum-security hellhole that faces accusations of feces-smeared cages, brutally violent guards, rioting inmates and a “biohazard” ventilation system.

The 30-year-old convicted killer of four University of Idaho students will serve his sentence in the state’s most brutal prison alongside Chad Daybell, the child murderer and husband of “Doomsday” cult mom Lori Vallow, as well as two of Idaho’s most notorious serial killers.

Idaho Maximum Security Institution (IMSI), where Kohberger is expected to be sentenced to life in prison, opened in 1989, hosts the Gem State’s “most disruptive male residents” and violent criminals.

Since then, it has developed a reputation as not just the toughest prison in the state — but one of the harshest in the nation.

IMSI was named as one of the “15 Worst Prisons in America” by Security Journal Americas in 2024 — alongside other infamous institutions including Louisiana State Penitentiary, AKA “The Farm,” San Quentin in California and Attica Correctional Facility in western New York.

The magazine highlighted its alleged harsh treatment of inmates, excessive use of solitary confinement, and lack of mental health resources. Violence between inmates and allegations of excessive force by correctional officers were also brought up, as well as overcrowding leading to “a tense and volatile environment,” the outlet wrote.

In 2016, the newly appointed director of the Idaho Department of Correction looked to reform the state’s use of solitary as punishment.

Many of the inmates were locked away in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day, KBOI reported at the time.

This meant little to no human interaction, food in cells, and only showering three times a week, a pattern some inmates live for decades.

“97 percent of these guys are going to get out and walk into an Idaho community,” Kempf told KBOI. “If we treat them like crap, if we treat them like animals, they’re going to walk out of a prison like that.”

In particular, he highlighted the dangers of excessive solitary confinement on inmates.

“You do that for 10 or 15 years, you’ve created a monster out of that person,” he said.

Kohberger, 30, who on Tuesday pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students in their Moscow home while they slept in November 2022, has been held in maximum security at Ada County Jail in Boise since the trial was moved to the state capital.

But he is expected to be transferred to Idaho Maximum Security Institution, some 10 miles south, following his sentencing hearing on July 23.

The remote prison is surrounded by a double perimeter fence along with razor wire, an electronic detection system, and 24-hour armed patrol.

Last year, 90 inmates at the IMSI went on a hunger strike demanding better treatment and services.

They complained of feces-covered recreation “cages,” long bouts of isolation, serious medical care delays, and a dirty HVAC system they compared to a “biohazard,” the Idaho Statesman reported at the time.

The prison was forced to confirm that it halted many services, including access to certain religious practices, in 2020 in response to unprecedented staff shortages brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.

To quell the riot, prison authorities used pepper spray and tear gas on the inmates, the Idaho Department of Corrections (IDOC) confirmed.

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The IDOC claimed the protest’s ringleaders wanted to force staff to “segregate” housing by gang and racial affiliation, the Idaho Statesman reported.

The IDOC didn’t respond immediately to requests for comment.

The prison, built to replace the original Idaho Penitentiary — which was built even before Idaho became a state in 1890 — can house a maximum capacity of 549 inmates, including a dedicated section for mental health offenders.

It offers restrictive housing beds and disciplinary detention.

It also includes Idaho’s death row, where all eight of the state’s male inmates facing death sentences are held.

Kohberger’s deal, which also spared him a trial and the chance of death by firing squad, means he must spend the rest of his life in prison with no opportunity for parole or appeals, after the criminology PhD student admitted to murdering Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21.

Other famous inmates at the prison include Daybell, currently on death row for murdering his first wife Tammy, as well as his second wife Lori Vallow’s two children, Tylee Ryan, 16, and JJ Vallow, 7.

Serial killer Gerald Pizzuto is awaiting execution for four 1985 murders in Idaho and Washington.

Another resident is serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech, who is believed to have murdered as many as 43 people between 1974 and 1981. He was convicted of five killings.