One particularly alarming tale has come from a woman who met Kohberger via Tinder seven years before the brutal crime. In a TikTok video, Hayley Willette revealed that in 2015 she’d matched with Kohberger on Tinder, only to experience one of the most bizarre dates.
Willette detailed the ‘creepy’ Tinder date she’d gone on with Idaho suspect Bryan Kohberger.
Willette described matching with Kohberger on Tinder while she had been a student at Penn State Hazelton. At the time, Kohberger had been studying psychology at a school nearby, which had been a bonding topic between Willette and him. “We matched on Tinder, we talked for a couple of hours and then he was like, ‘Hey, you want to go to the movies with me tonight?’ I was like, sure. So we went to the movies,” she said. RELATED: Sister Of ‘Hoodie Guy’ Seen With Idaho Victims Responds To Harassment From Online Sleuths Accusing Him Of Murder Willette said after the two of them had seen the movie, she and Kohberger had traveled back to her dorm, where she thought he would just drop her off and leave, but instead, he “invited himself inside.” Once Kohberger and Willette were back inside her dorm, he suggested they watch another movie on Netflix, which is when things took an alarming turn. While the two were watching the movie, Willette recalled Kohberger wouldn’t stop touching her. “He kept trying to touch me. Not, like, inappropriately, just trying to tickle me, and like rub my shoulders and stuff and I was like ‘why are you touching me?’” she explained. RELATED: Sleuths Unearth Theory About Idaho Suspect As Police Ask For Information About White Car Seen By Crime Scene At being called out for touching her, Kohberger “got super serious” and blatantly denied ever putting his hands on her. “He’s like, ‘I’m not,’ and I’m like, ‘you are, though,’ and he’s like, ‘I’m not touching you.’ Kind of trying to gaslight me into thinking that he didn’t touch me, which is weird,” she pointed out. Willette eventually excused herself to go to the bathroom, where Kohberger quickly followed after her. While he didn’t follow her inside, Willette noted that he instead stood outside the door while she pretended to “loudly throw up” as a way to get him to leave. “It wasn’t because I was scared of him or thought he would hurt me if I asked him to leave. It was just mostly because I’m socially awkward. I didn’t know how to ask him to leave,” she clarified. Eventually, Kohberger left, messaging her on Tinder to let her know he was gone, however, she then received another message from him an hour later that added to the creepiness of the entire date. “After an hour or so of him being gone, he messaged me and said I had good birthing hips and I just never messaged back,” she added. RELATED: Questions Raised After Mom Of Idaho Murder Victim Allegedly Arrested Days After Daughter’s Death
Willette said she came forward with her story after seeing Kohberger on the news.
In an interview with The Daily Beast, Willette shared that as soon as she saw Kohberger’s mug shot, she remembered the date she’d gone on with him. Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 on first-degree murder charges in connection with the deaths of four University of Idaho students and one count of burglary. The victims, Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were found dead in their home from brutal stab wounds. “As soon as I saw his mug shot, I knew. He just has an unforgettable face,” Willette told the publication. By making her TikTok video, Willette wanted to warn other young women about meeting up with men they don’t know after “meeting” them on dating apps or on the internet. “Bryan was not even the creepiest or scariest Tinder date I’ve been on,” Willette told The Post. “I hope that if any young women see my story and think they’re invincible, they learn that taking precautions when going on dates with people you meet online is so important.” RELATED: Idaho College Students’ 9 Calls To Ex-Boyfriend May Reveal Key Details About Perpetrator Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Keep up with her on Instagram and Twitter.
