A psychiatrist had sent a letter to a "lovesick" single mother in Kentucky who has been writing messages to the suspect in the slayings of four University of Idaho students, Newsweek reports.
Brittney J. Hislope wrote numerous Facebook posts expressing her feelings for Bryan Kohberger since his arrest in January for the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, at a rental home in Moscow, Idaho on November 13.
Hislope says she feels "lovesick" about Kohberger, who she says is her "love interest" and "crush." She also says she's written numerous letters to Kohberger but doesn't know if he's received them.
In a letter obtained by Newsweek, Carole Lieberman, a psychiatrist who co-authored "Bad Boys: Why We Love Them, How to Live with Them and When to Leave Them," tells Hislope that although she's been criticized for her feelings about Kohberger, "you know he is your one true love and that your love is very real."
"You feel he's lonely and sad in jail, and that no one understands him like you do. You feel your letters are helping him survive in there and giving him hope. I know, because I've talked to, and written about, women like you, who write to guys in jail," Lieberman writes.
"You want to rescue Bryan. You feel he's been misunderstood all his life. You know what that feels like because you've been misunderstood, too. You've heard that he's been rejected and hurt by girls and you get that because you've been rejected and hurt by boys," she wrote.
Lieberman blamed Hislope's feelings for Kohberger on her "dysfunctional relationship" with her father.
"Your dad never made you feel lovable enough, so you grew up feeling like you could never catch a prince — like the ones in the fairy tales. But, with Bryan, it's different," she wrote. "His princely crown may be a little tarnished, and his royal robe is a little tattered, but you think he will love you, unlike the other princes who rejected or hurt you."
Lieberman went on to say Hislope is hoping that Kohberger will "write you back and then when he gets out, the two of you will go off into the sunset together."
"You want to believe he's not guilty. People may tell you that the chances aren't good that he'll get out, but you think that even if he doesn't, you'll move near whatever prison he goes to next and then visit him all the time," she wrote.
"Have you thought about the fact that he may have other women writing to him, too? Other women who have fallen in love with him, like you?" Lieberman asked. "You might never know about this until you've wasted years pining for him."
She then advised Hislope to "get some psychotherapy and work on your feelings of not being lovable enough, so that you can find a 'prince' in real life."
"If it makes you happy to keep writing to Bryan in the meantime, fine, but—with therapy—you'll discover that a man who is already out in the real world will make you even happier. And you deserve it."
As Newsweek points out, Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He has yet to enter a plea.
