Bryan Kohberger's Family Breaks Silence As 'Black Sheep' Background Surfaces

The Idaho murder suspect's family is urging the public to refrain from judgment, and to presume he's innocent -- this as more info about his background starts to surface, including the notion he was a black sheep in his field of study ... understanding the criminal mind.

A statement by the Kohberger family was just released -- and obtained by TMZ -- which both addresses the charges against Bryan Kohberger and the murders that happened in Idaho.

It reads, "First and foremost, we care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children. There are no words that can adequately express the sadness we feel, and we pray each day for them. We will continue to let the legal process unfold and as a family we will love and support our son and brother."

The Kohberger family adds, "We have fully cooperated with law enforcement agencies in an attempt to seek the truth and promote his presumption of innocence rather than judge unknown facts and make erroneous assumptions. We respect privacy in this matter as our family and the families suffering loss can move forward through the legal process."

In other words, they're standing by Bryan for now ... and, like everyone else, want to see what exactly prosecutors have against him that makes them believe he's the killer. The timing of this comes on the heels of a troubling profile that's emerging ... one of an outsider who was obsessive over dissecting the mind of a murderer, to a T.

The New York Times spoke to a handful of Bryan Kohberger's former classmates and colleagues while he attended DeSales University and Washington State University, pursuing degrees in criminology. By most accounts, he was deeply entrenched in his major, but to a point that it was off-putting and combative ... which reportedly led to conflict in his life.

There are two specific anecdotes that paint a picture of the type of person Kohberger was in academia -- both of which happened at WSU. In one instance, a former classmate of his tells the Times that Kohberger once got into a heated discussion with another fellow Ph.D. student about a criminology concept ... and was accused of mansplaining to the woman. She got so upset over the conversation that she left the class, leaving behind personal items.

Kohberger was also a T.A. at WSU, but a student who was in one the classes he helped teach says he avoided eye contact with them all ... and was supposedly a harsh grader, leaving extensive notes on their papers. It got so bad, the students complained en masse.

This same student also claims that later in the fall -- around the time of the Idaho killings -- Kohberger loosened up on grading, and stopped leaving notes on their papers altogether.

There are other accounts of Bryan being highly engaged in discussions about criminology -- and the NYT piece also notes he was under the tutelage of professors who focused on serial killers and gruesome crimes. The story points out that many at DeSales and WSU viewed him as quiet, awkward and on his own ... while also overly intrigued with the curriculum.

We've already heard other stories about Bryan that make him out to be aggressive and quick to anger -- but clearly, his loved ones want everyone not to jump to conclusions based on any of that.