Idaho University Students' Tragic End: What Happened?

On November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho. The victims were Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21. The four students were found dead in their beds, and the walls of the residence were covered in blood. The cause of death was ruled as homicide by stabbing, with no signs of sexual assault. The case stunned the small community of Moscow, and despite thousands of tips being submitted to the FBI, no suspect was immediately identified.

The victims were stabbed to death

On November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho. The victims were Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.

The four students were found dead in their beds, with multiple stab wounds, on the second and third floors of the three-story home. Mogen and Goncalves were found in Mogen's bedroom, and Kernodle and Chapin were found in Kernodle's room. The walls at the scene were spattered with blood, and the victims were not gagged or restrained.

The Latah County Coroner confirmed that the four students had been killed with a sharp object, and that the cause of death was homicide by stabbing. The students bled to death from wounds inflicted by a large knife, with some suffering defensive wounds. No murder weapon was found, but investigators believe a fixed-blade knife was used.

The victims were not killed immediately and likely suffered extensive bleeding from their wounds before dying. The stabbings were likely carried out by someone who knew the victims' routine and the inside of the home. The murders have been described as a targeted attack but investigators have not concluded whether the residence or its occupants were the target.

The suspect, Bryan Christopher Kohberger, was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on December 30, 2022, and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He was a doctoral student in criminology at the time of his arrest.

The suspect was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania

On December 30, 2022, 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, in connection with the murders of four University of Idaho students. Kohberger was a doctoral student in criminology at Washington State University, which is located less than eight miles from the University of Idaho.

Kohberger was arrested by an FBI SWAT team and members of the Pennsylvania State Police at his parents' home in Monroe County. At the time of his arrest, he was reportedly wearing examination gloves and placing trash into separate zip-lock bags. Authorities also found a knife, a pistol, a black face mask, and ID cards inside a glove inside a box.

Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of burglary. He was appointed a public defender and detained without bond at the Monroe County Correctional Facility. He later agreed to extradition to Idaho and was flown to Pullman before being booked into the Latah County jail in Moscow, where he was held without bail.

The arrest of Kohberger came after an extensive investigation involving almost 130 members of law enforcement from the Moscow Police Department, the Idaho State Police, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case had sparked weeks of speculation and resulted in thousands of tips being submitted to the authorities.

The four University of Idaho students—Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21—were fatally stabbed in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022. The killings shocked the small community of Moscow and led to fears and speculation about the perpetrator.

The suspect was a doctoral student in criminal justice

On November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho. The four victims were Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21.

Nearly seven weeks later, on December 30, 2022, police arrested Bryan Christopher Kohberger, a 28-year-old doctoral student in criminal justice at Washington State University. Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of burglary.

Kohberger was born on November 21, 1994, in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. After high school, he attended Monroe Career and Technical Institute and Northampton Community College, where he earned an associate degree in psychology in 2018. He then went on to receive a B.A. and an M.A. in Criminal Justice from DeSales University in 2020 and 2022, respectively. In the summer of 2022, he moved to Washington state to pursue a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University.

At the time of the killings, Kohberger was in his first semester of the doctoral program and was working as a teaching assistant. However, he was terminated from this position less than two weeks before the murders due to concerns about his behaviour and conduct.

According to police, DNA evidence played a key role in linking Kohberger to the killings. Investigators recovered DNA from a knife sheath found at the crime scene, which was consistent with DNA samples taken from trash outside Kohberger's family home in Pennsylvania. Additionally, cell phone data showed that Kohberger's phone had connected to a cell tower near the victims' residence around 9 a.m. on the morning of the murders.

Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania and was later flown to Idaho, where he was ordered to be held without bail. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is currently awaiting trial, which is scheduled to begin in August 2025.

The victims were found in their beds

The four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death in their beds. Two of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen, were found dead on top of their beds on the third floor. The other two victims, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, were found in a second-floor bedroom. Goncalves and Mogen were roommates, as were Kernodle and Chapin.

The victims were found by their surviving roommates, who were on the ground floor at the time of the killings and were not harmed. The surviving roommates alerted friends to come to the residence, believing one of the second-floor victims was unconscious. Someone at the residence called 911 at 11:58 a.m., over seven hours after the homicides are believed to have occurred.

The victims were found to have been stabbed multiple times with a large knife, with some suffering defensive wounds. There was no sign of forced entry, and nothing appeared to be missing from the residence. The walls of the home were spattered with blood.

The killings shocked the small community of Moscow, Idaho, and sparked an intense investigation by local police, the FBI, and the Idaho State Police.

The suspect was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of burglary

On November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho. The victims were Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.

On December 30, 2022, Bryan Christopher Kohberger was arrested in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of burglary. Kohberger was a 28-year-old doctoral student in criminal justice at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington.

The investigation into the killings was led by the Moscow Police Department, with support from the Idaho State Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case garnered intense scrutiny and speculation, with thousands of tips submitted to the FBI before Kohberger's arrest.

Kohberger was the sole suspect in the case, according to Moscow Police Chief James Fry, who expressed confidence in the community's safety following the arrest. The Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson emphasized that the arrest was not the end of the investigation but rather a new beginning.

Kohberger was extradited to Idaho, where he was ordered to be held without bail. He made his first court appearance in Latah County on January 5, 2023, and was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.

The prosecution sought the death penalty, and the case is scheduled for a jury trial beginning on August 11, 2025, in Boise, Idaho.

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