More details about the murders of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen and suspect Bryan Kohberger were revealed on Dateline.
Content warning: This story contains graphic details.
More shocking details about the quadruple homicide of four University of Idaho students and the man suspected of murdering them, Bryan Kohberger, have been revealed.
On Nov. 13, 2022, police found roommates Ethan Chapin, 20, his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, deceased inside their Moscow, Idaho home. The victims died after suffering multiple wounds made with a large knife, prosecutors said in a March court filing obtained by Dateline and cited in its May 9 special “The Terrible Night on King Road.”
Chapin appears to have been the last of the four to be targeted by the killer. Sources close to the investigation told the outlet he was believed to be asleep in bed before his death and that the perpetrator “carved” the victim’s lower legs with a blade. Before targeting Chapin, the attacker stabbed Kernodle, who was still awake after ordering food from DoorDash, the sources said.
It was Mogen who may have been the killer’s intended target because the intruder had gone directly to her bedroom first, the sources. A tan leather sheath for a large Ka-Bar knife was found on the bed, next to her body. Goncalves was with her at the time.
Security footage obtained by Dateline shows a car that investigators believe resembles Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra circling past the house’s block multiple times the early morning of the murders.
Kohberger, a Washington State University criminal justice doctoral student, was arrested at his parent’s home in Pennsylvania in late December 2022 and charged with murder in connection with the killings. In 2023, a judge entered a not guilty plea to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary on his behalf.
E! News has reached out to Kohberger’s legal team for comment on the Dateline special and has not heard back.
In a probable cause affidavit released at the time of Kohberger’s arrest, police stated that the knife sheath that was found in the victims’ house contained male DNA, which investigators linked to the 28-year-old after comparing it to DNA samples obtained from the trash at his family home.
It was Mogen who may have been the killer’s intended target because the intruder had gone directly to her bedroom first, the sources. A tan leather sheath for a large Ka-Bar knife was found on the bed, next to her body. Goncalves was with her at the time.
Security footage obtained by Dateline shows a car that investigators believe resembles Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra circling past the house’s block multiple times the early morning of the murders.
Kohberger, a Washington State University criminal justice doctoral student, was arrested at his parent’s home in Pennsylvania in late December 2022 and charged with murder in connection with the killings. In 2023, a judge entered a not guilty plea to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary on his behalf.
E! News has reached out to Kohberger’s legal team for comment on the Dateline special and has not heard back.
In a probable cause affidavit released at the time of Kohberger’s arrest, police stated that the knife sheath that was found in the victims’ house contained male DNA, which investigators linked to the 28-year-old after comparing it to DNA samples obtained from the trash at his family home.
Ted S. Warren-Pool/Getty ImagesAn FBI cellphone expert examined Kohberger’s phone data, which Dateline obtained. The records allegedly indicated that later in the morning after the killings, a call was made to a number registered to his dad’s account, under which several other family phones are registered.
The data also showed the suspect’s phone was in Moscow just after 9 a.m. before prosecutors say he returned to his apartment in Pullman, where he took a mirror selfie while giving a thumbs up.
The device contained dozens of pictures of female students at Washington State and the University of Idaho, including some linked to the three murdered women, Dateline said.
Kohberger’s alleged browsing activity included Google searches for “University of Idaho Murders” and a program about serial killer Ted Bundy, Britney Spears‘ song “Criminal,” according to Dateline.
Kohberger’s trial is set to begin in August. If found guilty of all counts, he could face the death penalty.
Read on for more about the case.
(E! and Dateline are part of the NBCUniversal family.)
