Moscow, Idaho, was a peaceful, quiet town. No one would have expected that on Nov. 13, 2022, four undergrad students; Kaylee Goncalves (21), Madison Mogen (21), Xana Kernodle (20), and Ethan Chapin (20) would be murdered at the University of Idaho in their off-campus house. Only two residents, Dylan Mortenson and Bethany Funke, survived the attack. The current suspect, 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger, is a Criminology PhD student at Washington State University. He was arrested six weeks after the murders and is currently being held in jail without bail. 

On the night of Nov. 12, according to the Moscow police, the two best friends, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, visited the Corner Club bar in Moscow. The couple, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernoodle, went to the Sigma Chi house, a fraternity on campus, at 9:00 P.M. and later returned to the girls’ home at 1:45 A.M. At around 1:30 A.M. Goncalves and Mogen were seen on a surveillance camera video at a Grub Truck and were later seen getting into an unknown male’s car. They arrived back to their house at around 2:00 A.M. and were in their rooms by 4:00 A.M. According to the affidavit, Goncalves received a DoorDash order at around 4:00 A.M. One of the surviving roommates, Dylan Mortenson, said she was awoken at 4:00 A.M., to what she stated sounded like “Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the upstairs bedrooms… [and shortly after] she heard a male voice say something to the effect of ‘it’s ok, I’m going to help you.’ Mortenson opened her door and saw the intruder walking right past her, wearing all-black clothes and a mask. She did not recognise the person, but she described them as 5’10” or taller and “athletically built with bushy eyebrows.” Mortenson said she had frozen in shock. The authorities believe that the murders happened at 4:00 A.M. to 4:25 A.M. 

It wasn’t until about eight hours after the quadruple homicide, at 11:58 A.M., that the roommates made a 911 call to report that one of the victims on the second floor was unconscious and not responding. First responders found the four victims stabbed to death in their rooms. They were most likely asleep when it occurred and had defensive wounds. “Nobody suffered, and nobody felt that kind of pain,” Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, expressed. 

In the surveillance videos obtained by the authorities, they saw a white Hyundai Elantra drive by the house three times before going past it again for the fourth time at 4:04 A.M. It was last seen driving out of the area at a high velocity at around 4:20 A.M, according to the affidavit. The police traced the white Hyundai Elantra back to Pullman, Washington, where the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, lived. They were also able to track his route down through phone records. They found that Kohberger was near the victim’s house more than a dozen times before the murders, going as far back as August 2022. They were all either late at night or in the early morning. About a month later, on Dec. 15, Kohberger’s semester at Washington State University had ended, and he was driving the white Hyundai Elantra with his dad in the passenger seat to their family’s Pennsylvania house. He was stopped twice in East Indiana by police. Once for speeding and the second for driving too close to a car. In Moscow, Idaho, investigators found DNA on a tan knife sheath that belonged to a military-style knife, which was left next to Goncalves’ and Mogen’s bed. They also took trash from Kohberger’s parent’s house. The lab tests determined that the DNA from the garbage was the father of the person whose DNA was on the knife sheath. Three days later, on Dec. 30, the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested for four counts of first-degree murder and one felony burglary in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains in the morning. In his court appearance in Monroe Court, Pennsylvania, he agreed to be extradited to Idaho.

On Jan. 5, Kohberger appeared again in Moscow for the first time in court. He seemed to have cuts on his face and spoke only four words during his appearance. Public defender Anne Taylor is Kohberger’s appointed attorney. 

Kohberger is currently being held without bail in the Latah County jail in Idaho. A hearing requested by his attorney for probable cause will take place the week of June 26, 2022. 

The Moscow police have stated that this is one of the most challenging cases they have had in years. This case has shocked the country, and the victims’ parents hope to achieve justice.