Gruesome Scene Unveiled in Idaho Student Murders
Police finally released a huge batch of records and crime scene photos that lay bare what really happened inside that off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, back on November 13, 2022. It’s the kind of detail that keeps you up at night. Four University of Idaho students—Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin—were murdered while they slept, and there’s no soft way to put it: this was violence most people only read about in true crime books.
Blood evidence was everywhere. Investigators found a particular horror in the bedrooms, with the documentation describing how Kaylee Goncalves was stabbed 34 times. Her family had already dropped that bombshell during Bryan Kohberger’s sentencing, but seeing it confirmed like this just brings the brutality home. There were struggles in some rooms too—overturned furniture, personal stuff scattered everywhere, showing that some victims woke up and tried to fight back.
Detectives spotted broken glass at a second-story window. They now believe this was where Kohberger, a grad student from the next town over, broke in. The main doors were undisturbed—no forced entry there—so it’s likely the killer skipped tradition and went in through the window instead. Chillingly, photos show the chaos left behind, with blood trailing all through the home.
Forensic Evidence and Missing Motive
Forensic teams pulled plenty from that scene. Kohberger’s DNA was found in the house, and that proved to be the key to linking him to the crime. Investigators got digital breadcrumbs, too: they tracked a crime scene timeline from his online knife purchases, cell phone data placing him in Moscow at the time of the murders, and security footage showing his car lingering near the home in the early hours.
But here’s what’s wild: the murder weapon—a knife—is still somewhere out there. Even after Kohberger pleaded guilty on July 2, 2025, and even after getting handed four life sentences just weeks later, prosecutors never got him to say where he ditched it. The Goncalves family begged the court to make him tell. Prosecutors wouldn’t include that in the deal, saying they couldn’t legally tack it on. So the knife’s location remains a secret, another haunting detail in an already haunting case.
The police records also clear up some rumors: there’s no evidence Kohberger knew any of the victims. No link, no connection, and still no motive—despite all the digital trails and mountains of evidence. Madison Mogen’s body was found in the kitchen, hinting she might have faced her killer awake, which only deepens the tragedy. The files detail how friends of Goncalves, worried when she didn’t show up for plans, called cops for a welfare check—setting off the whole horrifying discovery.
This release of police records isn’t just about reliving the worst night in Moscow’s history. For families and the community, it’s about piecing together exactly what happened and, maybe someday, figuring out why.