Four slain students, a weeks-long manhunt but no motive: Everything we know as Idaho mass murderer sentenced
The gruesome murder case of four college students in the Idaho town of Moscow more than two and a half years ago concluded Wednesday, with killer Bryan Kohberger sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison for the slayings.
University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in the frenzied attack at their college home in the middle of the night on November 13, 2022.
Two other roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, were the only roommates to survive the killings — and they spoke out for the first time in emotional testimony at Kohberger’s sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025.
For weeks after the killings, only scant details about the carnage that night were revealed as the community reeled from the tragedy and grappled with fears of a murderer on the loose.
That changed when Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 after authorities raided his apartment, office and family home in search of evidence.
For over two years, Kohberger maintained his innocence and his long-awaited trial was due to begin on August 18. But in a dramatic turn, the 30-year-old publicly admitted to the killings for the first time at a plea-deal hearing on July 2 to avoid the death penalty.
Prosecutors said there’s still no known connection between the victims and Kohberger, who had been planning the murders for months.
In pleading guilty, Kohberger waived all rights to an appeal and was handed four consecutive life sentences at Wednesday’s hearing.
Here, The Independent takes a deep dive into the complex case.
The students had all enjoyed a typical Saturday night out in the small college town. Goncalves and Mogen had been at a local bar, while Kernodle and Chapin went to a party at a frat house.
After they returned in the early hours of November 13, Kohberger broke into the three-storey, six-bedroom house at around 4 a.m., as most of the students slept, and crept through the kitchen sliding door.
Dressed in all-black with a balaclava, Kohberger headed to the third floor of the house and killed Mogen and Goncalves first, Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said at the plea-deal hearing. For some reason, Kohberger left the tan leather knife sheath next to Mogen’s body. His DNA was later discovered on the sheath, according to an arrest affidavit.
Chillingly, Kernodle was still awake and had just received a DoorDash order when she came face to face with Kohberger immediately after he murdered her roommates. Kohberger was coming down the stairs from the third floor when he encountered Kernodle and killed her with a large knife, the prosecutor said. As her boyfriend Chapin slept in the second-floor bedroom, Kohberger stabbed him to death too.
Two other roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, were the only roommates to survive the killings.
