Four University of Idaho students were found dead in a home not far from the university campus two years ago on Nov. 13, 2022. Police determined they were victims of homicide, and did not identify and catch a suspect until the end of December in Pennsylvania.
Madison Mogen (21), Kaylee Goncalves (21) and Xana Kernodle (20) lived at the house, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin (20) was staying at the home that night. Two other women who lived in the home were in the residence that night, but were not killed.
A murder weapon was not found at the home, but the sheath of the knife was found in one of the bedrooms.
Nearly seven weeks later, police announced they had arrested a suspect in the murders, 2,500 miles away in Pennsylvania. Bryan Kohberger was charged by Latah County Prosecutors with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
Kohberger was indicted by a grand jury in May 2023 and was arraigned later that month. He “stood silent” at that hearing, so the judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf. His defense team tried to get the indictment dismissed in October, but the judge ruled it will stand.
The Latah County Prosecutor's Office filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty in June 2023 against Kohberger.
In December 2023, the home where the murders happened was demolished. Before the demolition, the Federal Bureau of Investigation documented the home to build visual and audio exhibits, as well as a physical model of the home.
A memo was filed in July 2024 supporting a change of venue for the trial from Latah County to Ada County. Kohberger’s attorneys wrote he is protected under the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Idaho, and his protection to a "fair and impartial jury is infringed without a change of venue."
That change of venue was granted in September 2023 and the location was decided by the Idaho Supreme Court. It was later announced the trial would be moving to Ada County and Judge John C. Judge would be replaced by Judge Steven Hippler.
Kohberger's defense team attempted to get the death penalty removed from the case, but Judge Hippler ruled in November 2024 that he could face it, citing several reasons why in a 54-page documents.
Those efforts wound up being for naught, as in an unexpected move, Kohberger pled guilty to killing the four students in July 2025. The deal came just a month before jury selection was scheduled to start, and just days after Hippler had granted Kohberger’s request to seal his defense team’s additions or objections to the jury questionnaire.
Kohberger’s sentencing date is set for July 23.
