It all started with four students on a Sunday in Moscow, Idaho. A fatal stabbing ending in four beautiful lives taken away from the world: Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin. Darkness filled Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022, at 4:00 a.m., when Bryan Kohberger entered the home of Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Bethany Funke, and Dylan Mortenson. He walked up the stairs and murdered Xana Kernodle with a Ka Bar Knife, ending her life before ending her boyfriend’s, Ethan Chapin. Kohberger proceeded to the third floor to end the life of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were staying in the same room. Finally, Kohberger walked out of the backdoor where he first entered and drove away from the crime scene around 4:30 a.m.

Victims:

Kaylee Goncalves was born on June 24th, 1998, in a small town in Coeur d’Alene. She was 21 years old and the oldest of her siblings. She had two sisters within her very close- knit family. Her parents, Steve and Kristi, said that Kaylee was known for her vibrant, ambitious, and adventurous spirit and always knew how to make people smile. Kaylee graduated from Lake City High School in Idaho, then later started her college years at the University of Idaho, majoring in general studies. She was supposed to graduate early in Dec. of 2022. She was a part of a sorority called Alpha Phi Sorority and was focused on planning her future and having a path set for her after school. She had already secured a job in Texas, which was supposed to start soon after her graduation.

Kaylee’s Legacy: After the tragic murder ending her life, Kaylee left a legacy that nobody will ever forget. Her involvement on campus will always be remembered and her involvement in her community made a huge impact. Kaylee was the one girl who everyone knew they could count on to light up the room with her bright spirit and smile. She will always be remembered as the girl who changed people’s perspective on the importance of safety. After Kaylee’s death, the Goncalves family worked hard to support other students’ mental health and education so this tragic event would hopefully never happen again.

Madison Mogen “Maddie” was born on May 25, 2001 born in Eugene, Oregon but later moved to Coeur D’ Alene and raised in Idaho. Madison, also known as “Maddie” to family and friends, was the only child of her mother, Karen Laramie and dad Ben Mogen. Maddie grew up having a passion for photography, travel and nature and loved the color pink. Maddie met Kaylee Goncalves in 6th grade and ever since were inseparable. The night of the murder Goncalves and Mogen were studying in Maddie’s room on the third-floor. Maddie attended Lake City High School and later graduated pursuing a degree in marketing at the University of Idaho. Mogen was a member of Pi Beta Phi set to graduate in the spring of 2023. Goncalves had a job where she worked with her roommate Xana Kernodle, at Mad Greek restaurant in Moscow , Idaho she was the manager of the restaurant’s social media accounts. Maddie was known for her bright smile that would light up a room and she was also a model. Maddie was very passionate about her education, friends and family and loved her modeling job. Mogen had a very close-knit friend group with all her roommates and people from school also including her longtime boyfriend that she loved very much and loved to be with in her free time.

Maddie’s Legacy: After Madison’s death, her family and friends, dealing with grief, wanted to do something good in Maddie’s name to remember her amazing legacy. Her family created a Foundation – “The Kindness Foundation” – that provides students with scholarships and promotes campus safety in her memory to prevent more events like this from happening. Maddie left behind an amazing legacy on her campus, community, and sorority. Her legacy with the foundation made by family and friends and “Maddie May Day”, which is on Maddie’s birthday, May 25th, encourages kindness and having good and kind spirits that day.

Xana Kernodle was born on July 5, 2002, in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. She grew up in Post Falls, Idaho. From a young age, she was active and athletic; she did gymnastics as a child, and, in high school, she played volleyball, ran track, and played soccer. Her family remembers her as positive, outgoing, funny, and someone who lifted up everyone around her. She was noted to have a contagious sense of humor and made people feel very welcome. She graduated from Post Falls High School in 2020. She then attended The University of Idaho, majoring in Business and Economics. She was a member of the sorority Pi Beta Phi and worked part-time while at school as a server at Mad Greek restaurant in Moscow, Idaho. She also loved family trips and spending time outdoors with her sister and father. On Sunday, November 13, 2022, Xana, along with Ethan Chapin (her boyfriend) and her housemates Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, were killed in an off campus house in Moscow, Idaho, around 4:12 a.m., sometime after a violent intrusion occurred. Reporters suggested she encountered the intruder, tried to help, and struggled. Xana sustained many stab wounds (over 50); many of them were defensive wounds.

Ethan Chapin was born on October 29, 2002. He grew up in Mount Vernon, Washington. He was one of triplets; he had a sister and a brother who also went to the University of Idaho. Ethan was majoring in Recreation, Sport, and Tourism Management. He was involved socially as a member of the “Sigma Chi fraternity.” According to his obituary, he loved “the social life”and tolerated the academics. For fun, he played sports and recreational games; he liked to surf and play sand volleyball and pickleball. On the morning of November 13, 2022, Ethan was staying in an off campus house with friends. Between 4:00-4:25 AM, a masked intruder broke into the house and fatally stabbed Ethan and three others while they were sleeping.

Who is Bryan Kohberger?

Bryan Kohberger was born on November 21,1994. He was raised in eastern Pennsylvania in the Pocono Mountains region. His parents are Maryann and Michael, and he has two sisters, Amanda and Melissa. He went to Pleasant Valley High School in Brodheadsville, Pennsylvania. After high school, he briefly attended Monroe Career and Technical Institute briefly.  He earned an Associate’s Degree in Psychology from Northampton Community College in 2018. He then attended DeSales University in Allentown, Pennsylvania. In the summer of 2022, Kohberger moved and started attending school at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington to begin a Ph.D program in Criminal Justice/Criminology. Kohberger struggles with multiple disorders, such as Snow Vision Disorder, Autism, OCD, ADHD, ARFID, and ASD. OCD causes Kohberger to have unwanted thoughts and changes in behavior.

On November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho’s students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, were found stabbed to death in their Idaho home off campus in Moscow. When Kohberger was leaving the home, roommate Bethany Funke, one of the surviving roommates, was up and peeked out her door and saw a tall, dark shadow passing her room and exiting the home. While the murders were happening, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen were texting back and forth. 

Text Messages between Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen:

D.M to B.F: “No one is answering”

D.M to B.F: “I’m really confused rn”

D.M to Goncalves: “Kaylee”

D.M to Goncalves: “What’s going on”

B.F to D.M: “Ya dude wtf”

B.F to D.M: “Xana was wearing all black”

D.M to B.F: “I’m freaking out rn”

D.M to B.F: “No it’s like a ski mask almost”

B.F to D.M: “Stfu”

B.F to D.M: “Actually”

D.M to B.F: “Like he had something over his forehead and little mouth”

D.M to B.F: “B.F I’m not kidding im so freaked out”

B.F to D.M: “So am I”

D.M to B.F: “My phone is going to die F***”

B.F to D.M: “Come to my room”

B.F to D.M: “Run”

B.F to D.M: “Down here”

These text messages were exchanged soon after Kohlberger had left the crime scene, and Bethany Funke later told investigators that she heard a “firework” and that Dylan Mortensen had called her because Dylan heard noises in the house. They both entered Funke’s room and locked the door and went to sleep together in Funke’s room. Later, when Funke and Mortensen woke up, they stayed in the room and called their friend Emily Alandt saying, “Something weird happened last night. I don’t really know if I was dreaming or not, but I’m really scared. Can you come check out the house?” Mortensen and Funke mentioned that they had tried to get in contact with the victims but nobody was answering. Johnson Aldants’ boyfriend entered the house once they got there, knowing something was wrong, while Funke and Mortensen exited the home and then later followed Johnson after discovering the crime scene upstairs. They all got out of the house and called 9-1-1 at 11:58 a.m.

911 Call:

911 operator: Okay. Tell me exactly what’s going on

Female: Um, one of our roommates who’s passed out and she was drunk last night and she’s not waking up.

911 operator: Okay.

Female: Oh, and they saw some man in their house last night. Yeah.

911 operator: And are you with the patient? 

D.M.: Hi, this is [D.M.] 

911 operator: Okay. Need someone to keep the phone, stop passing it around. 

D.M.: Can you just tell me what happened, pretty much? 

911 operator: What is going on currently? Is someone passed out right now?

D.M.: Don’t really know, but pretty much at 4:00 a.m. 

911 operator: Okay. Need to know what’s going on right now, if someone is passed out. Can you find that out? 

D.M.: Yeah, I’ll come come on. B. We got to go check. But we have to. Has she passed out? She’s passed out. What’s wrong? She’s not waking up.

Later, after police officers arrived at the scene, they confirmed that all victims were dead and reported a homicide at the house.

After several weeks of investigation, authorities sought the public’s assistance identifying a white Sedan seen in the area near the time of the murders. It was confirmed that Kohberger’s car was seen in surveillance passing the house about four times before the murders. Investigators say that Kohberger was making sure that the victims were asleep and in their rooms before committing the crime. Bryan Kohberger was arrested six weeks after the murders on December 30th, 2022, in Pennsylvania (at his parents’ house). Cell phone location data places him in or near the victims’ neighborhood multiple times prior to the murders. The evidence found at the crime scene, a knife sheath, was found underneath the body of Madison Mogen. The knife was confirmed as a Ka Bar Knife; DNA was found on the knife sheath at the crime scene matching with Kohberger’s DNA. He was extradited to Idaho in early January 2023. A grand jury indicted him on charges, including four counts of first degree murder and one count of felony burglary. Prior to Kohberger getting arrested, state county police had stopped Kohberger twice due to him driving too close to other cars. The second stop, it was reported, Kohberger was in the car with his father, Michael Kohberger, and got off with a warning to stop speeding two weeks before his arrest. On July 23, 2025, Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

References

Whitworth, K. (2025, July 25). Idaho murders: Investigators speak out about targets, motive and interviewing Kohberger. ABC News. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://abcnews.go.com/US/idaho-murders-investigators-speak-targets-motive-interviewing-kohberger/story?id=124071120

Kaplan, A. (2025, July 12). Friends of Idaho Murder Victims Explain Why They Waited Hours to Call 911 in New Documentary. Today Show. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://www.today.com/news/one-night-in-idaho-surviving-roommates-911-call-rcna217477

(Ortiz, 2025)

Ortiz, E. (2025, July 23). Idaho college student murders: Summary and timeline as Bryan Kohberger is sentenced. NBC News. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/idaho-college-student-killings-summary-timeline-rcna63818

Breen, K., Mae, E., & Carter, A. L. (2024, June 27). What we know about Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the Idaho quadruple murders. CBS News. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bryan-kohberger-charged-suspect-idaho-murders/

Moscow Murders | Idaho State Police. (2025, August 18). Idaho State Police. Retrieved September 24, 2025, from https://isp.idaho.gov/moscow/