(NewsNation) — Police reports from the Idaho murders case are shedding new light on the investigation into Bryan Kohberger after he killed four students in their off-campus apartment.
Kohberger, a former criminology student, avoided the death penalty by accepting a plea deal for the 2022 murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
The hundreds of case files reveal the harrowing scene responding officers found when they got to the house. They also detail interviews with surviving roommates, inmates who were housed with Kohberger, and someone he matched with on Tinder.
The documents have begun to be released hours after families of the four Idaho college students fatally stabbed by Kohberger confronted him in court at his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
Family members gave emotional statements about their loved ones but Kohberger declined to speak before a judge handed down four consecutive life sentences for murder and an additional 10-year sentence for burglary.
The guilty plea marked an unexpected halt to a yearslong legal process for the victims’ families. They were divided on the plea, with one family calling it “hurried” and another saying it would help bring them closure.
Without a trial, they may never get an answer to the question of why Kohberger committed the crime. A judge lifted the gag order in the criminal case against Kohberger earlier this month.
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Kohberger victims’ autopsy results
Autopsy results for Bryan Kohberger’s victims were included in the release of the case files.
Ethan Chapin died of a stab wound under his left clavicle, which severed his subclavian vein and subclavian artery, and his jugular vein was severed, according to the documents.
Xana Kernodle was stabbed more than 50 times and suffered mostly defensive wounds, the report said. She died of a laceration in her right lung and two lacerations in her heart.
Madison Mogen’s fatal injuries included a left lung laceration and a liver laceration.
Kaylee Goncalves is the only victim who suffered blunt force and asphyxial injuries, in addition to sharp force wounds. She was stabbed more than 20 times, and her fatal injuries included a left lung laceration, a liver laceration, two subdural bleeds, and a stab behind her clavicle which cut her subclavian vein and artery.
Kohberger moved from jail
Bryan Kohberger is no longer at the Ada County jail, according to jail officials. They told NewsNation he has already been transferred to state prison.
Kohberger Reddit post
The police documents describe a Reddit post believed to have been written by Kohberger. He posted a Reddit survey which can be found by an open-source internet search.
The survey asked for participants to provide information to “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime.”
Kohberger had ‘injuries on face, hands’
The teacher’s assistant went on to tell the officer that they’d noticed injuries on Kohberger on two separate occassions.
The officer wrote, “L then told us about some injuries he witnessed on Kohberger’s face and hands. L was unsure of the date but stated he thought he noticed the injuries on two separate occasions in October and November of 2022. L stated one injury was large scratch on Kohberger’s face which L described as looking like the scratches from fingernails. L said he also saw wounds to Kohberger’s knuckles on two separate occasions.
“When L asked Kohberger about what happened to him, Kohberger replied he had been in a car accident. L also stated Kohberger was frequently twenty minutes late to their classes. I asked L what he and Kohberger would talk about. L said Kohberger liked to discuss his area of study which was criminal decision making and burglary type crimes.”
Kohberger described as ‘dishonest’
An MPD officer wrote in the police documents about meeting with a teacher’s assistant who knew Kohberger at WSU.
“L characterized Kohberger as a dishonest person. To support this, L stated he spoke to Kohberger in late December of 2022, and Kohberger said he was packing his bags to catch a flight back to Pennsylvania. L later learned Kohberger had been back in Pennsylvania for some time and drove back with his father,” the report says.
Roommate’s friend finds bodies
Investigators spoke with one of the roommate’s friends, who came over and found the bodies.
The report reads, “… said he went up the stairs and immediately went into Xana’s room. Н said this was the only room he went into. H said when he approached the door it was only partially open. Н said when he opened it, he saw Xana and Ethan. H said he initially did not realize all the blood was dried blood in the room.
“H said he thought at first they had been drunk and left a mess. H said when he stood there for a moment he began to realize what he was seeing. H said B and D were uncontrollably crying. H said he told them to get out of the house and call law enforcement.”
Kaylee Goncalves saw ‘dark figure in tree line’
A friend of the victims told police, “… said she knew Kaylee saw a dark figure staring at her from the tree line when she took her dog Murphy out to pee. J said this occurred about a month earlier at 1122 King Road. J said there has been light-hearted talk and jokes made about a stalker in the past.
“J said all the girls were slightly nervous about it being a fact, though, did not indicate any social media issues or issues between the girls who lived together. J said there was no issue with girls from the sorority and the residence at 1122 King Road. said the front door had issues with locking and sometimes it could be opened without a code. J said she did know the code to the front door. J said she was unsure if the residence kept the back-sliding door locked regularly.”
Multiple people had code to the house
One person interviewed by police as part of the investigation revealed a number of people had the code to get into the house.
The report says, “D did add Goncalves would call him on occasion when she was walking home alone or when ‘she was feeling sketched out.’ D stated there were people coming in and out of 1122 King Road frequently and ‘more people knew the code to their door than they should have.’ D stated he was not sure if the residents regularly locked the rear sliding glass door.”
Police interview Kohberger
One report details an interview Idaho police had with Kohberger after his Pennsylvania arrest.
Kohberger engaged in small talk but then shut down when authorities began asking questions about the murders in Moscow.
An investigator wrote, “Kohberger then asked if we would explain to him what we were there for specifically and added he was tired. Det. Gilberston again stated we were investigating the homicides of the four students and that we had questions and things we hoped Kohberger would help us understand. Kohberger sat back and said he had the utmost respect for law enforcement but stated it was a constitutional right to speak to an attorney.”
During the interview, Kohberger described a road trip with his dad and admiring nature.
“He began to speak about the beauty of the environment and its relationship to God and a higher power. We spoke about this for some time and Kohberger said he was raised Christian but was always a skeptic except when confronted with the beauty of the natural world.”
Roommate talks with police
The documents describe a conversation with a surviving roommate. The report reads, “D said she woke up at around 0400 hours on 11/13/2022, where she could hear Kaylee and Murphy, the dog, dancing.
“D said she knew it was Kaylee because she recognized her voice and could hear Murphy barking. D said she heard Kaylee go upstairs and say ‘There is someone here.’ D said [she] thought she heard Kaylee run back down the stairs. D said Kaylee sounded scared when she made this statement.”
Investigator’s conversation with a neighbor
A neighbor told investigators, “He woke up a couple of times Saturday night. He looked at the clock, saw it was 0417 hours, and said after about five minutes of waking up he heard a dog barking outside from the direction of 1122 King Rd. G said he was going in and out of sleep and after an hour, about 0500 hours, he still heard the dog barking outside … G told me he has lived in this residence since January and has not heard the dog barking outside before in the middle of the night.”
Kohberger professor called for ‘intervention’
Investigators obtained a screenshot of a conversation apparently between two WSU professors discussing Kohberger, according to the reports.
One wrote, “we need to do an intervention with Kohberger. She’s going to try to gather information but apparently he’s offended several of our female students.”
Kaylee Goncalves’ ‘stalker’
One investigator wrote about victim Kaylee Goncalves having a stalker.
“J then told me where she had heard from others that Kaylee had seen some random guy behind the house when she took Murphy out to go pee. J also heard of an incident where some random guy followed Kaylee around WinCo and followed her out of the store and she thought he tried to get into her car. J was not sure for sure who she heard this from but either B or D could tell us more.”
A detective also described a phone call about Kaylee’s stalker.
“On November 15, 2022 I had a phone message from the front desk to contact (redacted), as she may have information regarding Kaylee Goncalves having a stalker … I introduced myself and told her I was given her message to call about possible information regarding Kaylee having a stalker. (Redacted) told me she and some friends had lunch with Kaylee around September 11, 2022 and she thought Kaylee said something about having a stalker. (redacted) thought Kaylee mentioned receiving something in the mail but some of the other friends at the lunch thought Kaylee mentioned getting a strange message thorough Facebook messenger.”
Second inmate on Kohberger’s ‘annoying’ habits
The reports go on to describe what another inmate said about Kohberger.
One document reads, “An inmate who was housed next to Kohberger from August 2024 to September 2024 at Latah County Jail said Kohberger was the smarted (sic) person he had encountered while in confinement but became annoying because of habits like washing his hands dozens of times per day and spending 45 min to 1 hour in the shower. He said Kohberger would be awake all night and only take a nap during the day. He said he could hear Kohberger moving around all night.”
Inmate called Kohberger ‘f—ing weirdo’
Police spoke with inmates held in the same facility as Kohberger. One officer wrote, “An inmate in same facility as Kohberger stated he is ‘a f—king weirdo’ and said he if he wasn’t worried about legal repercussions he would have physically assaulted Kohberger.
“When asked if he thinks Kohberger is guilty, the inmate said “his (Kohberger’s) eyes tell a story.”
Cops’ theory on how Kohberger got in
A responding officer described how they believed the suspect got into the house, writing: “The foot steps went to and from the rear slider door. I observed the trail of foot steps head away from the slider then turn right, around a stump, in the back yard and lead toward the front of the house.
“I observed a set of small hand prints on the window to the east of the slider. The screen to this window appeared damaged and was laying on the ground. I located smudged finger prints on the glass slider door. There was a discarded black backpack in the backyard.”
Suspect spoke to person inside the house
Moscow Police Department Officer Mitch Nunes wrote in an incident report that a person whose name was redacted reported hearing a scream from who they believed to be Kaylee Goncalves at 4 a.m.
They told cops they heard the voice say “somebody” was in their Moscow, Idaho, home. They then heard Goncalves running from the third floor down to the second.
The person said they locked themselves in a bedroom, and after a commotion, “peeked out of her bedroom and observed a male described as approximately 6-feet tall, slim build, with a black ski mask leave the second-floor patio area.”
“Eventually, she stopped hearing a struggle and heard a male voice say, ‘you’re gonna be fine. I’m gonna help you,'” the report says. The person said she did not recognize the male’s voice.
Responding officers describe harrowing scene
One officer who entered the home Nov. 13, 2022, said he looked inside Xana Kernondle’s room and immediately could tell an “intense” struggle had occurred.
He found blood smeared on various items in the room and all over the floor.
“There was blood cast-off on the walls in various places, including above Xana’s body,” the officer wrote.
“I could see what appeared to be defensive knife wounds on Xana’s hands. There was a deep gash on Xana’s left hand between her pointer finger and her thumb.”
Bryan Kohberger police reports released
Idaho police have begun releasing documents from the investigation into Bryan Kohberger, who pleaded guilty to killing four college students in 2022.
The Moscow police department released authorized files Wednesday afternoon after Kohberger was handed four consecutive life sentences for the brutal killings.
Judge Steven Hippler had imposed a gag order in 2023 at the beginning of the legal process in order to preserve the integrity of the case, but lifted it last week, citing Kohberger’s guilty plea.
Kohberger’s education played a role
Investigators said Kohberger’s background and early life are still under seal, but there was no significant criminal history or violence.
They said they do believe Kohberger’s education and his choice of study played a role in how he prepared to commit the crime.
Thompson said investigators are not aware of any behaviors that would indicate Kohberger was a “serial killer in waiting.”
Why was plea deal made without unanimous support from families?
” Our decision was this was the best possible outcome, all things considered; the defendant was ready to plead guilty, avoiding a jury trial,” Thompson said.
Investigators on electronic evidence
The investigators said Kohberger had wiped some of his devices “relatively effectively,” which limited evidence they could gather.
Investigators on lack of motive
The lead investigators said they realize that often in cases, they don’t get to know the motive behind a crime, something often only known to the perpetrator.
Thompson said a motive is not legally required for murder and the lack of one did not factor into decisions.
Will documents be released?
Thompson said the judge will release some previously sealed documents but not all of them. Documents containing personal, sensitive information on the victims and their families are likely to remain under seal.
Kohberger, victims had no connection
Investigators said they have not found any connection between Kohberger and any of the victims.
Will Kohberger conversation recordings be made public?
Thompson said the jail does not plan to release Kohberger’s communications.
Where will Kohberger serve his sentence?
Thompson said Kohberger’s prison will be determined by the Idaho Department of Corrections and his office will not have input.
Investigators on location of murder weapon
Investigators say they have not found any indication of where the clothes Kohberger wore or the murder weapon might be.
They said they conducted significant searches with no results.
The lead investigators also addressed the question of why there was not more blood, saying the crime could have been committed without leaving much blood evidence on Kohberger.
Thompson on factual accounting of crime
Thompson said they could have asked for a factual accounting of the crime from Kohberger as part of the plea agreement but did not.
“I don’t believe that there’s anything that could come out of his mouth that could be the truth,” Thompson said.
He said he believed anything Kohberger would say would be “self-serving” and further victimize the families.
Who was Kohberger’s target?
Investigators said they do believe the house where the murders took place was targeted but they don’t know why or if any individual victim was the target.