Newly obtained records show Moscow murder scene

MOSCOW, Idaho — Newly obtained records show the photographic evidence collected by police the day Bryan Kohberger murdered four University of Idaho students.  

7 Investigates received nearly 200 redacted and blurred crime scene photos through a public records request with Moscow, Idaho police. They show the King Road home where Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed on Nov. 13, 2022. 

Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders in July to avoid the death penalty. He was ordered to serve four consecutive life terms without parole for the murders and is now in solitary confinement inside the Idaho Maximum Security Institution. 

The photos show a horrific crime scene. Among the images are those that show the victim’s bedrooms, the sliding door police say Kohberger entered through, and blood on a door. 

7 Investigates also obtained surveillance video taken during that time from a neighbor’s home. In the video, you can see a person walking to a car parked outside the home where the video was recorded. That person walks toward King Road with a flashlight. Over the course of about 15 minutes, video shows a white sedan drive to and from the vicinity of the home where the murders occurred.  

Between 4:15-4:20 a.m., loud noises can be heard, along with a dog barking for several minutes. 

Authorities said from the beginning they believed the killings to be part of a targeted attack, though they provided little information as to why.

Bryan Kohberger eluded authorities for a month – and perhaps would have for longer had he not left behind a single spec of DNA on a knife sheath found near the scene of the crime. In two-and-a-half years, the murder weapon has not been found.  

In early December came a break in the investigation.

Law enforcement issued a BOLO alert for a 2011 white Hyundai Elantra. A car matching that body shape was captured in surveillance footage near the crime scene before and speeding off after the murder.

Police used Kohberger’s car, DNA found on the knife sheath left at the crime scene, genetic genealogy, school records and cellphone data to tie the then 28-year-old WSU criminology student Bryan Kohberger to the scene of the murder.

Days before the new year, an FBI tactical team swarmed Kohberger’s family home in Pennsylvania.

He was arrested and ultimately extradited to Idaho in early 2023.

Kohberger went to great lengths to hide his crimes. He meticulously cleaned his Elantra, leaving no evidence inside. Still, prosecutors believed they had enough evidence by May of 2023 to charge him with four counts of first-degree murder.

Kohberger initially pleaded not guilty. His public defenders prepared to fight the death penalty case in court. 

After years of motions and delays, an unexpected guilty plea last month ended the trial before it started.