Following the sentencing of Bryan Kohberger for the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022, the Moscow Police Department unsealed a large tranche of documents concerning the case.
More than 300 documents are included, and they include details from the initial police response to the scene on King Road on the morning of November 13, 2022.
Much of the information contained was already known, but the release of the documents marks the first time the original information has been made available.
Kohberger was sentenced on Tuesday to four consecutive life sentences — without the possibility of parole — for the murders of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves. He received an additional 10 years for burglary and was ordered to pay a $270,000 fine.
The initial police narrative of their response to the off-campus house where the murders took place reveals it as “an unconscious call,” with one of the surviving roommate reporting that a “roommate was passed out, not conscious, and not breathing.” Officers who first arrived on the scene quickly determined it was a homicide call.
Officers first found the body of Xana Kernodle on the floor in her bedroom. Officers noted that “it was obvious an intense struggle had occurred,” as Kernodle fought for her life. Ethan Chapin, Kernodle’s boyfriend, was dead in the bed.
Upstairs, the officers found Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, noting that Goncalves “was unrecognizable as her facial structure was extremely damaged.” Mogen, the officers said, had apparent defensive wounds to her hands and forearms.
Officers immediately began interviewing the surviving roommates and the man they’d called to the scene when they found Kernodle and also spread out into the surrounding area to interview other possible witnesses.
Another officer reported seeing “very large footprints in the snow” outside the students’ home.
“The footsteps went to and from the rear slider door,” the officer wrote. “I observed the 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.”
Last week, Judge Steven Hippler said he would begin the process of unsealing some of the documents sealed by the court after the sentencing.
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[Featured image: Left, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves and right, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle/Instagram]
