2022 University of Idaho killings

In the early hours of November 13, 2022, a mass murder took place in Moscow, Idaho, in the United States. Four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus three-story rented home. The&nbsp;authorities identified 28-year-old Pennsylvania-native Bryan Christopher Kohberger as a suspect who was taken into custody in Pennsylvania. The investigation has been marked by a reversal of police statements as to whether the community may be at risk, and a lack of apparent progress in solving the crime.

## Background 
Five female University of Idaho students lived in a rented off-campus home in the 25,000-person rural college town of Moscow, Idaho, which had previously not seen a murder since 2015. A sixth person was listed on the lease but not home at the time of the murders. The three-story,  home had six bedrooms; two on each floor.

The three female victims – Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle – lived at the house, while the fourth victim, Ethan Chapin, was Kernodle's boyfriend who was sleeping over on the night of the attacks. Two other female roommates also lived at the house; they slept through the attacks, and were not injured.

## Events 
In the early morning hours of Sunday, November 13, 2022, between 3am and 4am, four University of Idaho college students were stabbed to death in a shared rental home close to campus, in which three of them resided.

Earlier on Saturday evening, two of the four victims, Chapin and Kernodle, were at an on-campus party at the nearby Sigma Chi fraternity from 8pm to 9pm. Both returned home at 1:45am. from The Grub Truck, a food truck four blocks south at Friendship Square (Main and Fourth Streets), showed Mogen and Goncalves at 1:41 am, chatting and smiling, getting their food ten minutes later, and leaving to take what the police initially said was an Uber ride home, a&nbsp;trip of about . The&nbsp;police later rephrased their statement to say the ride was provided by a "private party," arriving home at 1:56 am.

All four individuals were home by 1:56am. with the police concluding they do not believe he was involved in the crime.

The two surviving roommates had returned home by 1:00am, and were in their beds on the ground floor of the home at the time of the murders. They were not attacked or held hostage, and did not awaken until later that morning. The&nbsp;four victims were stabbed to death on the second and third floors in the home, where they had been sleeping.

All four victims were pronounced deceased at 12:00 pm.

## Victims 
Four college students were killed: Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona (later Post Falls, Idaho); and Madison "Maddie" Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. Chapin was a freshman, Kernodle was a junior, and Goncalves and Mogen were both seniors. All of the victims were also part of the university's Greek life, with Chapin a member of Sigma Chi, Goncalves a member of Alpha Phi, and Kernodle and Mogen members of Pi Beta Phi.

## Aftermath 
On Sunday night, the university canceled classes for Monday, November 14; it&nbsp;also scheduled a candlelight vigil to be held on the UI administration building lawn on Wednesday evening, then postponed it two weeks. Fall break was scheduled to begin after Friday, November&nbsp;18, with classes resuming on Monday, November&nbsp;28. Many students and other Moscow residents, not trusting the initial assurances of the police and fearing for their own safety, began an early Thanksgiving holiday exodus from the area, while others who stayed were anxious and cautious, and a number of professors canceled their classes. Because of weather concerns, the candlelight vigil was moved indoors to the Kibbie Dome and held on the evening of Wednesday, November&nbsp;30.

## Investigation 
The investigation of the murders is being conducted by the Moscow police (who had in their force four detectives and 24 patrol officers working on it), supported by the Idaho State Police (20 investigators, 15 troopers, and a Forensics Services and mobile crime scene team), the FBI (22 investigators, 20 assigned agents, and 2 Behavior Analysis Units), and the Latah County Sheriff's Office. In all, almost 130 members of law enforcement from three different agencies began working on the case. None showed signs of sexual assault, and toxicology reports are pending.

The police have ruled out: (a) a fellow student wearing a white hoodie seen in the video footage speaking to Mogen and Goncalves by the food truck; (b) the person who drove Mogen and Goncalves home; (c) the two surviving roommates, who were home during the killings; and (d) Goncalves's former long term boyfriend whom she and Mogen had called a total of ten times that night.

On December 27th, a screengrab was posted on Reddit, showing Gonclaves and Mogen conversing with a patron at a local bar, the Corner Club, at 1:32 am on the night of the killings. Moscow Police reported that they have reviewed the footage but provided no other information. 

## Suspect 
In the early morning hours of December 30th, authorities in Monroe County, Pennsylvania outside Stroudsburg, announced that they had taken a suspect into custody. The person, identified as 28-year-old Bryan Christopher Kohberger of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania (born November 21, 1994), was referred to as a person of interest in the investigation.

Kohberger's previous life before the massacre has not been detailed yet, but Kohberger was a former graduate at the Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, and had pursued his Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology.

## Response 
The incident has been marked by a reversal of police statements as to whether the community might be at risk, and a perceived lack of apparent progress in solving the crime. Three days after the killings, the father of Ethan Chapin spoke out about the lack of information from the University of Idaho and local police, highlighting the spread of rumors due to the silence from officials.

## Related pages 
* Ted Bundy, killed university sorority house roommates in Florida

## References