Idaho College Murders, The: Catching Kohberger (2026)

[bunniefuu]

Are you pleading guilty

because you are guilty?

Yes.

[Angenette]

Bryan Kohberger wants to

take back that guilty plea

and go to trial.

[somber tones playing]

[narrator]

With a k*ller on the loose,

police of Moscow, Idaho,

trying to calm

a community on edge.

[Fry] The four were stabbed

with a knife

but no weapon has been located

at this time.

[Caitlyn] There's so much blood

at the scene, it's seeping

out of the foundation

outside of the house.

[Angenette] While Moscow

searched for a k*ller,

he wasn't hiding at all.

Hello.

I am Officer Luengas.

I think you know

why I stopped you.

'Cause I was stuck in the middle

of the intersection?

Buried in all that data was

a completely different story.

He looked up a lot of

home invasions, burglaries,

coed killings, serial K*llers.

[Jared] And then starts to shop

for used cars.

[Jesse] They're denied a trial.

They're denied answers.

They're denied the opportunity

for Bryan Kohberger

to potentially get

the death penalty.

For them, life in prison is

not enough.

I have to be perfectly candid.

I don't believe that there's

anything that would come

out of his mouth

that would be the truth.

[Caitlyn] Was he stalking them?

Did he want to attack earlier?

The amount of planning that went

into this crime is a lot.

[Angenette]

Evil walked into that house

and stole their lives.

[Alivea] If you hadn't

attacked them in their sleep

in the middle of the night

like a pedophile,

Kaylee would have kicked

your [bleep] a*s.

[theme music playing]

[soft music playing]

[Caitlyn]

The University of Idaho is

the heart of Moscow.

It's a college town of about

25,000 people.

Greek life runs everything.

Everybody knows everybody.

On November 12th, there's

a home game.

The Vandals are

against UC Davis.

So, of course,

everybody's partying.

All the students are out.

Think about yourself in college.

It's so much fun.

You have your whole life

ahead of you.

You're working hard.

You have your goals.

It's just a good time.

[music turns somber]

[siren wailing]

[Caitlyn]

Police in Moscow, Idaho,

get a 911 call.

-[device beeps]

-[siren wailing]

[Caitlyn] Police pull up

to this house on King Road.

It's only steps from campus.

They're expecting to find

probably a kid

passed out from drinking.

[woman] Yes, [indistinct]

[Jesse]

They go through the front door.

They go one floor up.

They find the first body

and there is blood everywhere.

On the floor is a female

with visible stab wounds.

She's deceased.

They walk over

and they go to the bed.

That's where they find

a second body.

Now this one is a male who is

also obviously deceased,

and cops say it looks like

from sharp force injuries.

Arriving at the scene,

police immediately speak

with Dylan Mortensen.

She lives at 1122 King Road.

And she tells cops

that in the middle of the night

she witnessed some

suspicious activity.

[Caitlyn] There's so much blood

at the scene, it's seeping

out of the foundation

outside of the house.

We know that these homicides

occurred in the early

morning hours of Sunday,

November 13th.

Around noon, Moscow officers

received a call

of an unconscious person.

Officers discovered the bodies

of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle,

Madison Mogen,

and Kaylee Goncalves

inside the residence

on King Road.

The four were stabbed

with a knife

but no weapon has been

located at this time.

[Caitlyn]

Xana Kernodle was the first

victim that police found.

She's 20 years old.

Friends are describing her

like she is pure sunshine.

Hi, my name is Xana Kernodle.

I'm a marketing major here

at the University of Idaho.

This is actually King Street,

where I've lived

for the past two years.

And I really like just hanging

out with my friends all the time

and being super involved

in school events

and everything else.

So yeah, that's just

a little bit about me.

[Caitlyn] Xana is a member of

Pi Beta Phi sorority.

She loves EDM music,

hanging out with friends.

Xana is energetic.

She's fun.

She's fiercely loyal.

She's everybody's best friend.

[Jesse] In the same room is

her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin,

also 20 years old, a member of

the Sigma Chi fraternity.

He was just an outgoing, likable

kid and who was a triplet

here on campus.

He had two other siblings

going to school here

at the same time.

If everybody was like

Ethan Chapin in this world,

it would be a better place.

-For sure.

[Caitlyn] Ethan was majoring in

something that he wanted to do

with sports and recreation.

He was the kid that friends

described as always having

a smile on his face.

Always a good time.

They had this unstoppable,

loving relationship.

They both would look at

each other with so much love.

Everyone knew

they were the perfect duo.

They both had this fun,

passionate, crazy,

but good energy.

They both were the kind

of people who cared about

everyone and would

help anyone.

[Caitlyn] The two other victims

that the police find are both

21 years old.

They're longtime best friends,

Kaylee Goncalves

and Madison Mogen.

[Steve] These girls were

absolutely beautiful.

They had been friends

since sixth grade.

They went to

high school together.

Then they started

looking at colleges.

They came here together,

[voice shaking]

and in the end,

they died together.

[Caitlyn]

Kaylee had already moved out.

She was only weeks

from graduating.

She was planning to

move to Austin

and had accepted a job

in marketing.

The whole reason she came back

was to show her best friend,

Maddie, her new car.

Maddie is a marketing major.

She and Xana work together

at a restaurant in town

called the Mad Greek.

Xana, Maddie

and their two friends,

Dylan and Bethany, all lived

together at 1122 King Road.

Ethan and Kaylee were just

visiting for the night.

Did anybody do

their chores today?

Let's just do my night.

Get out of here.

You're seriously gotta get out.



[Caitlyn]

They're all in sororities.

These are just

quintessential college students.

Just enjoying themselves.

They left behind hundreds

of photos and videos

of the four of them

dancing in the kitchen,

laughing in the living room.

The same house where

they'd be k*lled.

Given that Dylan and Bethany

are left completely unharmed

the night of the attack,

the first question is

how did they survive?

[Caitlyn] Dylan says she thought

she heard Kaylee

running downstairs,

but based on the crime scene,

it was more likely that

it was Xana

that she heard running.

I walked around that house

on King Road many times

on my trips to Moscow.

I think just the absolute

carnage is so unbelievable.

What is your opinion overall

about the autopsy reports?

[Morgan] I read a lot of autopsy

reports over the years,

and by my standards,

the brutality involved

in this case, um, you know,

exceeds some

of my understanding.

It was a destructive event.

There is no way that anyone

will ever fully appreciate,

and I hope no one ever does,

what went on

in that house that night,

relative to the brutality

that was exacted on these kids.

We believe this was an isolated,

targeted attack on our victims.

We do not have a suspect

at this time,

and that individual is

still out there.

We cannot say that there is

no threat to the community.

And as we have stated,

please stay vigilant,

report any suspicious activity

and be aware of

your surroundings at all times.

And can you also give

a little more information

on the forced entry?

There's no sign of forced entry,

but was the door --

did it seem like any

of the entries were left

unlocked by any means?

We're not 100% sure if the door

was unlocked,

but there was no damage

to anything and the door

was still open when

we got there.

So this leads us to believe

that maybe the k*ller had

been there before,

that he'd been in that home,

that he was acquainted with it.

Or at the very least,

he knew the victims.

[Caitlyn] So the most likely

point of entry would have been

that sliding glass door

in the backside of the house.

The back of the house is

also much darker,

and there's a parking area

back there that is just

a quick walk in the dark

straight to that door.

This was a known party house.

Back in August, police came to

the house for a noise complaint.

-[officer] How are ya?

-Good, how are you?

-[officer] Good, is this

your place?

-Yeah.

[officer] Perfect, do you know

why I'm here?

-Um, I assume noise.

-[officer] Noise, yeah.

-Yeah.

-[officer] Big speaker

right there.

Yeah.

And then Labor Day weekend,

the cops are called again

to the house.

[Caitlyn]

This time, police can't find

one person who is a renter

or resident of this home

to come and answer

the noise complaint.

So I just looked for everyone

that lived here

and they're not here right now.

-[officer] No one's here that --

-No one's here.

-[officer] At all?

-No one's here that lives here.

-So everyone here's trespassing?

Well, no one's here

that's trespassing.

But no one, no one that

lives here is here right now.

[Caitlyn]

Later that night, police are

called back a second time

for another noise complaint.

[officer] Hello, miss.

What's your name?

-Xana.

-[officer] Xana, do you

live here?

-Yes.

-[officer] This is the second

noise complaint

we've had here tonight,

within two hours, OK.

I'm sorry about that.

[Caitlyn]

Noise complaints, parties.

People coming and going.

It's a house a lot of people

had access to even

when the girls weren't home.

[investigator]

The front door code...

[Caitlyn]

The two surviving roommates,

Dylan and Bethany,

They're crucial for police to

start putting together

a timeline of what happened

leading up to

the quadruple homicides.

At 8:57 PM, Kaylee Goncalves

posts this photo.

It is a chilling image.

You see Kaylee there, smiling.

Maddie's perched

on her shoulders.

Ethan has his arm hooked

over his girlfriend, Xana.

All four of the victims are

just there together

earlier that day.

Later in the night,

they kind of splinter off.

[Caitlyn] They all leave

Sigma Chi at different times.

By 1 AM, Bethany is back

at the house on King Road

watching TV.

Meanwhile, Kaylee and Maddie

headed out to a local bar

called The Corner Club.

1:30 rolls around, they head out

and they go to a popular

nighttime food stop

called a Grub Truck,

where they pick up some pasta.,

And we see them on this

Twitch video looking like

typical college girls.

They're laughing.

They're on their phones.

They take a private car service,

and by 2 AM, they're home.

-[Bethany] Mm-hmm.

-OK.

[Caitlyn] The girls catch up

with Bethany for a bit,

and then they decide

to get ready for bed.

[Caitlyn]

By 3:30 AM, everyone was home.

But Dylan woke up

to some commotion

in the middle of the night,

and what she heard and saw

was absolutely terrifying.

[Caitlyn] So she goes back

to her room, but she believes

she then hears someone faintly

crying and a voice saying,

"It's OK.

I'm here to help you."

We presume at this point those

are the words of the k*ller.

[Caitlyn] So again, she opens

the door, peeks out,

doesn't see anything,

closes the door

and gets back into bed.

Then she opens the door

a third time,

and what she sees

shakes her to her core.

[Caitlyn] This figure, clad in

black clothing and a ski mask

walks past Dylan and she stands

there, frozen in shock.

Police at this point

assume that masked person has

fled the scene.

Terrified, Dylan starts

texting and calling

everyone else in the house,

but only Bethany answers.

At first, Bethany seems

skeptical about Dylan's story,

suggesting maybe she just saw

Xana in the house.

But the more details

Dylan gives,

the more concerned Bethany gets.

We really don't know

how intoxicated

Dylan and Bethany were,

but the other kids in the house

had blood alcohol levels

between roughly 1.3

and three and a half times

the legal driving limit.

The alcohol combined

with the late hour

and the effects of fear,

it's really possible that

those factors help explain

why no one called 911.

[Caitlyn] Based on cell phone

data and the information

that they got from

Bethany and Dylan,

police are narrowing down

the timeline of the murders

from between 4 and 4:25 AM.

Something else we learned

from the cell phone data

is Xana gets a DoorDash delivery

at 4:00 in the morning,

pretty much on the button.

Then her phone reports that

she was on TikTok at 4:12 AM.

But the phones aren't

the only things that are

recording that morning.

Less than 50 ft from Xana's

bedroom wall,

a neighbor's security camera

is running,

and at 4:17 AM,

it picks up a sound.

[dog barking]

[dog barking]

Police immediately start working

to secure the crime scene

and collect evidence

in the hopes of

finding out who did this.

[Dahlinger] We had a lot to do

on the outside.

We had our initial

responding officers helping

to lock down the scene,

as they should.

And they did a great job

of cordoning off the area.

The first days were a bit

of a blur.

We were working tirelessly

from dawn till late at night.

[Caitlyn] The story starts to

captivate the nation.

Multiple victims,

two survivors in a college town

and a k*ller on the loose?

You can't look away.

[reporter]

With a k*ller on the loose,

police in Moscow, Idaho

trying to calm

a community on edge.

This stuff doesn't happen here.

We're 100 ft away.

You know.

How close was this person?

Are they still around?

Like where?

I don't know, it's so scary.

[woman]

I've walked at night in Moscow

and I haven't worried.

But this is gonna flip

a lot of that upside down.

In some ways,

this took our innocence.

You guys have said repeatedly

that there's no threat

to the public,

but we don't know

who the suspect is.

We don't know where he's at.

How is there no threat

to the public at this point?

Well, that's kind of an unknown.

The individual is still

out there, right?

We need to be vigilant.

We need to watch out

for our neighbors.

The reality is, there's still

a person out there

who committed four

horrible, horrible crimes.

So I think we gotta go back

to there is

a threat out there still.

[Wills] At this crime scene,

We collected 103 pieces

of individual evidence.

We took approximately

4000 photographs.

We've conducted multiple

3D scans of the residence,

and we have hundreds of hours

used by technicians

and investigators,

including our forensics team

and detectives

from multiple agencies.

Police are really tight-lipped

to the public, but a key piece

of evidence that they uncovered

during the investigation is

a ka-bar knife sheath that was

uncovered partially underneath

Madison Mogan's body

on the bed.

It's a ka-bar knife sheath,

which is a military style knife.

The Marine Corps insignia is

stamped on the sheath,

which is leather.

That knife wasn't from

the kitchen, which means it was

brought there by the k*ller,

which also means

this was planned.

The four were stabbed

with a knife,

but no weapon has been located

at this time.

What we don't know,

the identity and location

of the suspect.

The location of the knife

or any clothing that was worn

by the suspect.

And we continue looking

for what we believe to be

a fixed-blade knife used

in the murders.

[Caitlyn]

A week after the killings,

the Idaho State Police

Crime Lab locates a single

source of male DNA

on the snap of

that knife sheath.

They run the DNA through CODIS,

that's the FBI's database

of offender DNA,

and they don't get a match.

So on November 22nd,

nine days after the murders,

the Moscow Police Department

personally delivers that

male DNA to Othram Labs.

It's a Texas-based private

company that specializes

in advanced DNA testing

and forensic genealogy.

Building out a genetic

family tree takes time.

So while Othram Labs is

studying the DNA

on the knife sheath,

Moscow investigators are

scouring surveillance cameras

around the neighborhood

around the times of the m*rder.

And immediately, one vehicle

jumps out.

The same white sedan makes

three passes around the house

between 3:30 and 3:58 AM.

At 3:59 AM, Xana's DoorDash

order is dropped off

at the house.

And just five minutes later at

4:04 AM, that same white sedan

is seen entering the area

a fourth time.

At 4:07 AM, the sedan heads back

in the direction of the house.

Xana's phone lock reveals

she was on TikTok

from 4:12 to 4:16 AM.

And then at 4:17:32,

the security camera across

the street picks up the sound

of screaming and a thud.

This matches up with

Dylan's description of hearing

Xana say, "someone's here."

And at 4:20 AM, that white

sedan is seen peeling out

away from the house.

[Jesse] Now we're narrowing

the timeline down even more.

4:07 AM. to 4:20 AM.

That is 13 minutes for someone

to take four lives.

[Caitlyn]

So the person who entered

this home to commit these crimes

very likely knew exactly where

they were going

within the house.

Police take all the footage

of this white sedan

and they give it to FBI forensic

examiners, who come back

with a make and a model.

They say it's likely a 2011

to 2013 Hyundai Elantra,

but then that gets adjusted to

a 2014 to 2016 Hyundai Elantra.

Problem is, there are

approximately 22,000 registered

vehicles in the Moscow area

that match this description,

making this a needle

in a haystack

search for law enforcement.

Luckily, after 18 days on

December 10th, Othram Labs

finally completes their work.

It determines the DNA on

the knife sheath belongs to

an Italian-American family

in Pennsylvania.

The FBI then cross checks

the individuals on this

family tree against the 22,000

registered Hyundai Elantras

in the Moscow area.

On December 19th,

they get a match and identify

the owner of a 2015

Hyundai Elantra.

The FBI calls Moscow police

with a name,

Bryan Christopher Kohberger,

6 feet tall, 185 pounds,

and bushy eyebrows,

just like Dylan described.

Within two weeks of the murders,

police are running down

information on this

Bryan Kohberger.

They learned that he's a PhD

student at Washington State

University studying

criminology, and that he lives

off campus just eight miles

from where the murders

took place.

He's also a teaching assistant

in the criminology department.

And that's not all.

Bryan Kohberger holds

an undergraduate degree in

psychology and cloud-based

forensics from

DeSales University.

Bryan Kohberger.

[Caitlyn] At DeSales,

Kohberger surveyed former

inmates about their criminal

thought process and planning.

While he was at DeSales

University, he studied under

this renowned expert

in serial K*llers,

Katherine Ramsland.

She quite literally wrote

the book on the BTK k*ller.

For me, it was

advancing criminology,

making a contribution to

my field in forensic psychology.

[Caitlyn] It seemed Kohberger

had every intention of a career

in law enforcement.

He actually applied for

an internship with

the Pullman Police Department

in the fall of 2022.

And in his criminology classes,

of course they're going to talk

about this gruesome quadruple

homicide not 10 miles away.

Police talked to classmates

and acquaintances of Bryan's

who described him as quieter

and visibly disheveled

in the weeks

following the murders.

Kohberger's not from

the Washington or Idaho area.

He actually grew up in eastern

Pennsylvania near the Poconos.

He's one of three.

He's got two sisters.

Back in high school,

Kohberger was described as being

pretty overweight

and that he was bullied

and that sometime between

his junior and his senior year

he dropped like 100 pounds,

and there was a switch

in his personality

when suddenly he kind of

became the bully.

Kohberger had some small brushes

with law enforcement

prior to the murders,

but nothing really seemed

alarming at the time.

When he gets pulled over

three months prior,

Kohberger seems calm, friendly,

maybe a little awkward.

He's asking

the officer questions.

He uses the stop to almost

kind of pump the officer

for information.

One month before the murders,

Kohberger's pulled over

a second time, this time

for running a red light.

Again, he's peppering

the officers with questions.

[Caitlyn] Now remember, we're

one month after the murders.

The public still has no idea

who he is.

They've never heard his name.

They're still gripped with fear

because no suspect has

been named.

Law enforcement has established

several key points connecting

Bryan Kohberger to

the quadruple homicide.

He owns a white Hyundai Elantra.

He lives in Pullman,

Washington, which is only miles

from the crime scene.

DNA found at the scene has been

linked to his family,

and his appearance matches

the one that Dylan gave police

of the intruder that night.

Kohberger is a strong suspect,

but it's not enough.

Investigators still need

more evidence,

stronger evidence,

in order to make an arrest.

The cellphone data

for Bryan Kohberger's phone

comes back and it shows that

on the night of the murders,

his phone is kind of near

his apartment

at about 2:42 in the morning

and then it is traveling

towards Moscow.

But at 2:47, the phone goes

completely offline.

It just vanishes and police

believe that he either turned

his phone off or put it

in airplane mode in an effort

to conceal his location.

Then the phone doesn't ping

a cellphone tower

until 4:48 AM.

and it pings the tower

located south of Moscow.

Later that morning,

Bryan's seen running errands

at Albertsons and Costco.

Bryan doesn't have

a Costco card though,

so they won't let him

in the door.

He doesn't seem anxious

or disheveled at all.

So just five days after

the m*rder, records show that

Kohberger gets a new

license plate.

He registers his car

in Washington state.

Before, he had

Pennsylvania plates.

Inside the DMV, Kohberger is

kind of calm, chatty.

It's the same sort of demeanor

he displayed with

the police officer.

Even a little curious.

[Caitlyn] Then, on December 7th,

Moscow police announced

they're searching for

a white Hyundai Elantra.

While Moscow police search

for the car, word hasn't quite

reached other local police

departments nationwide.

On December 13th,

a license plate reader picks up

Bryan's new Washington plate

in Loma, Colorado.

And two days later,

Bryan Kohberger is going to have

yet another encounter

with law enforcement.

So when he's pulled over in

Indiana on December 15th,

it's totally random.

It has nothing to do

with the case,

and to Indiana police,

he's just another tailgater.

Kohberger's father had come out

to Washington for a pre-planned

trip where they were going

to drive his car back

to Pennsylvania

for the holidays.

The officer lets him off

on the warning.

[Caitlyn] Nine minutes later,

they are pulled over

a second time.

[indistinct chatter over radio]

[Caitlyn]

They are let off a second time

with a verbal warning.

On December 16th,

Bryan and his father arrive

at the Kohberger family home in

Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.

And within a week, police are

surveilling this place

round the clock.

Pretty much every time

Kohberger exits the home,

he's wearing rubber

surgical gloves.

They witnessed him cleaning

his white Hyundai Elantra

top to bottom.

Law enforcement grabs a used

Q tip from the Kohberger's

family's trash, and from it,

they're able to extract

a male DNA sample.

Testing them reveals

with a 99.99% certainty

that the DNA from

the Q tip belongs

to the biological father

of whoever left the DNA

on that knife sheath.

This essentially confirms that

Michael Kohberger is the father

of the person who k*lled Xana,

Maddie, Ethan, and Kaylee.

It's enough to make an arrest

on Bryan Kohberger.

[reporter] Breaking news.

A suspect has been arrested

in the murders

of the four university students.

An arrest in connection to

the murders of four

University of Idaho students.

A suspect has been arrested

in Pennsylvania...

...in connection with

the November murders

of four University

of Idaho students.

[Fry] Detectives arrested

28-year-old

Bryan Christopher Kohberger

on a warrant for m*rder

of Ethan,

Xana, Madison, and Kaylee.

[Caitlyn] Police also impound

the white Hyundai Elantra

from in front of the house.

It's basically a mobile

crime scene.

Four days later, Kohberger makes

his first court appearance

in Pennsylvania.

-[reporter #1] Hey, Bryan.

-[reporter #2] Bryan,

why did you do it?

[reporter #3] How you feeling?

[reporter #1]

How you feeling, Bryan?

[reporter #2]

Bryan, why did you do it?

[reporter #3]

Are you ready to go to Idaho?

[reporter #2]

Why did you do it?

[Caitlyn]

And after being charged,

Bryan Kohberger is extradited

back to Idaho to

face his charges.

So now, Bryan Kohberger makes

his first court appearance

in Idaho.

He does not enter

any kind of plea.

The same day Kohberger is

arrested, investigators search

Bryan's Pullman apartment.

They find kind of nothing.

It's pretty much stripped bare.

There aren't a lot of

personal belongings.

DNA, surveillance footage,

cellphone data.

The prosecution has

a very strong case.

Law enforcement starts

analyzing Bryan Kohberger's

cellphone data immediately

after his arrest,

and they discover that he was

within 100 yards of

1122 King Road 23 times

between July and November

of 2022.

Was he stalking them?

Did he want to attack earlier?

I mean, the amount of planning

that went into this crime

is a lot.

After Bryan Kohberger arrives

in Idaho, he's charged

with four counts of first-degree

m*rder and one count

of felony burglary.

His attorneys plead not guilty

on his behalf.

And so starts

the two-and-a-half-years

process of the prosecution

and the defense

preparing for trial.

Prosecutors hired digital

forensic experts

Heather and Jared Barnhart

to look through Bryan's phone.

They searched for any telling

digital fingerprints that can

help bolster the state's case

against Bryan.

It was late spring of 2023

when the FBI reached out seeing

if I was interested

in assisting.

[Caitlyn] What they found wasn't

just what was there,

it's what had clearly

been erased.

Ultimately, he used

incognito mode in Google Chrome

to try to sort of obscure

the records that could be

recorded about his web history.

He turned off his Wi-Fi.

But as you start to build this

profile of all of the behaviors

that he did, especially around

the time of the crime,

he set up his device to be dumb.

Minimally collecting data.

The erasure had a very

specific timestamp,

and it's important because

it links to Bryan's behavior

leading up to the crime.

[Heather] He turned off Wi-Fi

two days prior to the m*rder.

He powered off his phone.

It was at 100% battery.

We're going to testify

with 100% certainty

that's what he did.

-That was preparation.

That was him doing an action

that he thought would help him

get away with it.

[Dahlinger]

We had the data that this

phone had been in the area

of the home many, many times.

That whole timeline that's

been put out there,

but now we have

the actual device.

We actually have the phone

and could match that up.

That was -- that was

a big piece of it.

But buried in the data itself

was an entirely

different story.

One That gives investigators

a look into

who Bryan Kohberger is.

There didn't seem to be

another person in his life,

based on the evidence

we looked at,

that filled any of his time.

There's not a friend that got

consistent messages.

There was pretty much nothing,

except for his communication

with his parents.

-Mother and father.

That's what he called them.

[Caitlyn]

Kohberger's search history

truly paints a picture

of an evil mind.

[Heather] He looked up a lot of

home invasions, burglaries,

co-ed killings, serial K*llers.

There was one search,

Danny Rolling,

the Gainesville Ripper.

He's a co-ed k*ller,

same knife.

Like, there were a lot

of details there that

were just too eerie.

And then as Jared dove into

the phone, there's even more.

[Jared] On Christmas 2022,

so after the crime,

late at night and into the early

morning of the 26th,

he was just like working

through serial K*llers

and the site was specifically

serial k*ller timelines.

And so it just basically has

this list of a bunch

of serial K*llers.

And it seemed, based on

the timing of it, that he was

just clicking one,

scanning-reading,

and then going back

and clicking the next one.

How they were raised,

what their childhood was like

with their parents.

It wasn't only violence that

he was drawn to.

[Jared] The consistent nature

of the searches were

non consensual sex acts.

Seeing p*rn*graphy is not

weird, but the fact that

this person had non consensual,

specifically only that,

not one other thing that was

a consensual sex act.

They were all, like,

aggressive or drugged.

-Or sleeping.

-Voyeurism.

It was all consistently

non consensual things.

And in the days after,

that same sense of nerve showed

up again and again and again.

And this was something that

investigators couldn't ignore.

[Jared] Yeah, this thumbs up

with sort of the Band Aid.

As soon as I saw it,

it catches your eye,

you know, because his knuckles

look just so white.

And like it reminded me of like

scrubbing your hands for days

to try to get something off.

And then there's this like

Band Aid that's visible

that's, you know, like just

barely visible in the picture.

The hoodie picture as well.

It's been like sort of

a popular one

in the case as well.

The general behavior.

He read something on the news

that said, "Police still looking

"for Hyundai Elantra, white in

color, this year to this year,

make and model."

Within minutes, he searches

for a car detailing place

and then starts to shop

for used cars.

About a year and a half

into trial prep,

Bryan's defense team

discloses his alibi.

He finally said what he was

doing on the night of

the quadruple murders and how

he was not there and he is not

the one responsible.

And take a guess what

he was doing.

Driving in the night

by himself looking at

the moon and the stars.

Mm... no.

[Caitlyn]

We know Xana was awake

at the time Bryan entered

the house because of her phone

log and her DoorDash order.

Investigators believe Xana

heard Murphy barking

and that she heard the commotion

upstairs in Maddie's room,

so she came out of her bedroom

to see what was going on.

We know how intense

the struggle was.

It was evidenced by all

of those defensive wounds

on Xana's body.

Ultimately, she collapsed in

the doorway of her bedroom.

You've got people that

are reactive.

You've got individuals

that are fighting back.

You've got a perpetrator that

is in the midst of a m*ssacre.

During the two and a half

years of preparing for trial,

some of the victim's families

expressed their frustration

at just how long the judicial

process is taking.

There's countless delays.

Then, just weeks

before this trial is set

to begin, bombshell.

There is going to be no trial

in the Bryan Kohberger case.

This is breaking news,

just came in an hour ago.

I am not gonna lie,

I did not expect this.

If the defendant wants to

avoid trial, he only has

one option, and that's to plead

guilty as charged to all

five felonies, waive appeal,

so it's final and conclusive,

and it won't go on for years,

as capital cases are want to do,

and know that he was

going to be spending

the rest of his life in prison.

[Caitlyn] Even when Judge

Steven Hippler delivers

this emotional statement,

this moment in the courtroom,

the only thing

Bryan Kohberger can offer is

a blank stare.

We were asked if we had

ever been offered a plea deal

or gave one.

We're not in it.

We're in it for

the death penalty.

The choice is he could be fired

at or he could take a shot.

Those are the two options

that we would agree to.

[Caitlyn] Kaylee and Xana's

families are furious.

They're denied a trial,

they're denied closure,

they're denied explanation.

It looks like the Goncalves

family is the first to come out

of the Ada County Courthouse

right there.

Let's take a look and a listen

to see what they have to say.

The negotiation wasn't...

It wasn't justice, it was just

a, it was a shortcut.

And we said from the very

beginning, we're not interested

in a shortcut for our daughter.

When the prosecution followed

the same path we've seen

before, closed doors,

limited input, and a plea deal

handed down without our voice,

it became painfully clear that

Kaylee was being treated

just like another case.

Madison and Ethan's families,

they support the plea deal

as much as you can

in a situation like this,

just for the sake of closure.

We love you, Maddie.

And we miss you.

We support the plea

agreement 100%.

While we know there are

some who do not support it,

we ask that they respect

our belief that this is

the best outcome

possible for the victims,

their families,

and the state of Idaho.

We have closure.

We embark on a path

of hope and healing.

[Caitlyn] The social media

response is also divided

and just as passionate

as it has been the whole time.

Undoubtedly, the most

heartbreaking part of

the sentencing are

the emotional impact statements

given by the family members.

They're gut wrenching

and they're scathing against

Bryan Kohberger.

On November 13th, 2022,

a piece of my heart was

ripped away.

There's no way to ever fully

describe the weight of losing

my sister and my best friend.

She truly did live every day

to the fullest.

Yet her story was cut short

by an act of evil.

I believe in a God whose justice

is not bound by this courtroom.

I find peace knowing that

judgment ultimately belongs

to him.

Maddie was my first grandchild.

When the four kids

were m*rder*d,

the foundation fell out

of our world.

[Kristi] A dead k*ller doesn't

k*ll again.

So while I'm disappointed

the firing squad won't get

to take their shots at you,

I'm confident that the men

in prison will have their way

with you in more ways than one.

Disappointments like you

thrive on pain, on fear,

and on the illusion of power.

And I won't feed your beast.

Instead, I will call you

what you are.

Sociopath.

Psychopath.

m*rder*r.

You didn't win.

You just exposed yourself

as the coward you are.

You're a delusional,

pathetic, hypochondriac loser

who thought you were so much

smarter than everybody else.

If you hadn't attacked them

in their sleep,

in the middle of the night,

like a pedophile,

Kaylee would have kicked

your [bleep] a*s.

They are everything that

you could never be.

Loved, accepted,

vibrant, accomplished,

brave, and powerful.

Today, we are here to finish

what you started.

Today, we are here to prove

to the world that you picked

the wrong families,

the wrong state,

the wrong police officers,

the wrong community.

You tried to break

our community apart.

Instead, your actions have

united everyone,

in their disgust for you.

[Jesse] Even though it's been

years since the deaths of Kaylee

and Madison and Ethan and Xana,

there is an overwhelming

feeling of closure.

This case reminds us why

we answer that call,

why we stand for victims,

why we fight.

In this case,

why we fight pure evil

and why we keep going.

On behalf of the FBI,

we offer our deepest

condolences to the families

of Madison Mogen,

Kaylee Goncalves,

Xana Kernodle,

and Ethan Chapin.

The culmination of this case

was a long time coming,

and we hope the victims'

families and friends have

some sense of peace in knowing

that Bryan Kohberger is

being held responsible

and accountable

for his heinous actions.

[Dahlinger] You know, especially

during the sentencing,

my mind and my heart was

with the families.

It's absolutely unimaginable

what they have gone through

and will continue to go

through, because this isn't

over for them.

It never will be.

I cannot imagine losing

someone, especially a child,

and especially in that manner.

I just, I can't fathom it.

Without a trial,

without a statement

from Bryan Kohberger,

there are still

so many questions in this case.

The evidence suggested that

there was a reason that this

particular house was chosen.

What that reason is,

we don't know.

I have to be perfectly candid.

I don't believe that there is

anything that would come out of

his mouth that would

be the truth.

[Dahlinger]

It is a part of our history.

It'll never go away.

I'd just like to reiterate how

absolutely blown away and proud

I was of all of the law

enforcement and investigators

that were involved

in this case.

Their efforts truly got us

to where we are today.

[voice shaking]

She was a beautiful girl.

Xana, you will not be forgotten.

You have impacted so many lives

and have given people

so much love.

Maddie was my best friend.

She was the first person

I talked to every morning

and the last person

I talked to before bed.

I love you so much,

E, and Xana.

[Caitlyn]

This case has become one of

the defining true crime stories

of our time because it violates

everything that we think

and believe about safety

in our modern world.

We live in an era

of doorbell cameras,

cellphone records,

DNA databases,

and near constant

digital surveillance.

And yet, in the middle of

a busy college town on

a Saturday night, four young

students were slaughtered

in a matter of minutes

inside their home.

Even after an arrest,

a guilty plea,

and a life sentence,

a major question still haunts

this case.

It's the simplest one.

Why?

Ultimately,

the public's connection,

their fascination

with this case,

it shouldn't be about

Bryan Kohberger.

It needs to be about those four

lives who were lost that night.

Kaylee, Madison,

Xana, and Ethan are familiar.

We all know them

or someone liked them.

They're any young person doing

any ordinary thing,

going to school, falling

in love, going to parties,

making friends,

having a good time.

They're imagining the life

they still have ahead of them.

[Jesse]

Most murders are committed by

somebody who knows the victim.

A friend, a partner,

an acquaintance,

a family member.

Not here.

What happened here is

something far rarer.

These victims weren't targeted

because of something

that they had done.

They didn't knowingly put

themselves in danger in any way.

They were simply at home.

This is one of the more

heinous and senseless crimes

that I have ever seen.

Bryan Kohberger had a period of

time in which he could go back

to the court and change

his mind about his guilty plea.

And now he wants to withdraw

his plea and go to trial.

And I'm not surprised

in the very least.

I've been saying for a long

time that I could feel it

in my bones that this was

not the last

that we would hear

of Bryan Kohberger.

Right after the news broke,

the Goncalves family issued

a scathing statement.

[Jesse]

Maybe that's why this case is

so difficult to look away from.

Because beyond the evidence

and the defendant

and the speculation

and the rumors

and the questions,

there is a fear that is almost

impossible to dismiss.

That there are at times

no warning,

that there's no mistake

to learn from.

That there is no simple way

to reassure ourselves

that this can never

happen to us.

I think that the focus

should now be on

those beautiful kids

and the lives that were lost.