Big Plans, Hopes Cut Short for 4 Slain Idaho Students in 2022
Madison Mogen was a marketing major who ran a social media campaign for the Greek restaurant where she worked. Kaylee Goncalves was a senior planning a post-graduation trip to Europe. Xana Kernodle was a marketing major who was the kind of person who lifted a room. And Ethan Chapin was a freshman whose fellow triplets also attended the university. Now the man charged with the murders, 30-year-old Bryan Kohberger, will ask a judge Wednesday to accept a plea deal that would spare him the death penalty, said Shannon Gray, an attorney for Goncalves' family. The students' bodies were found stabbed to death on Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home across the street from the university campus in Moscow, about 80 miles (130 kilometers) southeast of Spokane, Washington. Chapin, Kernodle's boyfriend, was there visiting on the night of the attack. All of them were friends and members of the university's Greek system. The killings left many of their classmates and residents reeling with grief and fear. Autopsies showed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked. Some had defensive wounds, and each was stabbed multiple times.
Here are profiles of the students: Madison Mogen, 21, a senior, worked with Kernodle at a Greek restaurant in Moscow. She was a marketing major who ran a social media campaign for the business. She also was a member of Pi Beta Phi. Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves grew up together in northern Idaho and were best friends. Along with photos, Mogen collected quotes on her Instagram page. 'It's not all sunshine and rainbows, but a good amount of it actually is,' read one post. Ben Mogen, Madison's father, told a crowd at a 2022 vigil in Moscow that she was his only child, 'so everything she ever did was such a big deal.' 'Talking about Maddie was his pride,' Mogen said, 'and the two loved attending music concerts together.' 'When I would meet people ever since she was first born and they would say 'Tell me about yourself,' the first thing I would say is 'I have this daughter–here's a picture of her, she's on the dean's list at college, she works hard, she has all these friends at her sorority,'' Mogen said.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, was a senior majoring in general studies. She had joined the Alpha Phi sorority and was planning a trip to Europe the following year. 'Kaylee and Madison met as sixth graders and became inseparable,' Kaylee's father, Steve Goncalves, said at the 2022 vigil. 'They went to high school together, then they started looking at colleges, they came here together. They eventually got into the same apartment together,' he said. 'And in the end, they died together, in the same room, in the same bed. It's a shame, and it hurts, but the beauty of the two always being together comforts us,' he said. Kaylee Goncalves chronicled some of her history with Mogen in an Instagram post celebrating Mogen's 21st birthday in May 2022. 'I wouldn't have wanted anyone else to be the main character in all my childhood stories,' she wrote. Mogen replied, 'love you more than life! My best friend forever and more,' with a heart emoji.
Xana Kernodle, a 20-year-old junior from Post Falls, Idaho, was studying marketing and had joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Jazzmin Kernodle described her younger sister as lighthearted, saying she was 'the kind of person who always lifted up a room.' 'You rarely get to meet someone like Xana,' her sister said. 'She was so positive, funny and was loved by everyone who met her.' For her high school graduation in 2020, Xana decorated her mortarboard with flower and butterfly cut-outs and the words 'For The Lives That I Will Change.' Kernodle and Chapin were friends before they began dating, according to Chapin's mother. Stacy Chapin and Kernodle spent time with the entire Chapin family.
Ethan Chapin, a 20-year-old freshman from Mount Vernon, Washington, was a triplet. His brother and sister also attended the university, and this spring the family celebrated their graduations in a social media post. The brothers were both members of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Chapin spent his last day with his siblings attending a dance hosted by Chapin's sister's sorority, according to their mother. 'Ethan Chapin was his sister's date, and their brother was her roommate's date,' Stacy Chapin said. 'They all spent their last day together, all dressed up and had a great time,' she said. 'We're all thankful that they spent that time together.' Stacy Chapin described her son as carefree and said he 'could read any situation and make it better.' Since attending the University of Idaho, Ethan 'lived his best life,' according to his obituary. 'He loved the social life, intramurals and tolerated the academics. He also continued to play sports. If he wasn't on the golf course or working, you could usually find him surfing, playing sand volleyball or pickleball,' the obituary said. The Chapin family has created the Ethan's Smile Foundation in his memory to provide scholarships that enable others to follow their dreams.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
41 minutes ago
- Al Arabiya
‘Diddy' Combs' lawyer mocks sex trafficking case in closing, calls charges ‘exaggerated'
Sean 'Diddy' Combs' lawyer implored a jury on Friday to acquit the hip-hop mogul, arguing overzealous federal prosecutors twisted his drug use and swinger lifestyle into a sex trafficking and racketeering case that could put him behind bars for life. 'He is none of these things. He is innocent,' defense attorney Marc Agnifilo said, glancing at Combs during a four-hour closing argument. 'He sits there innocent. Return him to his family who have been waiting for him.' Jurors are expected to begin deliberating Monday. Agnifilo repeatedly mocked the government's case, peppering his presentation with folksy quips and bawdy observations. He said prosecutors 'badly exaggerated' the charges, and he belittled federal agents who seized baby oil and lubricant in raids last year at Combs' Los Angeles and Miami-area homes. 'Way to go, fellas,' the defense lawyer said. Agnifilo accused the government of targeting Combs, irritating prosecutors and the judge, and questioned why no one else was charged in what the prosecution alleges was a racketeering conspiracy involving Combs' personal assistants, bodyguards and other employees. Judge Arun Subramanian instructed jurors not to consider why or how the government obtained an indictment. In a rebuttal, Assistant US Attorney Maurene Comey said Agnifilo spent 'a whole lot of energy' trying to distract from Combs' 'inexcusable criminal behavior.' 'Make no mistake,' Comey told jurors, 'this trial was about how in Sean Combs' world, 'no' was never an option.' Agnifilo called Combs' prosecution a 'fake trial' and ridiculed the notion that the 'I'll Be Missing You' singer engaged in racketeering. 'Are you kidding me?' Agnifilo asked. 'Did any witness get on that witness stand and say, 'Yes, I was part of a racketeering enterprise — I engaged in racketeering?'' No, those accusations were a figment of the prosecution's imagination, he argued. Combs, in a sweater and khakis, watched Agnifilo with rapt attention after looking down and slouching during Thursday's prosecution closing. He didn't testify during the seven-week trial, and his lawyers called no witnesses of their own. Combs' family, including six of his children and his mother, sat behind him. When the day was finished, Combs hugged one of his lawyers and smiled as he conversed with others. As the jury filed out of the courtroom for the last time this week, Combs watched them, but the jurors didn't look his way. Combs' ex-girlfriends R&B singer Cassie and a woman testifying under the pseudonym 'Jane' told jurors that Combs coerced them into participating in 'freak-offs' or 'hotel nights' — drug-fueled sex marathons with hired workers while Combs participated. Agnifilo argued prosecutors had invaded Combs' most intimate personal affairs, warning jurors: 'Where's the crime scene? The crime scene is your private sex life.' He also mocked the prosecution's assertion that Combs and his underlings engaged in hundreds of racketeering acts, as well as the government's suggestion that many of the sex marathons at the heart of the case were crimes. If that's so, he said, 'we need a bigger roll of crime scene tape,' a reference to a famous line from the movie 'Jaws.' Agnifilo argued there's another factor at play in the allegations that women have lobbed against him: the prospect of draining him of his wealth through lawsuits. 'This isn't about a crime. This is about money. It's about money,' Agnifilo said. Cassie, whose real name is Casandra Ventura, sued Combs in November 2023 over abuse allegations. He settled with her the next day for $20 million, but the allegations prompted federal law enforcement to open the criminal investigation that led to his arrest. Dozens of other lawsuits followed. 'If you had to pick a winner in this whole thing, it's hard not to pick Cassie,' Agnifilo said. Agnifilo reiterated that the defense 'owns' the fact that Combs was violent but argued that behavior does not justify the grave charges against him. Combs and Cassie had a 'loving, beautiful relationship,' albeit a 'complicated' one, Agnifilo said. 'If racketeering conspiracy had an opposite, it would be their relationship.' Agnifilo said. 'They were truly, deeply in love with each other, for real.' Echoing prosecutor Christy Slavik's closing argument on Thursday, Agnifilo showed jurors part of the now-infamous security camera footage of Combs attacking Cassie at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016. Agnifilo acknowledged that the video clearly shows domestic violence, but he disputed the prosecution's theory that the assault was evidence of sex trafficking by force. He insisted Combs may have been angry not that Cassie was trying to flee a 'freak-off,' but that she was taking his cellphone. In her rebuttal, Comey said: 'Being a domestic abuser is not a defense to sex trafficking.'
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
Jury reaches partial verdict in Sean ‘Diddy' Combs trial
A jury reached a partial verdict Tuesday in the sex trafficking trial of Sean 'Diddy' Combs but has been unable to agree on the most serious charge facing the music mogul—racketeering. A note from the jury to Judge Arun Subramanian did not say whether the verdict on four of the five counts against the 55-year-old Combs was guilty or not guilty. 'We have reached a verdict on counts 2, 3, 4 and 5. We are unable to reach a verdict on count 1 as we have jurors with unpersuadable opinions on both sides,' the jury note said. The judge instructed the jury to continue deliberations on the racketeering charge, but dismissed them for the day and asked them to return on Wednesday. Count One is the racketeering charge and accuses Combs of being the ringleader of a criminal organization that forced women into coercive sex marathons with escorts. It carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. In addition to racketeering, Combs faces two charges of sex trafficking and two charges of transportation for purposes of prostitution. Combs's star fell dramatically when his former partner of 11 years, the singer Casandra 'Cassie' Ventura, filed a civil lawsuit accusing him of disturbing sexual, physical, and emotional abuse. That case was settled out of court for $20 million, but it triggered an avalanche of similarly harrowing civil lawsuits and eventually criminal charges. The seven-week trial included at times disturbing testimony—two women spoke of feeling forced into lurid sex parties, and some former employees told jurors of violent outbursts—along with thousands of pages of phone, financial, and audiovisual records. Central to the prosecution's case is its accusation that Combs led a criminal enterprise of senior employees who 'existed to serve his needs' and enforced his power with offenses including forced labor, drug distribution, kidnapping, bribery, witness tampering, and arson. But defense attorney Marc Agnifilo underscored that none of those individuals testified against Combs, nor were they named as co-conspirators. Many witnesses were given immunity to avoid incriminating themselves. To convict Combs on racketeering, jurors must find that prosecutors showed beyond reasonable doubt that he agreed with people within his organization to commit at least two of the eight crimes forming the racketeering charge. The eight men and four women must reach a unanimous decision on each count. Combs is charged with sex trafficking two women: Ventura and a woman who testified under the pseudonym Jane. Both were in long-term relationships with Combs. And both testified of abuse, threats, and coercive sex in wrenching detail. But while his lawyers have conceded that Combs at times beat his partners, they insisted the domestic violence does not amount to sex trafficking or racketeering. Agnifilo scoffed at the picture painted by prosecutors of a violent, domineering man who fostered 'a climate of fear.' Combs is a 'self-made, successful Black entrepreneur' who had romantic relationships that were 'complicated' but consensual, Agnifilo said. The defense dissected the accounts of Ventura and Jane and at times even mocked them, insisting the women were adults making free choices. But in their final argument, prosecutors tore into the defense, saying Combs's team had 'contorted the facts endlessly.' Prosecutor Maurene Comey told jurors that by the time Combs had committed his clearest-cut offenses, 'he was so far past the line he couldn't even see it.' 'In his mind he was untouchable,' Comey told the court. 'The defendant never thought that the women he abused would have the courage to speak out loud what he had done to them.' 'That ends in this courtroom,' she said. 'The defendant is not a god.'
Arab News
2 hours ago
- Arab News
Son of kingpin ‘El Chapo' to plead guilty to drug trafficking in US
NEW YORK: A son of Mexican drug kingpin Joaquin 'El Chapo' Guzman has agreed to plead guilty to drug trafficking in the United States as part of a plea deal, court documents show. Ovidio Guzman is accused of conspiring to ship cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine and marijuana into the United States, via a faction of the notorious Sinaloa Cartel founded by his father. Federal court documents dated June 30 and signed by Ovidio Guzman, alias 'Raton' , say he wishes to plead guilty to settle the case and to waive trial in Illinois, where he is being held. According to documents from the Chicago court hearing his case, a plea hearing is scheduled for July 9 before Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman. After that hearing, the judge will sentence him at a date yet to be determined. US authorities accuse Ovidio and his three brothers of leading Los Chapitos, a faction of the Sinaloa Cartel designated by the Trump administration as a global 'terrorist' organization. The United States accuses the four of trafficking fentanyl into the United States, where the opioid epidemic is linked to tens of thousands of deaths. Ovidio Guzman was extradited to the United States in 2023 to face narcotics charges, joining his father, one of the world's most infamous drug traffickers, who is serving a life sentence in a US prison. The Sinaloa cartel is one of six Mexican drug trafficking groups designated terrorist organizations by US President Donald Trump. Another son, Joaquin Guzman Lopez, was arrested after arriving in the United States last July in a private plane with cartel co-founder Ismael 'El Mayo' Zambada, who claimed he had been kidnapped. The arrests sparked cartel infighting that has left more than 1,200 people dead and 1,400 missing in Sinaloa state, located in northwestern Mexico. On Monday, the bodies of 20 people, several of them decapitated, were found on a highway bridge in a part of Mexico where factions of the Sinaloa drug cartel are fighting, authorities said.
