Monster Bryan Kohberger left Idaho student ‘unrecognizable' as harrowing trove of files reveal how he butchered victims
A harrowing trove of documents has since been released after he was sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.
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Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to murdering four University of Idaho students
Credit: AP
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Harrowing police files have revealed how Kaylee Goncalves was killed
Credit: Instagram/kayleegoncalves
5
The victims were Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin
Credit: Instagram/kayleegoncalves
He killed four students in their rented accommodation in Moscow and documents released by cops documented his movements inside the home.
Xana Kernodle, 20, was left with more than 50 stab wounds after being repeatedly assaulted with a Ka-Bar knife.
The documents revealed she tried to defend herself while being attacked as cops revealed her injuries were mainly defensive.
read more on news
Her shirt and underwear were left bloodied.
But,
Kaylee and her friend Madison Mogen were found lying together in a bed and a
pink
blanket covered in blood was draped over them.
'Kaylee was unrecognizable as her facial structure was extremely damaged,' the report said.
Most read in The US Sun
Kaylee had been stabbed in the lung and liver, and she was left with two brain bleeds.
She had been attacked behind her clavicle.
Bryan Kohberger stares in silence as Idaho murder victims' brave surviving housemate breaks down over horror of attack
Kaylee and Madison had both been stabbed more than 20 times.
Survivor
Dylan Mortensen told cops how she heard screams she thought were from Kaylee.
And, she heard someone scampering from the third floor of the property to the second.
Mortensen said she saw a man dressed up in black, but she told a friend she didn't call the cops because she was 'intoxicated.'
In a highly-emotional impact statement, she revealed she had suffered panic attacks since the killings.
'He may have shattered parts of me, but I'm still putting myself back together piece by piece,' Mortensen added.
Xana's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, had two deep gashes in the back of his legs.
Cops ruled a stab wound in his neck killed him.
The full details of Bryan Kohberger's sentence
On July 23, 2025, Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Bryan Kohberger to the following:
Count 1
: Burglary - 10 years fixed, zero years in determinate. $50,000 fine.
Count 2
: First-degree murder of Madison Mogen: Fixed term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. $50,000 fine and civil penalty of $5,000 payable to the family of the victim.
Count 3
: First-degree murder of Kaylee Goncalves: Fixed term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. $50,000 fine and civil penalty of $5,000 payable to the family of the victim.
Count 4
: First-degree murder of Xana Kernodle: Fixed term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. $50,000 fine and civil penalty of $5,000 payable to the family of the victim.
Count 5
: First-degree murder of Ethan Chapin: Fixed term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. $50,000 fine and civil penalty of $5,000 payable to the family of the victim.
The sentencings will run consecutively to one another.
Investigators recalled the moment they found the bodies inside the accommodation.
'I was unable to comprehend exactly what I was looking at while trying to discern the nature of the injuries,' one said.
The sheath of the Ka-Bar knife had been left at the scene.
Cowardly Kohberger refused to shed light on his horrifying crimes in court - only uttering three pathetic words during the hearing
Asked if he wanted to make a statement, he just replied: 'I respectfully decline.'
Kaylee was unrecognizable as her facial structure was extremely damaged
Moscow Police report
Kaylee's sister, Alivea, skewered Kohberger as she delivered an impact statement.
She labeled Kohberger a 'hypochondriac loser' and said no one in the courthouse was intimated by him.
"You act like no one can ever understand your mind, but the truth is you're basic," she said.
"You're a textbook case of insecurity disguised as control. Your patterns are predictable.
'Your motives are shallow. You are not profound. Don't ever get it twisted.
"No one is scared of you today. No one is intimidated by you. No one is impressed by you. No one thinks that you are important.
"You orchestrated this like you thought you were God. Now look at you, begging a courtroom for scraps.
'You spent months preparing and still all it took was my sister and a sheath."
'CLUMSY AND SLOW'
Alivea continued to tear Kohberger to shreds, describing him as 'painfully average.'
'The truth is, you're as dumb as they come. Stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty.
'Let me be very clear, don't ever try to convince yourself you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud.'
Steve Goncalves, Kaylee's father, didn't mince his words as he blasted Kohberger, describing him as a 'complete joke.'
Kim Kernodle, Xana's aunt, appeared to offer forgiveness to the killer.
'Bryan, I'm here today to tell you I have forgiven you because I no longer could live with that hate in my heart,' she said.
Kohberger was spared the death penalty after pleading guilty to the murders.
He was slapped with four life sentences without the possibility of parole.
But, the judge warned how the motive behind the slaughters may never be known.
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Kohberger, seen in 2023, could only muster three words at the hearing
Credit: AP
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The Moscow home where the students were killed
Credit: Getty
Bryan Kohberger's eerie confession
On July 2, Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students during a chilling and emotionless courtroom appearance. With one-word answers, he confessed to the disturbing crime:
Judge Steven Hippler:
Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?
Bryan Kohberger:
Yes
Judge
Hippler
:
Did you on November 13, 2022 enter the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder?
Kohberger
: Yes
Judge
Hippler
:
Did you on November 13, 2022 in Latah County in the state of Idaho kill and murder Madison Mogen, a human being?
Kohberger
: Yes
Judge
Hippler
: And did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation, and with malice of forethought?
Kohberger
: Yes
Judge
Hippler
:
Did you on or about the same date in Moscow, Idaho, kill and murder Kaylee Goncalves, a human being?
Kohberger
: Yes
Judge
Hippler
:
And did you on that same date in Moscow, Idaho, kill and murder Xana Kernodle, a human being?
Kohberger
: Yes
Judge
Hippler
:
And then on or about November 13, 2022, again in Latah County, Idaho, did you kill and murder Ethan Chapin, a human being?
Kohberger
: Yes
Later in the hearing, Kohberger officially changed his plea, one count at a time, with the same emotionless tone that belied the horrific nature of his murders.
Judge
Hippler
:
With respect to count one, burglary felony, how do you plead Mr. Kohberger?
Kohberger:
Guilty
Judge
Hippler
:
As to count two, murder in the first degree as it relates to the murder of Madison Mogen, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger:
Guilty
Judge
Hippler
:
As to count three, as it relates to murder in the first degree to the murder of Kaylee Goncalves, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger:
Guilty
Judge
Hippler
:
As to count four, the first degree murder of Xana Kernodle, a human being, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger:
Guilty
Judge
Hippler
:
As to count five, first degree murder of Ethan Chapin, a human being, how do you plead guilty or not guilty?
Kohberger:
Guilty
Photo: AP
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