Bryan Kohberger ‘mentioned knife used to kill Idaho students' in creepy chat with Tinder match about worst ways to die
A woman who matched with Kohberger on Tinder weeks before the tragedy said he overwhelmed her with disturbing questions and mentioned the Ka-Bar knife he used in the quadruple murders.
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Bryan Kohberger, 30, arrives at the Ada County Courthouse during his sentencing hearing in Boise, Idaho on July 23, 2025
Credit: EPA
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A Ka-Bar USMC knife, the kind of knife that Kohberger used to stab four University of Idaho students to death
Credit: Rich Bowen/CC BY 2.0
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University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle were killed in an off-campus home on November 13, 2022
Credit: Instagram/kayleegoncalves
The terrifying conversation was detailed in police files released on Thursday, just hours after Kohberger, 30, was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences in prison for the murders of Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin.
The new documents reveal insight into the police investigation into
In March 2024, a woman identified only as "KC" and "C" in the redacted files told detectives she matched with Kohberger on Tinder one or two months before the 2022 murders.
However, she ended things after the conversation turned alarming.
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KC said she began talking to Kohberger after she bought Tinder's Passport feature, which allowed her to match with people anywhere in the country instead of just her area.
Kohberger told the woman he was a criminology student at Washington State University.
The two made a plan for Kohberger to visit her for a date when he came back to Pennsylvania for Christmas break that year.
But the conversation took a turn when the two started talking about horror movies.
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KC told Kohberger she liked the Rob Zombie Halloween movies, which are notoriously graphic slasher films.
Then, Kohberger asked her what she thought would be the worst way to die.
Bryan Kohberger stares in silence as Idaho murder victims' brave surviving housemate breaks down over horror of attack
When KC responded that she thought it would be a knife, she said Kohberger's response confused her.
"Kohberger then asked her something to the effect of, 'like a Ka Bar?'" Detective Brett Payne wrote in the file.
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The convicted killer purchased a Ka-Bar military-style knife on Amazon in the months before the murders.
Police found a Ka-Bar sheath with Kohberger's DNA on it next to Mogen and Goncalves' bodies.
University of Idaho murders timeline
On November 13, 2022, a brutal home invasion claimed the lives of four University of Idaho students.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in a Moscow, Idaho, off-campus home.
A six-week manhunt ensued as cops searched for a suspect.
On December 30, 2022, Bryan Kohberger, 30, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania - 2,500 miles away from the crime scene.
He was taken into custody and charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University, was linked to the crime scene through phone records, his car's location, and DNA evidence found at the home where the murders took place.
The house was demolished in December 2023 despite backlash from the victims' families.
Kohberger was held at Latah County Jail where he awaited trial.
On September 9, 2024, an Idaho judge ruled to move the upcoming murder trial out of Moscow after Kohberger's lawyer argued that the town was prejudiced against him.
The trial was expected to start in August 2025.
But on June 30, 2025, Kohberger struck a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to the charges on July 2.
The move was blasted by the victims' families, who wanted Kohberger to face justice through a trial.
On July 23, Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive life sentences in prison with an additional 10 years for burglary.
Friends and family members of the four victims shared powerful impact statements at the sentencing hearing, as roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke also spoke out for the first time.
The Tinder date told investigators she had to Google the knife after Kohberger brought it up.
"[KC] said she eventually stopped talking to Kohberger because his questions made her uncomfortable," Payne wrote.
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When Kohberger was arrested in December 2022, KC said she tried to call the tip line, but cops couldn't verify her story.
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The knife sheath was found next to the bodies of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves
Credit: Instagram/autumngoncalves
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The house in Moscow, Idaho, where the four students were killed
Credit: Alamy
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Kohberger in his police booking photo after he was handed four consecutive life sentences in prison
Credit: Reuters
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She told cops she didn't have access to her Tinder profile anymore.
Police noted there was nothing to verify KC's tip.
The documents also showed that cops obtained a warrant for Kohberger's Tinder account while investigating the case.
On Thursday, Kohberger was sentenced to spend the rest of his days in prison after his victims' family and friends shared
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After a two-week evaluation process, he will likely be locked behind bars at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
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.
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