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2022 University of Idaho killings
Moscow, Idaho 1km 0.6miles Sigma Chi house Corner Club Grub Truck Residence   Area around the University of Idaho in Moscow
Location	Moscow, Idaho, United States
Date	November 13, 2022 (2022-11-13) (2 years ago) 3:00 – 4:00 a.m. (PST (UTC−08:00))
Attack type	Mass stabbing
Deaths	4

In the early hours of November 13, 2022, a mass stabbing took place in Moscow, Idaho, United States. Four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus three-story rented home while they slept. On December 30, 2022, a suspect was arrested on four counts of murder in the first degree, as well as felony burglary.

Background

Several University of Idaho students lived in a rented off-campus home in the rural college town of Moscow, Idaho. The three-story home had six bedrooms; two on each floor.

The town had not seen a murder since 2015.

Events

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

Earlier on the evening of November 12, two of the four victims, Chapin and Kernodle, were at an on-campus party at the nearby Sigma Chi fraternity from 8 pm to 9 pm. They returned home at 1:45am. That evening, the other two victims, best friends Mogen and Goncalves, had gone to a downtown sports bar at 10 pm, from which they departed at 1:30 am. A livestreamed video from Twitch 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 trip of about one mile (1.6 km). The police later rephrased their statement to say the ride was provided by a "private party," arriving home at 1:56 am.

All four students were home by 1:56am. Seven uncompleted phone calls were made from the phone of Goncalves to her former longtime boyfriend, a fellow student, from 2:26 to 2:52 am. Mogen also called the boyfriend three times with similar results from 2:44 to 2:52 am. These calls were investigated with the police concluding they did not believe he was involved in the crime.

The two surviving roommates had returned home by 1 am, 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 four victims were stabbed to death on the second and third floors in the home, where they had been sleeping. The victims were not gagged or restrained, and the walls at the scene were splattered with blood.

No calls to 911 were made until 11:58 am many hours after the early morning killings. At that time, a call was made from inside the residence, from the cellphone of one of the surviving students who lived at the residence, asking for aid for an "unconscious" person. When police arrived, the door to the home was open, there was no sign of forced entry or damage inside the home, and nothing appeared to be missing. The two surviving roommates were in the residence when the police arrived, as were other friends of the victims. The surviving roommates had called friends over to the home because they believed one of the second-floor victims was unconscious and was not waking up. The identity of the 911 caller was not released, and the person was not considered a suspect.

All four victims were pronounced deceased at 12 noon. That night, officers came upon Goncalves's dog, which she shared with her ex-boyfriend, alive and unharmed at the house; it was ultimately handed over to what police said was a 'responsible party'.

Victims

Four University of Idaho 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 Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Chapin was a freshman, Kernodle was a junior, and Goncalves and Mogen were both seniors.

Aftermath

On the evening of November 13, the university canceled classes for November 14; it also scheduled a candlelight vigil to be held on the UI administration building lawn on the evening of November 16, then postponed it two weeks. From the day of the killings, investigators initially said that there was no risk to the community. Three days later, however, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said: "We cannot say that there is no threat to the community."

Fall break was scheduled to begin after November 18, with classes resuming on November 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 November 30.

Investigation

The investigation of the stabbings is being conducted by the Moscow Police Department, supported by the Idaho State Police and the Latah County Sheriff's Office. In all, almost 130 members of law enforcement from the three agencies began working on the case. A phone tip line and email were created for students and others to submit potential evidence to officials. By December 5, it was reported that there had been more than 2,600 emailed tips, 2,700 phone calls, and 1,000 digital media submissions from the public to these tip lines. By December 24, the investigative team reported having received at least 15,000 tips regarding the case.

The Latah County coroner conducted autopsies on the four victims on November 17. She said they all appeared to have been stabbed multiple times (with fatal wounds in the chest and upper body) with a large knife (if not the same knife, very similar ones). At least one victim (with what were apparently defensive stab wounds on her hands) and possibly more appear to have tried to fend off their attacker, and the victims may have been attacked while sleeping in their beds. None showed signs of sexual assault, and toxicology reports are pending. All four deaths were deemed homicide by stabbing. They were not tied and gagged. No weapon has been recovered, though the police believe the killer or killers used a fixed-blade knife.

The police ruled out a fellow student wearing a white hoodie seen in the video footage speaking to Mogen and Goncalves by the food truck; the person who drove Mogen and Goncalves home; the two surviving roommates, who were home during the killings; and Goncalves's former long term boyfriend whom she and Mogen had called a total of ten times that night. The authorities left open the possibility that there could be more than one perpetrator. In a November 23 press conference, the Moscow police chief said that authorities had received a number of tips including that Goncalves allegedly had a stalker, but were unable to verify that claim or identify any such individual at that time.

After receiving hundreds of tips from the public, police received information about a white Hyundai Elantra car, with a likely model year of 2011 to 2013, which was imaged by a camera in the area of the murders around the time when they took place. Investigators traced ownership of this vehicle to a local individual, who was to drive the car, with his father, to Pennsylvania for the holidays. Investigators had also obtained a sample of DNA from the crime scene that did not belong to any of the victims. Using a public genealogy database, authorities identified a partial match to an individual with a familial connection to the suspect.

Suspect

A 28-year-old man, Bryan Christopher Kohberger of Albrightsville, Pennsylvania was arrested on December 30 at the home of his parents in Chestnuthill Township in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. He was arrested on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. He was appointed a public defender and was detained without bond at the Monroe County Correctional Facility in Stroudsburg. He was scheduled to return to court on January 3 2023.

Kohberger was born in Albrightsville on November 21, 1994, and lived in the Lehigh Valley throughout most of his life. Kohberger attended Pleasant Valley High School in the neighboring town of Brodheadsville from 2009 until graduating in May 2013. Later that same year, Kohberger attended Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, where he earned an associate's degree in psychology five years later in 2018. After graduating from Northampton, Kohberger attended DeSales University outside Allentown. He received a B.A. in 2020 and an M.A. in June 2022 from DeSales in Criminal Justice. He relocated to Washington to pursue a PhD in the same field at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, and had completed his first semester at Pullman nine days before his arrest. The Pullman campus is about 10 miles (16 km) west of Moscow.

Response

Due to the slow release of details about the crime to the public, TikTokers, self-proclaimed psychics, and social media users began to speculate and spread rumors and misinformation about the case on social media. The father of Chapin stated that “There is a lack of information from the University of Idaho and the local police, which only fuels false rumors and innuendo in the press and social media." The father of Goncalves spoke of the lack of flow of information from police to the families of the victims about eleven days after the attack, saying: "They’re just so vague with everything that they say and then they like slowly peel it back later until you like find the real story".

The Moscow Police Department criticized Internet sleuths for creating rampant online rumors and disrupting investigation, and in a December 2 news release, stated that "There is speculation, without factual backing, stoking community fears and spreading false facts". They also warned that "people harassing or threatening those potentially involved with the case could face criminal charges." Moscow Police Captain Roger Lanier stated that "Tracking down rumours and quelling rumours about specific information and specific events that may not have happened is a huge distraction", and said "We are not releasing specific details as we do not want to compromise the investigation. We owe that to the families and we owe that to the victims. We want more than just an arrest. We want a conviction."

See also

• List of attacks related to post-secondary schools

References

1. "Police: 2 other roommates were home during fatal stabbing of 4 U of Idaho students". TODAY.
2. ^ Mike Baker and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs (November 19, 2022). "New Details Emerge in University of Idaho Killings: What We Know; The phone log of one victim showed a series of unanswered calls to her longtime boyfriend the night of the attack in Moscow, Idaho, her sister revealed. The police have not identified a suspect." Archived November 20, 2022, at the Wayback Machine, The New York Times.
3. "University Of Idaho Horror: First Look Inside Home Where Four Students Stabbed To Death". MSN. November 21, 2022.
4. Levenson, Elizabeth Wolfe,Eric (November 28, 2022). "'Sketched out' University of Idaho students return to campus from break with still no arrest in quadruple killings". CNN. Retrieved November 29, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
5. ^ Elamroussi, Aya (November 19, 2022). "Here's what we know – and don't know – about the killings of 4 University of Idaho students as a suspect has been arrested in the Pokonos". CNN.
6. ^ Emily Shapiro (November 18, 2022). "Idaho college murders: 2 surviving roommates not believed to be involved, police say". ABC News.
7. ^ Marisa Iati and Justine McDaniel (November 19, 2022). "What we know about Idaho students’ killing," The Washington Post.
8. ^ Sharif Paget, Caroll Alvarado, Eric Levenson, Amir Vera (November 17, 2022). "Food truck video of slain University of Idaho students offers a timeline of their final hours". CNN.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
9. ^ Garrett Cabeza (November 19, 2022). "University of Idaho Students Were Found Dead in Their Beds, May Have Been Sleeping When Attacked, Coroner Says". The Daily Chronicle.
10. "Saturday night video of #Moscow Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves & Madison Mogen at food truck hours before 1122 King Road tragedy #UniversityofIdaho". TikTok. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
11. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on November 26, 2022. Retrieved November 26, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. ^ Casey Frizzell (November 18, 2022). "Latest Info | Moscow PD: 9-1-1 call came from inside house where 4 U of I students were killed". krem.com.
13. ^ Garrett Cabeza (November 19, 2022). "'You're seeing things that humans probably shouldn't see': Killings of 4 UI students leave mental toll on officers". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington.
14. staff, KLEW News (November 23, 2022). "Moscow homicide update Nov. 23". KLEW. Retrieved December 8, 2022.
15. "'No bit of information is too small' | Police give new details on investigation into 4 University of Idaho students murdered near campus". krem.com. November 23, 2022.
16. ^ Debusmann, Bernd (December 5, 2022). "Idaho students murders: Roommates break silence over killed friends". BBC News. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
17. Sabes, Adam (November 19, 2022). "Idaho university murders: Police reveal key details about events surrounding stabbing of 4 students". Fox News.
18. Celina Van Hyning, Francesca Maxine Vista (November 20, 2022). "Latest Info | Moscow PD: Other friends were at the home where officers responded to U of I murders". krem.com.
19. Baker, Mike; Bogel-Burroughs, Nicholas (November 23, 2022). "1,000 Tips, No Suspects: Latest on the University of Idaho Killings". The New York Times. Retrieved November 26, 2022.
20. Collins, Terry (November 18, 2022). "Four University of Idaho students were slain in their beds while they slept: What we know". USA TODAY. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
21. Velasquez, Anna (November 14, 2022). "University of Idaho cancels classes to honor student victims". KLEW. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
22. Brianda Perez (November 15, 2022). "Vigil for 4 University of Idaho students murdered near campus scheduled for after fall break". krem.com. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
23. ^ Epperly, Emma (November 20, 2022). "In the age of misinformation, the mystery in Moscow takes on a troubling life of its own". The Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Retrieved November 21, 2022.
24. "Academic Calendar for 2022–2023" (PDF). (Moscow, Idaho): University of Idaho. 2022. Retrieved December 5, 2022.
25. Palermo, Angela (November 20, 2022). "'Not feeling safe,' University of Idaho students are craving information, fleeing Moscow". Idaho Statesman. (Boise, Idaho). Retrieved November 21, 2022.
26. "‘Targeted’ Killings and No Arrest Bring Fear to University of Idaho," Archived November 21, 2022, at the Wayback Machine The New York Times, November 21, 2022.
27. Angela Palermo (November 16, 2022). "University of Idaho students flee, seek information on stabbing deaths". The Seattle Times.
28. Patrick Jackson (November 19, 2022). "University of Idaho students stabbed to death in their beds". BBC.
29. Sally Krutzig and Shaun Goodwin (November 19, 2022). "How did things unfold before, after University of Idaho killings? A timeline of events". East Idaho News.
30. ^ Shammas, Brittany (December 24, 2022). "TikTok psychic sued for accusing professor of killing 4 Idaho students". The Washington Post. Retrieved December 31, 2022.
31. Nicholas K. Gerantos (November 18, 2022). "University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their beds, coroner says". KCRA.
32. Aya Elamroussi, Veronica Miracle (November 18, 2022). "University of Idaho students were 'likely asleep' before being attacked, police say as search for answers intensifies". CNN.
33. ^ "University of Idaho murders: Here's what we know". ktvb.com. November 20, 2022.
34. McLaughlin, Natasha Chen,Paradise Afshar,Steve Almasy,Eliott C. (November 23, 2022). "Police say investigators in University of Idaho quadruple homicide have looked at more than 1,000 tips but still no suspect". CNN.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
35. Tariq, Haadiya. "One week later, police continue homicide investigation". The Argonaut.
36. "Police are investigating "hundreds" of tips that one of the Idaho stabbings victims had a stalker". CBS News. November 23, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
37. Maxouris, Paul P. Murphy,Christina (December 30, 2022). "What we know about the suspect arrested in connection with the Idaho college student killings". CNN. Retrieved December 31, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
38. Miller, Josh Campbell,Jim Sciutto,Lauren del Valle,Mark Morales,John (December 30, 2022). "A grad student at a nearby school is arrested in the killings of four University of Idaho students". CNN. Retrieved December 31, 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
39. Shapiro, Emily; Katersky, Aaron; Margolin, Josh (December 30, 2022). "Idaho murders: 28-year-old man arrested in Pennsylvania". ABC News. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
40. Krutzig, Sally; Goodwin, Shaun (November 19, 2022). "How did things unfold before, after University of Idaho killings? A timeline of events". The Idaho Statesman.
41. Wolfe, Elizabeth; Miller, John; Casarez, Jean; del Valle, Lauren (December 31, 2022). "Authorities tracked the Idaho student killings suspect cross-country to Pennsylvania, sources say". CNN. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
42. "Who is Bryan Kohberger? What we know about suspect in the University of Idaho homicides". Idaho Statesman. December 30, 2022. Retrieved December 30, 2022.
43. Ruderman, Emily Bloch, Nick Vadala, Ryan W. Briggs, Rob Tornoe, Robert Moran and Wendy. "Man arrested in Pennsylvania for killings of 4 University of Idaho students; suspect awaits extradition". inquirer.com.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
44. ^ "'More confusing': How social media sleuths, rumors are impacting the Moscow murder investigation". KXLY. December 13, 2022.
45. Epperly, Emma (November 21, 2022). "Social media spreads troubling rumors in University of Idaho student-deaths investigation". Idaho Statesman. Retrieved November 25, 2022.
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47. "Idaho police blame online sleuths for creating 'huge distraction' from murder case". The Independent. December 13, 2022.

• Crime
• Idaho

v t e Mass stabbing incidents in the 2020s
2020	Streatham, London, UK (2 Feb) Romans-sur-Isère, France (4 Apr) Knoxville, Tennessee, US (7 Apr) Reading, UK (20 Jun) Glasgow, UK (26 Jun) Manchester, UK (26 Jul) Paris, France (25 Sep) Nice, France (29 Oct) Quebec City, Canada (31 Oct) Kaiyuan, China (27 Dec)
2021	Vetlanda, Sweden (3 Mar) Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (27 Mar) Saudades, Brazil (4 May) Dunedin, New Zealand (10 May) Anqing, China (5 Jun) Würzburg, Germany (25 Jun) Tokyo, Japan (6 Aug) Auckland, New Zealand (3 Sep) Killamarsh, Sheffield, UK (19 Sep) Kongsberg, Norway (13 Oct)
2022	Beersheba, Israel (22 Mar) Mashhad, Iran (5 Apr) Bermondsey, London, UK (25 Apr) Saskatchewan, Canada (4 Sep) Las Vegas, Nevada, US (6 Oct) Brussels, Belgium (10 Nov) Ariel, West Bank (11 Nov) Moscow, Idaho, US (13 Nov)
2023	Algeciras, Spain (25 Jan) Brokstedt, Germany (25 Jan) Lisbon, Portugal (28 Mar) Blumenau, Brazil (5 Apr) Bodmin, UK (30 Apr) Annecy, France (8 Jun) Nottingham, UK (13 Jun) Jerez de la Frontera, Spain (23 Sep) Arras, France (13 Oct) Los Angeles, California, US (1 Nov) Crépol, France (19 Nov) Dublin, Ireland (23 Nov)
2024	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (6 Mar) Rockford, Illinois, US (27 Mar) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (13 Apr) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (15 Apr) Hainault, London, UK (30 Apr) Taichung, Taiwan (21 May) Mannheim, Germany (31 May) Southport, UK (29 July) Holon, Israel (4 Aug) Solingen, Germany (23 Aug) Shanghai, China (30 Sep) Yixing, China (16 Nov) Zagreb, Croatia (20 Dec)
See also	List of school attacks in China
2010s

v t e University of Idaho
Located in Moscow, Idaho
Academics	Law Music Outdoor Science
Facilities	Kibbie Dome Memorial Gymnasium ICCU Arena MacLean Field (defunct) Neale Stadium (defunct) Golf Course Arboretum Ridenbaugh Hall Gym & Armory
Athletics	Idaho Vandals Football Men's basketball Women's basketball Baseball (defunct) Rivalries Battle of the Palouse Little Brown Stein Battle of the Domes Boise State Gonzaga Fight song
Media	Fugue KUOI-FM University of Idaho Press
Related	Idaho Gem Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival Alumni Timeline 2022 UI killings

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• 2022 in Idaho
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• Stabbing attacks in 2022
• Deaths by stabbing in Idaho
• Knife attacks
• Mass stabbings in the United States
• Unsolved crimes in the United States
• Unsolved mass murders in the United States
• Violence against women in the United States
• University of Idaho
• Moscow, Idaho