Known as: Moscow Murderer · King Road Killer
In the early hours of November 13, 2022, Bryan Kohberger broke into a rental house at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho and stabbed four University of Idaho students to death while two other roommates slept nearby. The victims were Madison Mogen (21), Kaylee Goncalves (21), Xana Kernodle (20), and Ethan Chapin (20). The surviving roommates discovered the bodies the following afternoon.
The case drew nationwide media attention and created widespread fear at the small college town campus. Moscow police faced intense pressure as the weeks passed with no arrest. Behind the scenes, investigators were building a case using a sophisticated combination of DNA evidence, cell phone tracking data, and a white Hyundai Elantra captured on surveillance footage near the scene.
Kohberger was a PhD student in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, just 8 miles from Moscow. He had developed a disturbing academic obsession with predatory behavior, and had reportedly reached out to potential victims via Instagram in the weeks before the killings.
On December 30, 2022 — 47 days after the murders — Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Monroe County, Pennsylvania during a cross-country drive. DNA from a knife sheath left at the scene and DNA pulled from trash at Kohberger's apartment matched the same male profile.
After years of pre-trial legal proceedings — including a change of venue to Boise — Kohberger agreed to plead guilty on June 30, 2025, admitting to all four murders. On July 23, 2025, a judge sentenced him to four consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole, along with an additional 10 years for burglary.