Brian Kohberger stunned the legal community by agreeing to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty for brutally murdering four University of Idaho students. The small farming community of Moscow, Idaho had not seen a homicide in about five years before this case shook its residents. New disturbing evidence continues to surface even in 2025.
Prosecutors charged Kohberger with four counts of first-degree murder for killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin at an off-campus home. The investigation revealed that Kohberger’s cell phone connected to cell towers near the crime scene 23 times between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. during the four months before the murders. His arrest came after surveillance data and DNA evidence from a Q-tip matched his father’s profile.
Evidence from Amazon purchase records showed that Kohberger bought a knife with a sheath and sharpener from the same company as the sheath found at the crime scene. The prosecution’s case also features testimony from a surviving roommate who saw an intruder in black clothing and a ski mask with “bushy eyebrows” just before 4:19 a.m. on the night of the killings. The legal proceedings continue while questions linger about the victim selection and any possible connections between them and Kohberger.
The Night of the Murders: What We Know
A horrific crime shattered the peace of Moscow, Idaho’s quiet college town on November 13, 2022. The brutal stabbings took place near the University of Idaho campus at 1122 King Road, an off-campus rental house.
Timeline of events on November 13, 2022
The tragic events unfolded during the early morning hours. Xana Kernodle received a DoorDash delivery at approximately 4:00 AM. She remained active on TikTok until 4:12 AM. Investigators believe the four students lost their lives between 4:00 and 4:25 AM. A security camera positioned less than 50 feet from Kernodle’s room captured unsettling sounds at about 4:17 AM – a dog barking and “distorted audio of what sounded like voices or a whimper followed by a loud thud”. Someone called 911 at 11:58 AM to report an “unconscious person”.
Victims and their last known activities
Each victim spent their Saturday night differently. Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle attended a Sigma Chi fraternity house party and returned home around 1:45 AM. Best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen stayed at the Corner Club bar until about 1:30 AM. They grabbed food from a truck at 1:40 AM before reaching home around 1:56 AM. The autopsy results showed multiple stab wounds on all four victims, and some had defensive injuries.
Surviving roommates and their accounts
Two roommates, Dylan Mortensen (D.M.) and Bethany Funke (B.F.), survived that night. Mortensen told investigators she woke up around 4:00 AM because of noises and believed she heard Goncalves say “there’s someone here”. She heard crying from Kernodle’s room and opened her door again, hearing a male voice say “It’s ok, I’m going to help you”.
Mortensen opened her door one more time and saw “a figure clad in black clothing and a mask” walk past her bedroom. She described the figure as “5-foot-10-inch or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows”.
The roommates sent frantic texts between 4:22-4:24 AM: “No one is answering,” Mortensen texted Funke. “I’m rlly confused rn.” “I’m freaking out rn,” she continued as her calls to the victims went unanswered. “Come to my room,” Funke responded. “Run.”
The 911 call came almost seven hours after these exchanges.
How Investigators Tracked Brian Coburger
Technological evidence played a significant role that led authorities to Kohberger after the gruesome quadruple homicide.
Cell phone tower pings and location data
Investigators found Kohberger’s cell phone had connected with towers near the crime scene for months before the killings. His phone pinged on those towers 23 times between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. during the four months before the stabbings. Cell data showed his phone near his Pullman residence until 2:42 a.m. on the night of the murders. The phone then started using cellular resources southeast of his home, which matched someone traveling south.
The investigators noticed a suspicious two-hour gap in location data during the critical timeframe. The phone showed no data until 4:48 a.m., which suggested Kohberger might have turned it off to avoid detection during the attack. When the phone reactivated, it took a roundabout route back to Pullman through Genesee, Idaho, then west to Uniontown, Washington, before reaching Pullman around 5:30 a.m.. The phone data became even more incriminating when it showed Kohberger returned to the victims’ neighborhood around 9 a.m., hours after the attack.
Surveillance footage and vehicle identification
Neighbors’ and businesses’ surveillance videos captured a white sedan that drove repeatedly by the rental home. The car sped away from the scene shortly after 4 a.m. and “almost losing control as it makes the corner”. The investigators analyzed the footage carefully and narrowed their search to a 2011-2016 white Hyundai Elantra.
The role of the white Hyundai Elantra
Moscow Police alerted regional law enforcement to look for a white Elantra on November 25. A Washington State University police officer ran a query for such vehicles on campus three nights later and found one registered to Kohberger. That same day, another officer located the car at Kohberger’s apartment complex.
The investigators found a critical detail – Kohberger had switched his car registration from Pennsylvania to Washington on November 18, just five days after the murders. This calculated move, along with the vehicle’s documented presence near the crime scene, gave authorities compelling evidence that linked Kohberger to the killings. Pennsylvania State Police seized the car during their raid of Kohberger’s parents’ home on December 30.
New Evidence Revealed in 2025
The prosecutors’ case against Brian Coburger grew stronger in 2025 as new details came to light about the Idaho murders.
The Q-tip DNA match from family trash
A Q-tip turned out to be the unexpected source of DNA evidence that linked Coburger to the crime. The FBI worked with local sanitation departments on a secret nighttime operation to collect trash outside Coburger’s parents’ Pennsylvania home. This “trash pull” led to a breakthrough when lab tests showed DNA on a thrown-away Q-tip belonged to Coburger’s father. The DNA from his father matched perfectly with the profile from the knife sheath left next to Madison Mogen’s body at the crime scene.
Amazon purchase history of knife and sheath
Search warrants helped investigators get access to Coburger’s Amazon account, which showed he bought a Ka-Bar knife, sheath, and sharpener eight months before the killings. The prosecution won the right to show evidence of Coburger’s “customer click activity pertaining to knives and accessories”. Making things worse for him, his Amazon searches showed he looked for a replacement knife and sheath right after the murders. Judge Hippler let the prosecution use this evidence despite the defense team’s protests.
Forensic analysis of the cleaned car and apartment
The investigators noted Coburger’s apartment was “Spartan” with “virtually nothing there”. His car looked like someone had “essentially disassembled inside” and cleaned it thoroughly. Every spot was clean, even places that usually collect dirt from normal use, like side door pockets. This suggested someone tried to remove evidence carefully.
Phone activity of surviving roommates
Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke’s text messages showed their fear at 4:22 a.m. “No one is answering,” Mortensen wrote. “I’m rlly confused rn”. She texted about seeing someone in “like a ski mask” and added, “I’m not kidding [I] am so freaked out”. Funke sent back, “Come to my room. Run”. They kept using their phones for hours but waited until 11:58 a.m. to call 911.
911 call audio and its emotional impact
Judge Hippler allowed the jury to hear the emotional 911 call. The recording captures people crying and breathing heavily as they talk about finding Kernodle unconscious. One person tells dispatch, “Um, one of our — one of the roommates who’s passed out and she was drunk last night and she’s not waking up,” then adds, “Oh, and they saw some man in their house last night”. Someone can be heard saying, “I think we have a homicide”.
Unanswered Questions and Legal Outcomes
The legal resolution of the Idaho murder case has left investigators and families wondering about the true events of that night.
Why was that house targeted?
Investigators discovered Kohberger had visited the victims’ neighborhood at least a dozen times before the killings. His cell phone data shows his presence in the same area the night of the murders. In spite of that, authorities haven’t explained his specific choice of the King Road residence. Kohberger’s attorneys said he “was simply on a long drive by himself around the time the four were killed”. The prosecutors’ evidence reveals he conducted thorough surveillance of the location before the attack.
Was there a motive or prior connection?
No motive has surfaced for the killings. The victims were all friends and part of the university’s Greek system, with no apparent connection to Kohberger. The seemingly random nature of the attack stands as one of the case’s most troubling elements. Some investigators wonder if Kohberger’s criminal justice graduate studies at Washington State University played a role in his actions.
Family reactions to the plea deal
The victims’ families responded quite differently to the plea agreement. The Goncalves family voiced strong opposition, declaring, “This is anything but justice. This is the opposite of our will”. Steve Goncalves spoke to NewsNation about his desire for a jury verdict. Ethan Chapin’s family took a different stance, supporting the deal through their spokesperson Christina Teves. Madison’s father, Ben Mogen, expressed his relief: “We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates”[192].
What the plea deal has and excludes
The agreement requires Kohberger to serve four consecutive life sentences for the murders plus a maximum 10-year term for burglary. Prosecutors removed the death penalty option in exchange. Of course, a crucial element prevents Kohberger from appealing his conviction[192]. The Goncalves family wanted the deal to require Kohberger’s full confession, details of the events, and the murder weapon’s location. Their Facebook post stated, “We deserve to know when the beginning of the end was”.
Conclusion
The Brian Coburger case ranks among Idaho’s most horrific crimes in recent memory. The 2025 revelations proved to be a big deal as they strengthened the prosecution’s case – especially when you have the DNA match from the Q-tip, Amazon purchase records, and a spotless apartment. Yet investigators still can’t explain why Coburger chose these specific students or what drove him to attack strangers so brutally.
The legal system has reached a resolution through the plea agreement, even with these unsolved mysteries. Coburger will remain in prison for life without appeal, though this outcome split the victims’ families. The Goncalves family wanted more – they needed a full confession, details about the crime, and the murder weapon’s location. Other families felt relieved to avoid a lengthy trial.
This case changed Moscow, Idaho’s small community forever. The town’s reputation for safety and five-year record without homicide now carries the weight of this tragedy. On top of that, it explains both the strengths and limits of modern investigation methods. Phone data, surveillance footage, and genetic genealogy led investigators to Coburger, yet they couldn’t prevent the crime or fully understand why it happened.
Four consecutive life sentences deliver justice by law, though it’s an incomplete closure for those who need answers. Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin deserved to be nowhere near this senseless tragedy. Their families keep their memory alive as they search for answers, even as the legal proceedings end.
FAQs
Q1. What new evidence was revealed in the Brian Kohberger case in 2025? Key evidence included DNA from a Q-tip matching Kohberger’s father, Amazon purchase records of a knife and sheath, forensic analysis of Kohberger’s meticulously cleaned car and apartment, and phone activity of the surviving roommates.
Q2. How did investigators track down Brian Kohberger? Investigators used cell phone tower pings, surveillance footage of a white Hyundai Elantra, and DNA evidence from trash collected outside Kohberger’s parents’ home to link him to the crime scene.
Q3. What was the outcome of the legal proceedings against Brian Kohberger? Kohberger agreed to a plea deal, avoiding the death penalty in exchange for four consecutive life sentences plus a maximum of 10 years for burglary. He cannot appeal his conviction under the terms of the agreement.
Q4. Were there any connections between Kohberger and the victims? No prior connections between Kohberger and the victims have been established. The seemingly random nature of the attack remains one of the most perplexing aspects of the case.
Q5. How did the victims’ families react to the plea deal? Reactions were mixed. The Goncalves family strongly opposed the deal, wanting a jury trial and more information about the crime. Other families, like the Chapins and Mogens, expressed support or relief at avoiding a lengthy trial process.