Did Bryan Kohberger know the Idaho students? Netflix’s ‘Idaho Murders’ docu reveals chilling new details
Netflix’s latest ‘The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare’ has shocked viewers with the unexpected revelations. One of the most asked questions is whether Bryan Kohberger knew the Idaho victims. For readers who might not know, in November 2022, four college students, Kaylee Goncalves (21), Madison Mogen (21), Xana Kernodle (20), and Ethan Chapin (20), were stabbed to death. The incident occurred at an off-campus house located in Moscow, Idaho. A few years later, in July 2025, former Washington State University criminology student Bryan Kohberger, now 31, pleaded guilty.
As a result, he was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison. Shockingly, he did not reveal the reason behind committing such a heinous crime. Since he did not reveal the motive, it has been quite unclear why he went to the campus and brutally stabbed the students. As a result, investigators were unable to link him to any of the four victims. At the crime scene, police officers recovered a knife sheath. It turned out to be a “statistical match” to Kohberger, as authorities revealed later on, per ABC News. It matched a DNA sample taken from trash at Kohberger’s family home in Pennsylvania. That was where officials tracked him down during the holiday break. Notably, his phone was near the victim’s house more than 10 times before the murders.
It all went down on November 13, 2022. Moscow Police were called to 1122 King Road at 11:56 am. The caller told the dispatcher, “Something’s happened in the house, and we don’t know what.” The caller passed the phone to someone else, who shared, “One of the roommates has passed out, and she was drunk last night, and she’s not waking up.” After the officers arrived on the scene, they learned that the roommate (and more) were not passed out but dead. Shockingly, a year later, on December 28, 2023, the university demolished the house where the incident had occurred.
Jeff Kernodle, Xana’s father, shared, “That whole house is evidence, as far as I’m concerned. There are still stains and things that should have been left there until the end of the trail. But they did it anyway.” Kaylee’s mom told the cameras that people would not understand why she did not want the house to be destroyed. “My daughter didn’t just die in that house; my daughter lived in that house. That was where she took her last breath,” she added. As for Kohberger, he entered a guilty plea deal in July 2025 and avoided the death penalty. Kaylee’s aunt, Tami, felt, “He got off, in a sense, in our eyes, easy.” She added, “That’s not enough. The biggest answer I want is why. Why would you choose these kids, and this house?” Jeff also reflected on the same and noted, “Tell all of us parents why he did it, if he was gonna get the plea.”
