The families of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21, are continuing to seek justice in connection with their killings.
The nation continues to reel from the brutal slayings of the four University of Idaho students, Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21, who were found stabbed to death in their homes in the college town of Moscow, Idaho, last November.
Now, as Bryan Kohberger, a PhD student in criminology at the nearby Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, has been charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary in connection with the students’ murders, more details are coming out surrounding the grisly crime.
The following is a timeline of everything we know so far about the case:
June 23, 2022
A cell phone account is registered to Kohberger at his parents’ Pennsylvania address, according to a probable cause affidavit submitted in court.
Phone records show Kohberg’s phone was near the victims’ residence at least 12 times between the time the cell phone was registered and the day of the killings. “All of these occasions, except for one, occurred in the late evening and early morning hours of their respective days,” according to the affidavit.
It is also around this time that Kohberger made several posts on Reddit, requesting users to anonymously “participate in a research project that seeks to understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime.” The posts have since been taken down, and his account has since been suspended.
August 16, 2022
One week before classes started, a police officer responds to the students' off-campus home on King Road following a noise complaint. Gonclaves is seen on his bodycam footage speaking with the cop.
"I'll give you verbal warning. Cause I have neighbors calling in saying your music's too loud. You're disturbing the peace," says the officer. "Nothing against having parties, nothing against having people over who are of age to drink. But again, once we start disturbing the neighbors then we have an issue."
The home receives two more noise complaints in September.
Read more: New Video Emerges of Cops Visiting House Months Before 4 Victims Were Discovered Dead
August 21, 2022
Kohberger is seen for the first known time driving a white Hyundai Elantra with Pennsylvania license plates. He had been stopped for failing to wear a seatbelt while at the intersection of W Pullman and Farm roads in Moscow, Idaho, a citation filed by the Latah County Sheriff's office shows.
The intersection is 1.7 miles away from the home the college students lived in the night of the killing.
Kohberger was ordered to appear in court in connection with this citation, but he did not show on the scheduled date, resulting in a default judgement. He later paid the fine issued by the court.
September 1, 2022
The King Road home, which neighbors said often threw wild parties involving multiple houses in two conjoined culs-de-sac that saw college-aged students streaming back and forth, received two noise complaints on the same night. This is in addition to a noise complaint the home received in August, according to police logs.
Bodycam video shows police answering a noise complaint there six weeks before the murders. A cop pours out a whole case of hard seltzer left at the door. He contacts Mogen, one of the victims, and gives her a stern warning.
“If I were you guys, I would probably just come home and make sure that whoever is partying here is keeping it down to a minimum. OK?” the officer says.
“Yea, we're going to kick all of them out,” Mogen replies.
“If I have to come back later tonight, there's going to be some citations given out. OK?” the cop says.
“OK. Very clear. Thank you,” Mogen replies.
A grad student, who lived nearby, said there was at least a dozen people at the home most weekends, and nearby residents could often hear loud yelling, according to the Idaho Statesman.
Around this time, in the fall of 2022, Kohberger applies for an internship with the Pullman Police Department in Washington State, expressing an interest in “assisting rural law enforcement agencies” in his application essay, according to the affidavit.
October 14, 2022
Kohberger was stopped by Washington State University campus police at a traffic stop while driving a white Hyundai Elantra displaying Pennsylvania license plates.
Saturday, November 12, 2022
Chapin and Kernodle were seen at the Sigma Chi frat house at 9 p.m. and returned to the home together at 1:45 a.m.
Meanwhile, Goncalves and Mogen were at a local college bar between 10:00 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. The pair then went to a food truck on the same street, and were given a ride home by someone at 1:56 a.m.
Sunday, November 13, 2022: The Night of the Murders
Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were home by 2 a.m. and asleep or in their rooms by 4 a.m. except Goncalves, who picked up a DoorDash delivery at around 4 a.m. Kernodle was also still awake at that time, and watching TikTok videos on her phone, according to phone records cited in the arrest affidavit.
One of their roommates, who was asleep in her own room on the second floor, said she woke up around 4 a.m. when she thought she heard Goncalves playing with her dog in the upstairs bedroom. The unnamed roommate then heard some speaking, what she thought was crying from Kernodle’s room, then a male voice. “It’s OK, I’m going to help you," the male voice said, according to the roommate.
The roommate, who said she didn’t see anything suspicious when she initially checked, opened the door to her room once again and saw someone “in black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose walking towards her,” the affidavit reported. She did not recognize the man.
Investigators believe this may have been the suspect, and the murders likely occurred between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m.
A security camera from a house next door picked up sounds of a dog barking, what seemed to be voices or a whimper, and then a thud, according to the affidavit.
A white sedan with no front license plate was also seen around the neighborhood between 3:29 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. The car was seen leaving the neighborhood “at a high rate of speed” at the end of that timeframe.
Authorities arrive to the home at 4 p.m. and discovered Kernodle and Chapin dead in her room on the second floor. Goncalves and Mogen were discovered dead “with visible stab wounds” on the bed of Mogen’s bedroom on the third floor.
A tan leather sheath for a knife that had U.S. Marine Corps insignia was found next to the bed.
Read more: Bryan Kohberger DNA Found on Knife Sheath at Scene; Walked by Victims' Roommate After Massacre
Neighbor Chef Inan Harsh, 30, said he heard a woman’s screams coming from the home the night of the murders, but dismissed it, believing it was most likely noise from another party.
Read more: Neighbor Dismissed Woman Screaming on Night of Incident
Phone records later showed Kohberger’s phone was near the home hours after the killings occurred, at some time between 9:12 a.m. and 9:21 a.m., according to an affidavit.
The phone network was disabled during the time of the actual killings, records later showed, indicating that the phone may have been either off or in airplane mode.
November 18, 2022
Six days after the killings, Kohberger registers a white Hyundai Elantra in the state of Washington.
November 25, 2022
Law enforcement in the area are notified to be on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra.
December 7, 2022
A notice is released to the public that authorities are searching for a white Hyundai Elantra in connection with the case.
Read more: Police Investigating White Car Found Abandoned
December 13, 2022
Kohberger begins his 2,500-mile drive home to Pennsylvania for the holidays in the white Hyundai Elantra, which was captured by a license plate reader in Colorado. If he had opted instead to fly to his destination, a plane ticket would have cost $300.
A Pennsylvania public defender representing Kohberger later said he and his father had been on a planned road trip together. The PhD student would have then had to drive the 2,500 miles back to school for the Spring semester, unless he planned on leaving his car in Pennsylvania.
Read more: New Video Emerges of Cops Visiting House Months Before 4 Victims Were Discovered Dead
December 15, 2022
Kohberger is seen driving a white Hyundai Elantra away from an Indiana traffic stop in bodycam footage, according to records obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
December 17, 2022
Kohberger arrives at his parent’s house in Pennsylvania for the holidays.
December 20, 2022
Authorities speak out about the Hyundai Elantra located in Eugene, Oregon, and say they have ruled out any possibility the owner is involved in the case.
“The vehicle was involved in a collision and subsequently impounded. The vehicle is registered out of Colorado and the female owner is not believed to have any relation to any property in Moscow, Idaho or the ongoing murder investigations,” a statement on the matter reads. “The public is asked to stop contacting the owner.”
Eugene is located 460 miles away from Moscow, where the murders took place.
Meanwhile, Goncalves’ family expressed their frustration with yet another dead end in the case.
“We've been questioning some of their decisions and why they didn't release a general statement to the public within 24-48 hours about someone who might have had injuries to their forearms or hands,” Gray tells Inside Edition. “Those injuries will have been healed up by now, right?”
Read more: White Car Found in Oregon Is Not Connected to the Killings, Police Say
December 21, 2022
University of Idaho professor Rebecca Scofield files a lawsuit against so-called psychic Ashley Guillard for making TikTok videos that accuse her of being behind the killings.
“Defendant Ashley Guillard—a purported internet sleuth—decided to use the community’s pain for her online self-promotion," reads the complaint, filed in Idaho District Court.
Because of Guillard, Scofield's name is linked to “murder” in a basic internet search, the complaint says.
"Her reputation has been tarnished, and she has suffered extreme emotional distress from the constant public attention and the ongoing online conversation discussing the false relationship with a student, as falsely alleged by Guillard," the complaint continues.
In November and December, Guillard made more than 37 videos on TikTok in which she shares a baseless theory that Scofield, whose image she also shares, arranged to have the students murdered after being romantically involved with or interested in Goncalves.
Her videos have been viewed 2.5 million times.
Some viewers noted that “this is literally a serious case of libel” in the comments of those videos, to which she responded, "I’m not worried about Rebecca Scofield suing me because she will be using her resources to fight four murder cases,"
Scofield, who maintains in the complaint that she has never met Guillard, previously sent the Texas-based TikToker two cease and desist letters.
The professor's lawsuit requests a jury trial, attorneys’ fees, and compensatory and punitive damages.
December 23, 2022
Authorities obtain a search warrant that allows them to access Kohberger’s phone records between Nov. 12 and Nov. 14 – around the time of the killings.
December 27, 2022
Pennsylvania authorities recovered trash from Kohberger’s parents’ home in Pennsylvania and sent evidence to the Idaho State Lab for testing.
December 28, 2022
Lab results showed that DNA from the trash in Kohberger’s parents’ home identified a male that is likely the biological father of the suspect, as determined by DNA from the sheath. The report also noted that “at least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect's biological father.”
December 30, 2022
Kohberger is arrested in his home state of Pennsylvania. Authorities found a white Hyundai Elantra at his parents house at the time of his arrest.
January 3
Kohberger appears in a Monroe County courtroom, where he waived his right to extradition. He appeared stoic and remained largely silent in court but did mouth "I love you" to his mother and two sisters in the courtroom as guards escorted him back to the Monroe County Detention Center after the hearing.
Meanwhile, the Moscow Police Department announced they will no longer be sharing details about the investigation to media or the public.
“On January 3, 2023, Latah County Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued a non-dissemination order in regard to the murder case against Bryan C. Kohberger. The order prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and agents of the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney concerning this case,” read a press release obtained by Inside Edition Digital. “Due to this court order, the Moscow Police Department will no longer be communicating with the public or the media regarding this case.”
January 4
Kohberger is extradited to Idaho. He served with an arrest warrant for four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary upon his arrival.
Meanwhile, the daughter of serial killer Dennis Rader, who named himself BTK to stand for “Blind,” “Torture,” and “Kill,” tells Inside Edition that she believes her father may have been in touch with Kohberger.
"I wouldn't be surprised if Kohberger did have contact with my father through letter writing," Kerri Rawson tells Inside Edition. "It's pretty well known that criminology students have a tendency to write well known, infamous killers."
January 5
A probable cause affidavit is unsealed and alleges that police arrested Kohberger after linking DNA found on a knife sheath at the scene of the murders to DNA from trash pulled at his Pennsylvania home.
The affidavit also claims Kohberger walked past another female student living in the home after the alleged massacre.
Kohberger appears at his first court hearing in Latah County. He was delivered a no contact order with the victims’ roommates and families. No bond was set, and he is due to appear in court next on Jan. 12.
Kohberger maintains his innocence and has previously stated that he will be exonerated.
Read more: Full Bryan Kohberger Probable Cause Affidavit
