One year after Idaho student murders: Where the case stands

Monday marks one year since four University of Idaho students were murdered in their off-campus house. One suspect has been apprehended, and the trial has been postponed indefinitely.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, a graduate criminology student from Washington State University, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary related to the Nov. 13, 2022, deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.

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Here is what to know about the victims, the murders, and where the case stands now.

Jazzmin Kernodle/AP

Who are the victims?

Mogen and Goncalves were best friends, and Chapin and Kernodle were dating. Mogen, Kernodle, and Goncalves all lived at the house where the murders took place.

The four students received posthumous degrees during the University of Idaho’s graduation ceremony on May 13. Mogen and Goncalves were seniors preparing to graduate at the time of their death. Goncalves was preparing to move to Texas after graduating in December. Mogen was studying marketing, and Goncalves was earning a general studies degree.

“If I couldn’t have been there to hold their hands and to take that pain from them, at least they had each other,” Goncalves’s sister Alivea told ABC News.

To Goncalves’s father, Steve, Nov. 13 is not an anniversary.

“This is more like a memorial — some type of an event that you have to look at and think about, but it’s not something that you ever look forward to,” he told ABC News. “My daughter has allowed me to meet people across the world through her life and memory and her beauty. And I’ll thank her one day when I see her.”

“I’ll tell her how much she impacted the world and how proud of her I am,” he added.

Chapin was a triplet and all three attended the University of Idaho. He was awarded a certificate in recreation, sport, and tourism management, while Kernodle received a certificate in marketing.

Kernodle and Chapin were described as the “perfect pair” who had an “unstoppable, loving relationship” by a surviving roommate in December.

Chapin and his siblings had been preparing for their 21st birthday “forever.” The Chapin family said they would be honoring their son with a private fundraiser for their foundation, Ethan’s Smile Foundation. The foundation provides scholarships to post-high school students so they can follow their dreams. As part of the foundation, Chapin’s parents, Jim and Stacy, created a yellow-and-white tulip mix called “Ethan’s Smile” that is for sale at the same farm where Chapin worked planting bulbs.

“We’ve created something good that Ethan would love,” Stacy Chapin said at the time. “He loved people, he loved a great adventure, and he was inclusive. If we could touch as many lives as he touched in 20 years in our lifetime, the world would be a better place.”

A timeline of events

The students were stabbed in the chest and upper body with a large knife between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022. They were each stabbed multiple times and some had defensive wounds, according to Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt. Mogen and Goncalves were found murdered in the same bed, along with Chapin and Kernodle.

The women’s two other roommates, Dylan Mortensen, 19, and Bethany Funke, 19, were asleep on the first floor when the four students were attacked on the second and third floors. A surviving roommate, listed as D.M. in court records, said she had heard what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the third-floor rooms. Eventually, D.M. “heard who she thought was Goncalves say something to the effect of ‘there’s someone here,'” per court documents.

“She opened her door a second time when she heard what she thought was crying coming from Kernodle’s room,” the documents stated, adding that she “then said she heard a male voice say something to the effect of ‘it’s OK, I’m going to help you.'”

D.M. told authorities she recalled seeing a figure in black clothing and a mask walking past her to exit out the back door, whom she described as “5’10” or taller, male, not very muscular but athletically built with bushy eyebrows.” D.M. said she was in “frozen shock” and then locked her door.

Between Nov. 14 and Nov. 25, investigators determined that a 2011-2013 white Hyundai Elantra vehicle was seen in the neighborhood multiple times and between 3:29 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. on the night of the killings.

Kai Eiselein/AP

On Nov. 29, a Washington State University police officer looked into white Elantras that were registered to the school. The search resulted in one 2015 white Hyundai Elantra with a Pennsylvania license plate registered to Kohberger. Police concluded that Kohberger’s physical description was consistent with the description that D.M. gave investigators on the night of the murders.

Kohberger’s phone was tracked heading to Moscow, Idaho, before the attack and as the driver of the white Elantra returned to Pullman, Washington, on the night of the murders. However, the phone was off from 2:47 a.m. to 4:48 a.m., which “is consistent with Kohberger attempting to conceal his location during the quadruple homicide,” according to court documents. Kohberger’s phone was near the victims’ house at least 12 times before the murders, going as far back as August, the documents said.

Kohberger was pulled over twice by Indiana officers within a nine-minute time frame on Dec. 15. Local law enforcement did not know Kohberger was a suspect when he was pulled over for traffic stops, both for which he was not issued a ticket. It was later revealed that FBI investigators asked Indiana police to pull Kohberger over the second time to get body camera footage of his hands.

In late December, Kohberger was arrested following the monthslong investigation by state and federal law enforcement agencies that used evidence found in his car and home to connect him to the murders, such as a knife sheath. Prosecutors revealed in court documents in June that DNA found on the knife sheath, which was found near the body of one of the murdered students, was a “statistical match” to Kohberger. Other pieces of alleged evidence include an ID card connected to a victim and photos of a female victim on Kohberger’s phone.

The knife used in the murders has not been recovered.

Where does the case stand now?

Kohberger initially chose to stand silent under the Fifth Amendment, causing Judge John Judge to enter a “not guilty” plea on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary for Kohberger. The graduate student was arraigned on May 22.

The trial was set to begin on Oct. 2. However, Kohberger decided to waive his right to a speedy trial in August, postponing the trial indefinitely.

Lawyers for both the defense and prosecution have said cameras should not be allowed in the courtroom, but the families of Goncalves and Kernodle had requested cameras to ensure accountability and transparency in the trial.

Judge, who is the district court judge of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial District in Latah County, dismissed the defense’s motion to dismiss Kohberger’s grand jury indictment in late October. He also ruled that cameras will be allowed in hearings after holding several discussions throughout October, but Judge said he will need more control over them.

The University of Idaho announced in February its plans to demolish the residence on King Road where the students were murdered, with the goal of demolishing the house before students returned for the fall semester. However, the university halted the demolition in July as they removed asbestos and lead. The victims’ family members had also objected to the house demolition because they feared it could cause problems for the prosecutors later in the case.

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Prosecutors recently asked the University of Idaho for access to the house, with the university stating that FBI agents would be at the house on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1. University officials announced that the home would not be demolished this semester but said the school still intends to tear it down.

The university plans to build a memorial garden, for which students and alumni raised more than $200,000, in honor of the victims.