The Mystery of The Idaho Murders

On November 13th 2022, the world was shocked by the sudden death of four innocent college students in a rental home close to the University of Idaho. The killer behind these heinous attacks was unknown to the public until December 30th when an arrest was made against Bryan Kohberger. Due to the lack of communication from the police, the media attempted to decipher the evidence in an attempt to serve justice for the lives lost. The names of the four victims were: Madison Mogen (20), Kaylee Goncalves (21), Xana Kernodle (20) and Ethan Chapin (20).

There were five people living in the small rental home outside the university campus - three of which were the female victims. The male victim was the boyfriend of 20 year old Xana Kernodle. All roommates arrived home at roughly 2:00 am, and were all present in the house at the time. According to the official affidavit for this case - one of the surviving students, Dylan Mortensen heard someone say “there’s someone in the house”, but continued to go back to sleep. Later she had heard screams coming from Xana’s room, and a male voice saying

"it’s okay I'm going to help you”.

She opened her door a third time, and saw the assailant leaving through the sliding door, where she stood in shock as he walked past her and left the crime scene - she then locked herself in her room. No 911 calls were made until 11:00 am when the two surviving roommates made a call for an unconscious roommate. The four victims were stabbed to death in their beds on the second and third stories of the house. Mogen and Goncalves, as well as Kernodle and Chapin, were discovered in their rooms. They were pronounced dead almost immediately. It was confirmed the killings occurred at some time between 4 - 4:25 am.

As of now, the name of the perpetrator is Bryan Kohberger, aged 28. He has a PhD in criminology with extensive educational achievements in the field of criminal justice. After a long and extensive investigation conducted by the police, they had reached the conclusion after a month and a half that Kohberger did indeed commit these killings. Police found DNA on a leather knife sheath displayed on the victims bed. They found a match in the DNA which linked to Kohberger. They suspected him due to his car being caught on

one of the street security cameras. An arrest was made on December 30th where he was sentenced with four counts of murder in the first-degree al

ongside one count of burglary for breaking into a home with intent to commit a felony. A preliminary probable cause hearing is scheduled for June 26, 2023.

Due to the longevity of this ongoing active case, internet sleuths are filling social media with theories and misinformation surrounding the killings. People took to social media apps such as ‘Tiktok’ to share their theories and place the blame on innocent bystanders. This is extremely harmful to the victims families and affects the investigation taking place. These harmful accusations have been made against people such as Dylan Mortensen - the surviving roomm

ate who had seen the killer leaving the scene. Accusations like these could seriously affect the person's future life/career and is mentally damaging as both surviving roommates likely suffer with immense survivor's guilt. After being accused of the killings, an associate professor at the University of Idaho filed a lawsuit for defamation against a TikToker for compromising the character of a respected professor. This shows the severity of the self-proclaimed internet activists who want justice - but go about it in the wrong way.

Iman Chaudhry 6F14, Y12