Kaylee Goncalves

Kaylee Jade Goncalves, 21, was one of four University of Idaho students fatally stabbed in an off-campus rental house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, during the early morning of November 13, 2022. The others killed were her longtime friend and roommate Madison Mogen, 21, roommate Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle's boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20. According to court records cited by news outlets, Goncalves suffered more than twenty stab wounds along with injuries associated with asphyxiation and blunt-force trauma; documents released after the case concluded reported roughly 38 stab wounds. Two other roommates in the house survived. One surviving roommate told investigators she saw a masked man in dark clothing walking toward her in the hours around the attack. The killings drew intense national attention and, for the first weeks, no arrest.

The investigation was led by the Moscow Police Department with support from the Idaho State Police and the FBI, involving roughly 130 personnel and more than 15,000 tips. A central break came from DNA recovered on a tan leather knife sheath found on Mogen's bed. Investigators used investigative genetic genealogy, working with the forensic firm Othram and later FBI analysts querying genealogy databases, to build a family tree that pointed toward Bryan Christopher Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology PhD student at nearby Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Authorities also cited cellphone location data and surveillance footage of a white Hyundai Elantra as corroborating evidence. Kohberger was arrested on December 30, 2022, at his family's home in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.

Kohberger was indicted by a grand jury on May 17, 2023, on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary; a judge entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf, and prosecutors sought the death penalty. On July 2, 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty to all five counts under a plea agreement that removed the death penalty and required him to waive his appeal rights. On July 23, 2025, District Judge Steven Hippler sentenced him to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole plus ten years for burglary, along with fines and civil penalties. Kohberger declined to make a statement or explain a motive, telling the court he respectfully declined. As of 2026 the case is closed with a conviction by guilty plea; no motive has been publicly established.