20/20: Idaho Justice

Summary

Podcast Summary: The King Road Killings: An Idaho Murder Mystery

Episode Title: 20/20: Idaho Justice
Host: ABC News (Kayna Whitworth, among others)
Date: September 6, 2025

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Overview

This gripping episode of "The King Road Killings" podcast takes listeners behind the scenes of one of the most shocking and scrutinized true crime stories in modern America: the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students—Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Zanna Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin—in their off-campus home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho in November 2022. Correspondent Kayna Whitworth, along with survivors, family members, law enforcement, and forensic investigators, reconstructs the crime, its far-reaching impacts, the intense investigation, the arrest and prosecution of criminology PhD student Bryan Kohberger, and the emotional search for justice.

The episode balances a detailed breakdown of investigative technique with intimate, often emotional, testimony from those whose lives were upended by this tragedy, culminating with Kohberger's plea deal, sentencing, and the victims’ families’ search for closure.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Life in Moscow & the Victims' Stories

• The episode opens with descriptions of University of Idaho campus life, the energy at the start of the school year, and the close-knit social world of Greek life, giving context to the lives of the four students.
  • Zanna Kernodle is remembered for her energy, humor, and love of music and friends.
  • Ethan Chapin, a triplet, is described as athletic, outgoing, and good-natured, often with his siblings or girlfriend, Zanna.
  • Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, childhood best friends, are highlighted as inseparable, complementary personalities—Kaylee outgoing and spirited, Maddie more reserved and gentle.
• [13:02] “I don’t know that I ever saw Zanna not happy, cracking jokes nonstop. If you ever had a bad day... she’ll make you happy.”

2. The Night of the Murders

• The victims are shown enjoying a typical college weekend—football games, friends, parties, late-night fast food.
  • Maddie and Kaylee’s last night included a stop at a food truck, with footage and texts offering a haunting ordinary tone to their final hours.
• The sequence of events inside the house is reconstructed using police timelines, witness statements, and digital evidence:
  • Zanna is up eating Doordash food and using social media around 4:12am.
  • The killer is believed to have entered through a sliding glass door, quickly killing Maddie and Kaylee on the third floor, then descending to attack Zanna and Ethan.
  • [52:13] “Kaylee and Maddie were both killed very quickly, but they were stabbed repeatedly many times. Stabbing is close, personal, long-term violent action. You’ve got to be committed to do a homicide.”
• Surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen’s account is recounted: she hears noises, opens her door multiple times, sees a masked man, and—terrified and confused—hides with another roommate.
  • [54:56] “The description was a thin, tall individual wearing a mask...and bushy eyebrows. She momentarily saw him, and then he turned and he left the residence.”

3. The Immediate Aftermath and Investigation

• The discovery the next morning is depicted as chaotic and traumatic for friends and roommates, with panic and disbelief evident in the 911 calls.
  • Friends try contacting the victims, not imagining the unimaginable.
  • [05:56] “The most important thing to me was, who did this? Why did they do it?”
• Local police are joined by the state and FBI, quickly under pressure due to the national media frenzy and intense community fear.
  • Investigators quickly focus on a white Hyundai Elantra seen on surveillance and on DNA evidence from a knife sheath found at the scene.
  • [64:53] “The comforter’s over the girls... Lo and behold, there’s a knife sheath lying right there.”

4. Profile of Bryan Kohberger

• The episode moves into Kohberger’s background, tracing his youth in Pennsylvania, social isolation, struggles with weight, bullying, heroin addiction, and subsequent transformation as he pursued degrees in criminal justice and criminology.
  • [23:02] “We know from our investigation into him...he had some struggles with drug use...there was a heroin addiction at the time.”
• At DeSales University, Kohberger became obsessed with criminal psychology, particularly serial killers, and conducted online studies of criminal thought patterns.
  • [34:34] “In that class, you study mass murders, you study serial killers... Brian Kohberger was really, really invested in the class. He took really quick notes and he’d ask a lot of questions. His eyes really opened up when he’s asking a question or getting to the answer. Talking about Jeffrey Dahmer or BTK or Ted Bundy.”
• His move to Washington State University placed him just seven miles from Moscow. He lived alone, appeared socially awkward, and built a concerning reputation for being manipulative and disrespectful, especially towards women.
  • [40:06] “There was a common complaint of ‘he’s very controlling, manipulative... he treated women a certain way compared to men.’ Disrespect. He just had an odd, strange behavior.”

5. Solving the Case: Forensic Breakthroughs and Manhunt

• Investigators utilize genetic genealogy with DNA from the knife sheath, narrowing potential suspects to Kohberger through distant relatives and a trash pull from his family’s Pennsylvania home.
  • [66:23] “We quickly realized that we had this white vehicle... we narrowed it down to 2011-2016 Elantra...over 25,000 [registered locally].”
  • [67:23] “Four days in, the lab came back and said they had a sole source male DNA found on the button of the knife sheath. But there was no matches in CODIS...then they started to develop and work their part of it [using genetic genealogy].”
  • [71:29] “We have DNA in this trash that is the father of the DNA left on the knife sheath. Once we had the DNA paternity match from the trash pull...we knew at that point we had the person whose DNA was on that sheath.”
• Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania nearly two months after the murders, still living with his parents, and extradited to Idaho.
  • [72:24] “Pennsylvania State police make that arrest... detectives arrested 28 year old Bryan Christopher Kohberger.”

6. Legal Proceedings, Plea, and Sentencing

• The prosecution pursues the death penalty. Kohberger shifts his plea from not guilty to guilty, avoiding a trial in exchange for life sentences and no possibility of appeal.
  • [75:02] “You thought right away it would be a death penalty case? ...Oh, absolutely. I had zero doubt.”
  • [77:34] “Kohberger had maintained his innocence the entire time, but he decided to change his plea from innocent to guilty. That was huge. And as part of that plea deal, prosecutors agree to take the death penalty off the table.”

7. Victim Impact Statements & Community Response

• Moving statements from survivors and victims’ families, expressing grief, anger, and defiance.
  • [79:44] Bethany Funk (read by friend Emily Allotte): “I was so frantic that morning and scared to death not knowing what had happened… I wish more than anything I could hug them one last time.”
  • [80:13] Dylan Mortenson: “I was barely 19 when he did this. I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable… Living is how I honor them... He may have taken so much from me, but he will never get to take my voice.”
  • [81:11] Olivia Goncalves: “My sister Kaylee and her best friend Maddie were not yours to take. They were not yours to study, to stalk, or to silence... The truth is the scariest part about you is how painfully average you turned out to be... If you hadn’t attacked them in their sleep… Kaylee would have kicked ass.”
• Ethan Chapin’s family elects to grieve privately, with moving commentary about the importance of supporting DNA labs and advocating for victims’ rights.
• A memorial garden is established on campus in the victims’ names.
  • [84:13] “And just as college is starting again, there’s now a memorial garden at the University of Idaho with a plaque bearing the name of each of the four victims.”

8. Aftermath and Closure

• Closure is imperfect; families debate whether the plea was sufficient, some longing for more answers or a confession, others content that justice within the law was served. Kohberger is sentenced to four consecutive life terms plus ten years for burglary, with no possibility of appeal or parole.
  • [84:21] “As for Bryan Coburger... He received four life sentences, one for each of his victims and an additional 10 years for burglary. As part of that plea deal, he waived his right to an appeal.”

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Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the chaos of the crime’s discovery:
  • [05:56] Unnamed Student: “We’re calling Kaylee. It’s going to voicemail. We’re calling Maddie. She’s not picking up. And in our minds it wouldn’t have been Kaylee and Maddie both. So... my mind just immediately went to nope, nope, nope.”
• On Kohberger’s academic obsession:
  • [34:34] Classmate: “He was really, really invested in the class. He took really quick notes and he’d ask a lot of questions. His eyes really opened up when he’s asking a question or getting to the answer, talking about Jeffrey Dahmer or BTK or Ted Bundy.”
• On the break via forensic genealogy:
  • [67:23] Forensic Investigator: “About four days in, the lab came back and said they had a sole source male DNA found on the button of the knife sheath. But there was no matches in CODIS...”
• On survivor Dylan Mortenson's trauma:
  • [80:13] Dylan Mortenson: “I was barely 19 when he did this. I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable... Living is how I honor them... He may have taken so much from me, but he will never get to take my voice.”
• On public impact and media circus:
  • [07:01] “There were, you know, YouTubers and TikTokers outside the house, you know, that want to live stream at our front door... It just went absolutely insane. But that’s how the world is now.”
• On family grief:
  • [83:34] Ethan Chapin’s family: “I miss him every day. When you lose your son at 20, it’s a different loss. And I miss him every single day... It helps to remember them and not what happened to them.”

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Important Segment Timestamps

• The Crime & Immediate Aftermath:
  • 01:11–08:54: Discovery, the house, frantic friends and community reaction
• Victim Profiles and Their Lives:
  • 10:31–17:20: Friends and family profile Zanna, Ethan, Kaylee, and Maddie
  • 26:37–31:55: More on Kaylee and Maddie’s friendship and history
• Kohberger Background:
  • 18:38–25:29: Kohberger’s youth, addiction, transformation, early academic career
  • 33:25–40:52: Obsession with criminology & problematic behavior at WSU
• The Night of the Murders & Police Timeline:
  • 49:18–56:34: Victims’ last night, Kohberger’s approach, survivors’ reactions
• Forensic Investigative Breakthroughs:
  • 64:53–71:41: Knife sheath DNA, genetic genealogy, arrest build-up
• Legal Proceedings & Sentencing:
  • 75:02–84:21: Plea, family impact statements, final sentencing

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Tone and Language

The episode remains empathetic and respectful throughout, providing observers and listeners with a sense of the scale and emotional toll of the events. Where police or forensic investigators speak, the tone is factual and methodical, but testimony from friends, survivors, and families is raw, candid, and often heartbreaking. The show does not sensationalize violence but instead focuses on the trauma endured, the persistence of those seeking justice, and the legacies of the young people lost.

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Summary for New Listeners

This episode serves as a comprehensive, emotional, and nuanced account of the Idaho college murders: who the victims were, how the case shocked their community and the world, the lengths investigators went to solve the crime, and the complicated aftermath as justice was sought and, ultimately, delivered. The podcast is essential listening for those interested in not only the processes behind solving such high-profile cases, but also in the enduring humanity and heartbreak at their core.

Transcript

[Narrator/Reporter]

This show is supported by Unicorn Girl, an Apple original podcast. Meet Candace, mother of two, nurse, CEO and founder of multi million dollar companies. Candace went from being a stay at home mom to making millions, traveling the world and saving lives. There was just one problem. Was it all a lie or was it all true? It turns out the truth might be even harder to believe. From the creator of Scamanda. This is Unicorn Girl, an Apple original podcast produced produced by Seven Hills Apple TV plus subscribers get special early access to the entire season. Follow and listen on Apple podcasts. This is the police body camera video captured on November 13, 2022 as Moscow, Idaho police respond responded to a 911 call. Yep.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Where's she at? Where's she at?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Yes.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Moscow police department, you're in here now it's yourself.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But nothing would prepare police or this tight knit community for the shocking murders that they discover in this house on King Road.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

A murder mystery in Idaho. 4 University of Idaho students were found dead in their off campus apartment. It's now being investigated as a homicide.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We all underestimated how interested the rest of the nation and the world would be in this case. Nobody was prepared. Roommate on scene, state. Something about a male being in the room with them. Trying to get further. You may think you've heard this story, but tonight we'll take you inside the investigation. We'll show you body camera video from the officer who first responded to the scene. And then the frantic moments that one of the surviving roommates recounts. A man in a mask inside the house.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I couldn't really see much of him.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But I'm almost positive he was wearing a full black outfit and he had this mask that was just over his forehead and over his mouth. You'll hear from the friends who were on the scene that morning even before police arrived.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

As soon as you get there, you know something's wrong.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And then what happened next?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I went into the house.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I think I walked just right in the door. And Hunter already was like, everybody get out. And then he was like, somebody call 911. And you'll hear from investigators who launched a nationwide manhunt to unmask and arrest the killer who was found thousands of miles away from the crime scene. You interviewed Bryan Kohberger?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yes. He would try to go and ask, well, why are you guys really here? And we said, well, I feel like you probably know why we're here.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But this all began in 2022. It was the start of a new school year, a time of anticipation, hope, promise, coming back to school at the University of Idaho really starts in the middle of August. You're packing up your car, it's filled to the brim. You can fit your entire life into a couple of boxes in the back of a sedan. What a time. Moscow at the beginning of the semester was definitely a very happy place. And like, you step on campus and it's like, okay, this feels right, this feels good to be here. Everyone's really excited. The new people, the new classes, things we can do, people to meet. You know, you raise your kids and you're, you know, you just wonder, you know, at what point are they gonna kind of feel like they're independent enough to kind of fly the out of the nest, I guess, if you will. It's a cliche, but.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Starting to adult.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Yeah, starting to, you know. Among the students arriving here are 21 year old seniors Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogan, along with Zanna Kernodle, a 20 year old junior, and 19 year old sophomore Ethan Chapin. Four students just starting out, not knowing that soon their lives would violently Collide with a PhD student in criminology at another university just across the state line. So on November 12th is when that iconic photo is taken. The last known photo of the four victims all together with their roommates Bethany and Dylan. All six of them before their big night on game day. They've had so many Saturday nights just like this, there was nothing out of the ordinary about this Saturday night in Moscow. Or so they thought. Hours later. Friends make a horrific discovery tonight on location of your emergency.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hi. Something is happening. Something happened in our house. We don't know what. What is the address of the emergency? 11:22. What is the rest of the address? Oh, Kings Road.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What unfolds next is the stuff of nightmares. We saw it on our phones before they told us directly. It was like, what? Quadruple homicide. We're calling Kaylee. It's going to voicemail. We're calling Maddie. She's not picking up. And in our minds it wouldn't have been Kaylee and Maddie both. So I think that my mind just immediately went to like, nope, nope, nope.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The most important thing to me was who did this? Why did they do it? This is Moscow.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It doesn't take very long before state police, then the FBI all join the search for this killer.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We realized that there was a security camera right next door to our residence. Once we had that, we quickly realized that we had this white vehicle. And so that was the introduction of the white elantra for us. We don't know when this person's going to strike again if they're going to strike again. And the pressure on us to solve alone, our own internal pressure, was huge. And at the same time, you've got the public pressure to find the perpetrator.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There's a crush of media. It overwhelms the tiny town of Moscow, along with the lives of everyone touched by these shocking murders.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

There were, you know, YouTubers and TikTokers outside the house, you know, that want to live stream at our front door. And then someone comes up, oh, hey, yeah. What do you have to say? What do you have to say? Like, dude, get out of our face.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It just went absolutely insane. But that's how the world is now.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So she's just trying to get through the days is really all I was doing. You don't feel safe in any situation like that. For months, there's no feeling secure or safe. I mean, after the first couple of weeks, we were like, this guy's gonna get away with this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But then, nearly seven weeks after the murders, finally an arrest.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And we want to get right to our breaking news. A specialized team of state troopers and federal agents taking Brian Kohberger into custody. Early Friday morning. My mom just came into my room, and she's like, hey, hey, they got him. They caught him. I mean, my first thought was, who is that? I have no clue who you are.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It was really shocking to learn he was a WSU student who had moved out to Washington and Pullman that summer to study at Washington State University. He was pursuing a PhD in criminology and justice for the first time. You'll see some of the hundreds of photos released by authorities just this week. They offer a glimpse into the secret life of Bryan Kohberger. And you'll hear what investigators learned from analyzing his digital life. He was a loner. No friends, no one, really, except for his parents. He called them mother and father. Even through text message.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He didn't take a selfie to send it to someone. It was very vain. It was very much just him recording himself for that purpose only.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But first, tonight, we want you to get to know Kaylee, Maddie, Zanna, and Ethan. Who they were, how they lived their lives. And you'll hear how investigators say Kohberger planned meticulously to end it all.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dylan had opened her door, and as she looked out, saw an individual in all dark clothing.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Then she thought she heard a male voice say, I'm here to help you. And the crucial mistake he made that led authorities right to his doorstep.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Boom. And now we have something in this house from the Killer that was definitely the first aha moment. This show is supported by Acorns Early. Have you ever made a money mistake that you wouldn't have made if you had just known better? That's why financial literacy is so important and it matters most when you're young. But with Acorns early, your kids don't have to learn their money lessons the hard way. Acorns early is the smart debit card and money app that helps kids understand money as they grow. For your little ones, you can start with the In App Chores Tracker to help teach your kids the value of a dollar. And when they're ready, your kids can spend what they've earned with their very own customizable debit car, giving them that extra sense of independence. Best of all, with Acorns early spending limits and real time spend notifications, parents always stay in control ready to teach your kids the smart way to earn, save and spend? Get your first month free when you head to acornserly.com 20 spelled out T W-E N T Y or download the Acorns early app. That's one free month when you sign [e-mail] 20. Acorns Early Card is issued by Community Federal Savings Bank Member FDIC pursuant to license by MasterCard International. Free trial for new subscribers only. Subscription Fees starting from $5 per month unless canceled Terms [e-mail] Earlyterms this show.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Is supported by Unicorn Girl, an Apple Original Podcast. Meet Candice, mother of two, nurse, CEO and founder of multi million dollar companies. Candace went from being a stay at home mom to making millions, traveling the world and saving lives. There was just one problem. Was it all a lie or was it all true? It turns out the truth might be even harder to believe. From the creator of Scamanda. This is Unicorn Girl, an Apple Original podcast produced by Seven Hills. Apple TV plus subscribers get special early access to the entire season. Follow and listen on Apple Podcasts. Greek life at U of I is pretty tight knit. We all do things together. The sorority and fraternities were their own little community. When I joined PI Phi I met Xana and I just felt welcomed in. You know how you meet some people and they're like don't want to talk to you. She would talk your ear off. We had an entire friend group that we were always together. Zanna, Maddie, Emily. We were attached to the hip. Probably the first day that we met we just clicked immediately. I was like oh yeah, these are my people. These are Gonna be my people. Hi, my name is Zanna Kernodle. I'm a marketing major here at the University of Idaho. 20 year old Zanna Kernodle loved the Pittsburgh Steelers. She loved her friends. And she highlights both in this video that's posted on her sister's social media. And I really like just hanging out with my friends all the time and being super involved in school events. Zanna also really loved electronic dance music. We called our DJ Zan because she was always like, oh, I'm gonna play music while we get ready. Like, I have a video where she's jumping on the couch and the MacBook's jumping with her face. Oh, okay. Your laptop. I've never met someone like Santa before, ever. There was one night, it had snowed and we see a sled and we just went flying. Her smile was contagious.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I don't know that I ever saw Zanna not happy. Cracking jokes nonstop. If you ever had a bad day, maybe, you know, had a rough day, she'll make you happy. Like, somehow she'll make you laugh.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There'd be mornings I'd wake up and I would pull out of the oven a burnt pizza. Cause she tried to make pizza the night before and fell asleep.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Zanna, did you try to make pizza last night?

[Narrator/Reporter]

And she'd be like, I guess so. In August of 2022, Zanna moves into 1122 King Road with several friends, that includes Maddy Mogan. And together the two girls work as servers at the Moscow restaurant. Matt Greek. Also spending a lot of time at their house was Zanna's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin. He's a triplet, starting his second year at the University of Idaho with his sister Maisie and brother Hunter. The Chapin family invited me to to their Idaho home. They opened up their photo albums, sharing memories of the son and brother they lost. Was it always just assumed that the three of you would go to the same college?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yeah, pretty much. Would have been tough to split us up. I feel like we've kind of done everything together. Why not do college together? Me and Ethan joined the same fraternity, Sigma Kite. I just kind of followed whatever he did. I knew wherever we went, we were gonna have a good time, no matter what.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I mean, he was kind of the dominant triplet, I would say. He just always had these two in tow. The boys were always together. And we met them and they were immediately funny, like great guys. And we were like, oh, you guys are being our friends.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Alrighty. My name is Ethan Chapin. I grew up playing basketball and a lot of Sports. We're pretty athletic family, so lots of sports. Just kind of staying active and yeah, no questions, just ready to get going. We played every sport together. Every time we went in the car, it was together, partied together. Just everything we did, there was never a dull moment. Always made things interesting and exciting. Whenever there would be a party, we'd be singing country songs. Fall in Love by Bailey Zimmerman. That was one of the first songs that Ethan and I had memorized together. I appreciated Ethan just for being. Being just a goofball, you know, I mean, he was. He was just funny as all hell.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We knew Ethan and Xana liked each other. Me and Emily were like, they're gonna be together. I know they like each other. And Xana was like, no, no, no. And then Zanna ended up being like, oh, he's cute. Tell me a little bit about watching Ethan and Zanna.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

They were both such similar people. Like, they're both very outgoing and just fun to be around. Anytime they walked in a room, it would just kind of like everyone be like, oh, Ethan and Xana. So it was kind of cool just to see them hang around. They always just kind of brought that same energy anywhere they went.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It was an energy they also brought into singing a Luke Comb song, Beautiful, Crazy. Or camping with their friends and spending time with Ethan's family. I liked her from the beginning. I remember one time you told Ethan that you could see him with her or something. Do you remember that? Yeah. I think that clicked for him. My mom liked her. After visiting the triplets in early November, Stacy posts on Instagram. Instagram. It's November 6th. She writes best day. And they leave feeling like the kids are starting to find their footing as young adults. It was just an amazing weekend. We had lunch with Santa on Friday. We ate at Mad Greek.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Going to the football games and just hanging out with all the kids. It was fun.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And we drove away that weekend. We just were like, we've done it. We have three independent, self sufficient kids. It was an amazing weekend. It was just an amazing weekend. It's just after that weekend on Nov. 7 that, according to a post on her sister's Instagram, Zanna turns in this English essay and it talks about having just seen a show with a bunch of her. Her closest friends. And she wrote, it was amazing. Getting to experience one of my favorite songs with some of my best friends. That is one of the most important things you can do in life. Enjoy the ride, not the destination. She really liked living in the moment. She always wanted to be doing something and as Zanna and her friends are savoring that college life, a student just across the state line is having a very different experience. Kohberger started to get a really bad reputation on campus. He was starting to really lose control of his life. What do we know now about the criminology student whose work went beyond the classroom?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

His eyes really opened up when he was talking about Jeffrey Dahmer, BTK or Ted Bundy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

2,500 miles away from moscow, Idaho, are the pocono mountains in northeastern Pennsylvania.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This is a rural community in Pennsylvania. It's really a lot of skiing and resort type communities. There's approximately 160,000 people living here. So it's a really backcountry sort of place in Pennsylvania.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's also where a young Brian Kohberger grew up. He lived in this Monroe county home with his father, Michael, a maintenance worker, his mother, Mary Ann, who worked in education, and his two older sisters. What kind of household was Bryan Coburger raised in?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I would call his household an everyday common household. His parents were extremely involved in his life. I think even over the course of the last three years. He spoke daily with them.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Tell me about education for Brian.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Brian went to pleasant valley school district. It's on the west end of the poconos. He attended middle school there. He then moved on to the senior high school.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What kind of student was he?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I'd say, based upon what I've learned about the case, Brian was an average student in middle school, and I think he advanced while he got into high school.

[Narrator/Reporter]

On the surface, Brian appeared to have a pretty ordinary childhood. But when you talk to people who knew him, this quiet young man seemed to be struggling socially. Brian was an overweight kid growing up. It's come to light that some people that were on the same bus as him said that people would throw stuff at him because of his weight. They would make fun of him.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We had issues being picked on when he was overweight. And as it progressed into high school, he got isolated from his friends that he had at that time. Every information we had was socially awkward. Very few relationships, you know, as far as never really had what I would consider to be a girlfriend.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I will say, though, that he was kind of skittish in a way, like he didn't really want to talk to people. Not very social.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

A lot of things changed in his life. He had gone through a transformation, and.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Are you talking about a physical transformation.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Both physically, mentally, and, I think, just generally in life. He was overweight, and he had lost a considerable Amount of weight heading into maybe his 9th grade or 10th grade year. When he started losing the weight and trimming down, he liked to do boxing or he worked out at the local gym. We had a trainer that he grew very fond of.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And was that important in his life.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Based upon everything that I've learned, it was very important. It kept him losing the weight, steaming forward, better, improving his life.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But that newer, thinner, more athletic version, Brian 2.0, if you will, also masked a deeper, much more troubling turn in his life.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We know from our investigation into him and we had looked at his past and we know that he had some struggles with drug use earlier in his life. We find a history of an arrest in 2014. So of that history of arrest we can get police reports. And part of the thing that came out of the police report said that there was a heroin addiction at the time.

[Narrator/Reporter]

According to police reports that were reviewed by ABC News In February of 2014, Bryan Kohberger had recently exited a rehab center and rejoined his family. And while he's home from rehab, Brian took his sister's iPhone.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He called me to come pick him up and he wanted to sell a phone.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In July of 2023, I spoke with a former classmate of Co Burgers and he says he was unwittingly roped in to help Co Burger. At his request. We're only using his first name. So you're saying that you were leaving a party and he called you?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yeah, he called me to come pick him up and to go like sell a phone somewhere. And I was just like, okay.

[Narrator/Reporter]

There's documents that abc, myself included, have seen that show he stole his sister's phone.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Oh, that. I didn't even know all that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So you thought he was trying to sell his own phone? Yeah. And at this time, did you know he had just gotten out of rehab?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

That I did not know either.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Why do you think he was trying to sell that phone?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Oh, we were trying. We were trying to get something with it. That was stuff that was the goal. For sure. His father turned him in because at that point they were kind of at their wits end for dealing with the substance abuse addiction.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Those same police reports again reviewed by ABC News, confirm that Kohberger was charged with misdemeanor the theft. But local officials told us that he didn't serve any jail time. And what about the family dynamics at that time?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I think the family supported him throughout the entire process. His family would say that they believed him to be sober ever since high school. Obviously that evolution led to him Getting higher education, doing better in schooling, focused more on something that he really wanted to do, which was criminology. When he graduated high school, I think he actually got a security job right out of high school working for Pleasant Valley School District. He then transitioned after a year or two, and he did attend Northampton County Community College, where his interest in criminology grew.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So he goes to Northampton Community College and then from there goes to. To DeSales.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He goes to DeSales University to finish his degree, which this is an individual that appeared to be highly intelligent and turned his life around.

[Narrator/Reporter]

According to a pretrial motion that was submitted by defense attorneys, the doctors had recently diagnosed Kohberger as being on the autism spectrum along with OCD. And in the filing, they also state Mr. Kohberger has met the criteria for this diagnosis since child. Brian's defense team said that he suffered from Autism Spectrum disorder. Is that something the family thought he also suffered from?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I don't know if the family thought that he suffered from a disorder.

[Narrator/Reporter]

So what provokes a person who appears to have overcome a difficult adolescence to then murder four people? And how did his life. Life took a turn when Kohberger left Pennsylvania to pursue his PhD at Washington State University. Professor said, if we give him a PhD, we're gonna end up seeing on the news that he's committing some kind of crime.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We all probably wish we had a friend like Maddie and Kaylee were.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In August of 2022, five young women, including Kaylee Gonsalves and Madison Mogan, all move into a house together. It's just off campus, right here on King Road.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Kaylee and Maddie met in sixth grade, and they were always at each other's house or at Kaylee's sister's house.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They were more than best friends. They were even more than sisters. They were absolutely, absolutely each other's everything through thick and thin.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So that's Maddie at Christmas when she was just little. She looked so excited. Maddie Mae, we called her. She was our first and only child that we ever had. And she was such a happy baby, just super easy and fun and smart and was just the joy of all of our lives.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Maddie's dad, Ben, and her mom, Karen, divorced when Maddie was really little. Karen then married Scott Laramie, who raised and loved Maddy as his own. And together they appear in the prime video docu series One Night in Idaho, the College Murders.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Maddie was Karen's mini me. They looked alike and they acted alike and everything. For a long time. She just called me Scotty, you know? And then when she got Older. It just made me feel so proud to be called Dad.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I was a very young mother. I was 22. So I was always so protective of Madison, this beautiful, peaceful little girl. I never let Maddie cry, like, never. Kaylee is the daughter of Steve and Christy Gonzalez. She's the middle child of five kids, including her older sister Olivia, and they grew up together near Coeur d'. Alene. I remember the day Kaylee was born. I was about four and a half years older than Kaylee. And you're a big sister, but you also ended up being best friends. What was it like to watch her evolve and become a young woman? It was the best. From the moment Kaylee was born, she was ornery, stubborn, spitfire, so confident, so sure of herself. There was no timid bone in her body. Kaylee was the middle child, and she's your classic middle child syndrome.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

She tried to be really sweet at first, and then once you knew you liked her, then she could be a little bit more herself, which was a little ornery, and do a prank on you.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kaylee was funny. Kaylee is this bubbly, smiley girl. And Maddie's always been described as just a little bit quieter. Yeah. How did they click? I think that something in Kaylee's soul recognized something in Maddie's and vice versa. And it was never. It was never a question. Because as quiet as Maddie maybe was when they first met, man, man, she blossomed. And as sharp and bullheaded as Kaylee was, man, she softened. And they complimented, complemented each other. You wouldn't see Kaylee without Madison. You wouldn't see Madison without Kaylee. My name is Donna Staub. I'm an English teacher at Lake City High School. And I had Kaylee and Madison in an English class when they were juniors in 2017. So it was probably my second class of the day, if I remember correctly. And these two girls walked in just talking and laughing.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Life of the party. Her mom made it a point, too, that she was like, I just want her to have one friend that she can depend on. I don't care about her being super popular.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She's just.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I just. If this. If this could be the friend. And it just worked out that way. So then when college comes, they're like, we're going to go to college together. During high school, they mentioned it early on they were going to go off to college together. That was their plan.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Living near Coeur d', Alene, Idaho, they were just about 85 miles or so from the University of Idaho campus. It's not until 2022 that Kaylee and Maddie lived together. They move into that house on King Road with their friends. Kaylee and Maddie were always at each other's houses, but this was the first time they'd really gotten to live together and be roommates for real. That was definitely just a house where we all got to hang out and feel welcome. And, you know, we would have parties.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Everyone who lived there just liked to have a good time, and so they'd always invite people over. That usually turned into some sort of social gathering, maybe a party. But I mean, it was always people that everyone knew so everyone could just go there and feel safe.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We were college kids. You're still innocent. You're like, nah, nothing's gonna happen. By their senior year, Maddy and Kaylee were looking forward to graduation, starting their next chapter in mid November in Moscow. It starts to get really cold. It's getting dark earlier. There's a chill in the air. And soon the lives of everyone in that house would be forever linked by tragedy. A tragedy no one could have ever imagined. Once the cops showed up and the ambulance arrived, we all were. Where's Kaylee, Maddie? Where's Kaylee, Maddie? We were calling him, we were texting him. We were, you know, no answers. In May of 2022, 27 year old Bryan Kohberger graduates from Desales University. He's seen in this commencement video getting a master's degree in criminal justice.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

My name is Josh Ferraro. I knew Brian Kohberger from our time at Desales University. We were paired up for this long project. We were all picking partners and he was someone who was still there. So I said, hey, do you want to be my partner? And yeah, that's how we met. He's like, yeah, you know, my mission is to, like, be a cop. Something I want to do. But he didn't delve too much into his personal life. This guy's a lonely guy, keeping him himself. I invited him to one of my parties one time and he's like, no, I'm good, man. And I'm like, all right. The offer is there, but no problem. Like, it's just trying to be nice.

[Narrator/Reporter]

One of the classes the two men share as undergrads is psychological sleuthing, and it's taught by the renowned professor of forensic psychology, Dr. Katherine Ramslin. My area of expertise is extreme offenders, serial killers, mass murderers, but primarily serial killers. 2020 spoke with Dr. Ramslin back in 2019 about her work studying the serial killer known as BTK. I think BTK is a very Useful.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Example of somebody who can grow up.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In a fairly normal childhood and become a serial killer.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In that class, you study mass murders, you study serial killers, and she really delves into the psyche of their mind. Brian Coburger was really, really invested in the class. He took really quick notes and he'd ask a lot of questions. His eyes really opened up when he's asking a question or getting to the answer. Talking about Jeffrey Dahmer or BTK or Ted Bundy. He was very proud of his intellect.

[Narrator/Reporter]

While at DeSales, Kohberger conducts a Reddit survey for an academic research project looking to understand the mind of a criminal.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He put an online request to speak to convicted criminals to discuss the emotions they were feeling and decision making that they went through when they were committing crimes. How did they choose their victims, all this stuff.

[Narrator/Reporter]

In June of 2022, Coburger moves across the country to Pullman, Washington, pursuing a PhD in criminology at Washington State University.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The University of Idaho and Washington State University are located just seven miles from each other. The student body are constantly traversing to come over to the different areas, whether it be for classes or social. There is definitely a crossover with the two universities. We're all one big community.

[Narrator/Reporter]

At 27 years old, Kohberger has never lived on his own before and he moves across the country and lives here in this off campus apartment complex. He spends the summer exploring the region, taking some of those selfies just released by authorities, and making several trips across the state line into Moscow. His cell phone records would later show that his phone pinged off a tower in that area 23 times in the months before the murders. He even gets pulled over one night in August.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hey there. I stopped you. Going a little fast.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He's accused of speeding on the Palm and Moscow Highway.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Were you wearing your seatbelt when I stopped you? No. No. That's no good. Just being honest with you. Yeah, I appreciate that you guys are. There's absolutely no point not being honest.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After the officer tells Coburger he's getting a $10 seatbelt citation, Cober has some questions for the officer.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I'm obviously an honest person, right? I told you I wasn't wearing my seatbelt. When people lie to you about that, say I lied to you about that, Right?

[Narrator/Reporter]

My own knowledge, honestly. Go back. Kohberger accepting the citation.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

All right, have a good night.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Tell me what the internship was that Brian Coburger applied for.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So it was actually part of WSU's criminal justice PhD program where the student would be embedded in the Police department to conduct research.

[Narrator/Reporter]

How would you describe how he communicated with you?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Just awkward. Just a little bit socially inept, perhaps. I didn't feel he could develop rapport and trust with my staff. Didn't really speak in a fluid conversational manner. And so for those reasons, I didn't think he'd be a good fit for us.

[Narrator/Reporter]

But Kohberger does get a position as a teaching assistant at the university, which helps pay for his tuition.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He was the TA for my Criminal Justice 420 class, which was criminal procedures. He was a little bit more strict with his grading. He gave several comments of feedback, you know, like saying, oh, well, this is a little bit too broad. This is not descriptive enough, Stuff like that. Bryan Kohberger was pretty quiet. He didn't really talk too much. He kind of didn't really look at us directly, and he just seemed really kind of awkward.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And outside of class, Kohberger doesn't appear to be very social. He was a loner. Jared and Heather Barnhart analyzed Kohberger's digital life, including his cell phone and computer records for investigators.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He had 18 total contacts in his phone. One person was labeled as maintenance and another was AT and T. There were no texts to friends. It was just his parents.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He called them mother and father. Even through text message, he would say, mother, where is father? Why isn't father answering me? And she would respond, your dad is in the garage, Brian. He's working. It was all mother and father. Hours of talking, text messaging. And we found all those selfies, like.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Very much staged selfies, trying to catch himself in a certain manner. It's not weird that he was taking selfies. The weird part is that he never did something with it. He didn't take a selfie to send it to someone else.

[Narrator/Reporter]

As the semester progresses, instructors at WSU start to raise concerns about Kohberger's conduct in the program. Kohberger started to get a really bad reputation on campus.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Sometime in November, I remember the professor saying, hi, so I'm switching some of my TAs. He didn't get any more in depth.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He didn't seem to respect female professors. Was showing up late to class, having some weird social problems where, like, he would block doorways when students were trying to talk to him.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

They felt uncomfortable around him. They felt that he would try to, at times, trap them.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And there were lots of allegations that he was bothering girls. And this is especially problematic when there's a power dynamic.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

There was a common complaint of he's very controlling, that he's manipulative that he treated women a certain way compared to men. Disrespect. He just had an odd, strange behavior.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The university was onto him. Professors said, we need to cut funding from this guy. If we give him a PhD, he's going to become a professor and we're going to end up seeing on the news that he's stalking women or he's committing some kind of crime.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He received an email describing that he was on a performance improvement plan with the university in this role. It was somewhat satisfactory, but there were some problems. WSU did not intend to have him back as a teaching assistant.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He was starting to really lose control of his life, kind of spinning out, away from home, isolated. Kohberger is about to turn his PhD work into reality. He goes from a student to a killer.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Is it somebody that trains and practices over and over and over and over again? And then at some point do they feel like they have to execute?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Like a sick way of carrying out his thesis, right?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states. For the first time ever, you can get all of ESPN in the new ESPN app along with Disney plus and Hulu with one incredible offer. The most live sports, biggest blockbusters and most talked about shows. Get it all in one bundle for 29.99amonth for 12 months. Visit Disney, plush, Hulu espnbundle.com for details. Add supported plan Auto renews at regular price. Currently 35.99amonth. Subject to change unless canceled. Ends 1526 terms apply. Where's she at? Where's she at?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Where at?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hunter Johnson came up to me and I was like, where's Ethan and Zanna? And he's like, they're not here anymore. What do you mean they're not here anymore? He's like, I think they were murdered last night.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He was like, yeah, all four. We were like, what? It doesn't make no sense now to.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The murders of those four college students from the University of Idaho.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And now what happened? Minute by minute, you go into Zanna's room. What did you see?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Stabbing is close, personal, long term. You've got to be committed.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The number of times that Kaylee was stabbed, there's no sugar coating it. The first person to find them, as.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Soon as you get There you know something's wrong.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And a survivor who saw the killer in the house. The third time she opens her door, she sees a male figure. I just shut the door and walked in because I didn't know what to do. Now just released inside his home and his mind.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He was on a website called Serial killer Timelines and he just went down this list and clicked one after another after another.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And the police body camera from the crime scene. I think we have a homicide.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Secure the outside first. He made an absolutely critical mistake.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What was the target? Just over the hill is the University of Idaho campus. This is Greek Row, the Sigma Chi house right there. And as you cross the street you enter that off campus housing. And this area in particular is really popular. Students sort of pass down the housing from generation to generation. And In August of 2022, this is where five young girls moved in together. They're full of optimism, excited about life and they're posting videos showing all of it online. We just called it the older girl's house. Maddie stayed there and then Kaylee moved there and then Zanna moved there and then Bethany Dillon moved there. And the sixth housemate was Kaylee's Goldendoodle. His name was Murphy. She was really excited to have the house dog is what she called it. Everything I like to do with my dog. The King Road house was a three story white house right in the middle of Party Street. The house is three levels. It has six bedrooms, two on each floor. Bethany's bedroom is on the first floor. Zanna and Dylan's bedrooms are on the second floor, along with the kitchen and the sliding glass door leading out to the porch. Kaylee and Madison's bedrooms are on the third floor. And Ethan was over at the King Road house a lot. It was always friends of Ethan that would go over, friends of Zanna, friends of Kaylee and Maddie. There was never anybody who shouldn't have been there.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

People didn't really have any interest in going into houses where they didn't know anybody. It was a party neighborhood just in the sense that like you walked over to that area on Friday and Saturday nights listening for where people might be at and, and then you see someone, you know, you wander over.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's Saturday, November 12th. It's the last home game for the University of Idaho Vandals. Celebration is in the air. Students start tailgating early. We had a lot of pre games before the football games. If the game was early, we would try and wake up early. Santa would usually be FaceTiming me, trying to wake me up. Be like, hurry up. Like, let's go.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I had gotten a text from Ethan being like, why aren't you here yet? So I was like, okay, I won't keep you waiting any longer.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The house on King, it was the cutest place to take pictures. Like, you could go on the third floor patio. That patio was the scene of so many happy moments. Maddie's mom, Karen Laramie, shared those moments in the Prime Video DocuSign series. One Night in Idaho, the College Murders. Kaylee texted me with the picture of Maddie on her shoulders. Just loving this amazing happy moment. I called Maddie and she put me on FaceTime. And then I was having a conversation with all of them. Kaylee Gonsalves posted this last photo to Instagram, writing, one lucky girl to be surrounded by these people every day.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We were with our whole friend group, which was a normal weekend for us, just hanging out with our friends. And then from there, we all kind.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Of split off and we were like, bye. Love you. Gave each other a hug.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The triplets, they went to Maisie's formal. I think Xana just waited for Ethan, probably. Ethan spent the beginning part of that night at the Betty's Ball with his sister. From there, he left with me back to Sigma Chi.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The party continued after the formal, and Ethan really wanted you to come party. So he started off by texting me. I think he said, dog, come hang out. We all want you here. And was like spam texting me. And I said, I'm going to bed. I think it was like nine or I'm not gonna go. And then he said, love you. And I didn't even respond to that. I think I was asleep by then. And the I love you kind of stood out, though. Well, yeah. Yeah, definitely. Because you didn't just normally text that to each other. Yeah. After the game, Kaylee and Maddie head down to the Corner Club. It's a big hangout for college students. They're having some drinks, hanging out with friends, and then they decide they need a snow. So they head downtown and they order Mac and cheese from the grub truck. We live in this world right now where there are cameras everywhere. So we know that Kaylee and Maddie were at the food truck around 1:30 in the morning. Maddie was running around in that huge jacket hugging people. Kaylee was just on her phone just laughing at Maddie, and she was just smiling and she was. They were happy.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

They were so happy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Maddie and Kaylee get a ride back to the King Road house using a rideshare. And by 2am, everyone's home. They're settling in for the night. It's like a sleepover. Kaylee sleeps in Maddy's bed just like they've done since they were kids. But Zanna stays up. Zanna orders doordash and it gets delivered to the King Road house.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

A little after 4am she takes it up to the kitchen, puts some of her food onto a plate and she's eating that in her bedroom. She's on social media, the latest of 4:12 and just shortly after that.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Everything seemed so normal in that home on King Road. But by the next morning nothing would ever be the same.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Emily got a call from Dylan around 11ish. That's when I felt like I needed to go over.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And then what happened next?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I went into the house. 9:1 on location of the emergency. Hi. Something is happening. Something happened in our house. We don't know what we were.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Complete panic.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This is, this is real.

[Narrator/Reporter]

By 2am all the roommates are back home and settling in for the night. Police say around 3am Shortly after leaving his apartment and heading towards Moscow, Brian co turns his cell phone off. We can see Kohberger's car on footage captured by a surveillance camera that was at the neighbor's house. He keeps circling the area. He's making multiple passes at the house.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We believe that Brian Kohberger entered the house sometime shortly after he's last seen on the video. Somewhere probably around 4:10am.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Police say Coburger entered through a sliding glass door in the back of the house. Investigators believe Zanna was in her room with her boyfriend Ethan asleep in her bed. Dylan's across the hall. Bethany downstairs and on the third floor. Kaylee and Maddie had fallen asleep together in Maddy's room.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Zanna was up. We see activity from her watch of just steps that were taken. We know that she's eating. She's on social media at 4:12. And just shortly after that after entering.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The house, investigators believe Kohberger walked through the kitchen and went upstairs to the third floor where he found Kaylee and Maddie together asleep.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Kaylee and Maddie were both killed very quickly, but they were stabbed repeatedly many times. Stabbing is close, personal, long term violent action. You've got to be committed to do a homicide.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What investigators think happened is that Zanna.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Heard the commotion at some point Zanna comes, we believe up the stairs. Bryan Coburger either hears something or he hears the stairs. Something alerts him and takes him away from what he's doing in that bedroom.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Investigators say Zanna turned and ran and that Kohberger followed Chasing her downstairs to her bedroom.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Zanna, after that initial contact in the doorway, she's fighting him. We know that because she has defensive wounds all over herself. She fought like hell. And we think at that point, he realizes that there's a fourth person, and that's Ethan that's in the bed. So he reaches over and stabs Ethan. It killed Ethan instantly. He continues to fight with Santa and ends up on the floor, where ultimately he does finally kill her.

[Narrator/Reporter]

At 4:17am Less than 10 minutes after investigators believe Bryan Coburger entered the house, the neighbor's surveillance camera captures what police describe as a loud thud, the sound of a whimper, and a dog barking. That camera is just about 50ft from Santa's bedroom.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In Zanna's room, some things were pushed around, were moved around. And I think that's something that you're probably hearing on the video because she was fighting. Right.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After Coburger walks out of Zanna's room, he then comes face to face with another one of her roommates. It's Dylan.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dylan was awakened by just some type of noises. Initially, she thought it was the dog, Murphy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Then she thought she heard a male voice say, I'm here to help you.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We believe that is Brian Kohberger saying that to Zanna. He's doing something to try to calm her, to make her relax of who he is and why he's in this residence. Dylan. As she had overheard multiple things throughout this time period, she had opened her door a couple different times.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The third time she opens her door, she sees a male figure.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The description was a thin, tall individual wearing a mask, almost described as a basketball player. Physique and bushy eyebrows. She momentarily saw him, and then he turned and he left the residence. He knows people were awake, probably believing at some point somebody called the police. I've got to get out of here. The fight. Losanna could have just wiped him. We'll never know what made him pass that door up and head out.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After that, Dylan is terrified. She starts texting Bethany, her roommate. Did you hear that? I'm trying to call the other roommates. They're not answering.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

You've got somebody who had been drinking, was in and out of slumber, and somebody walks through in the middle of the night and still wonders in her own mind did she see it or did she dream it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

She makes a mad dash for Bethany's room and decides to run downstairs and spend the rest of the night with Bethany. As night turns into day, everything in Moscow is still quiet. But investigators say that Brian Coburger is awake, he's active. That includes spending more than an hour and a half on the phone with his mom and posing for a selfie, giving a thumbs up. Police say just after 9am Coburger is on the move and he's headed back to 1122 King Road.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He's not seen anything on the news. I think he certainly would expect this is going to be everywhere immediately. So I think that his curiosity has absolutely gotten to him and so he goes back to the area. But for all this training, for all of his things that he studied, crime scene and serial killers, PhD program for criminology. He made an absolutely critical mistake in that house that night. Mother's dead. He shot two men. I had no idea how deep this would go. Catch the allnew Hulu original documentary Blood and Myth. I didn't want to shoot him. Based on the best selling audiobook Midnight Sun. I had to do what they wanted me to do. Any indicants? These men, mythical beings.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He thought God was talking to him.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What just made him snap? Blood and Myth now streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney for bundle subscribers term supply. Welcome to Only Murders in the Building the official podcast. Join me, Michael Cyril Creighton as we go behind the scenes with some of the amazing actors, writers and crew from season five. The audience should never stop suspecting anything. How can you not be funny crawling around on a coffin? Catch Only Murders in the Building official podcast premiering September 9th. Wherever you get your podcasts and watch Only Murders in the Building streaming on Hulu and Hulu on Disney plus for bundle subscribers terms apply.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I woke up in the morning just kind of like chill Sunday. Emily and Hunter came and were hanging out in my bed with me. And then Dylan called Emily and asked us all to come over.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I could overhear what was going on. She sounded freaked out. I just had a gut feeling and something in me, he told me that I need to just go. As soon as you get there, you know something's wrong.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I walked just right in the door and Hunter already went up. And then he was like, okay, you everybody get out. Hunter finds Zanna and Ethan murdered. But he decides to shield his friends from that reality and he tells them only that someone inside is unconscious and to call 911911, location of your emergency.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Something is happening.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Something happened to not help.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We don't know what.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Dispatching Moscow Law ambulance for unconsciousness, 1122 King Road.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Where's she at? Where's she at?

[Narrator/Reporter]

Yes, where at?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Up here. Up here. Okay. Go back 13. I think we have a homicide. I don't think any of us were prepared for that. It's four young, completely innocent kids. Do all age people sitting deceased? Lots of blood. Please fire it. We're on the third floor. Going up. We got another. We have two additional deceased on the third floor. Secure the outside first. There's a back entry. I was gonna start taping it all off. Okay, here. Can you guys go over to the dumpster for me, please?

[Narrator/Reporter]

We were just placed on the street to sit down and wait.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We were all cold.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We were all scared. Our brains just started to continue to spiral. I kept calling her name, if she wouldn't answer.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And then I saw the guy.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Outside. Police speak to Dylan. She's distraught. She's the roommate who told police she saw a masked man in the house that night.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Describe the guy that you saw.

[Narrator/Reporter]

He was a little bit taller than me. I'm almost positive.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He was wearing a full black outfit.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And he had this mask that was just over his forehead and over his mouth. And he didn't say anything to me, like, at all.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I just shut the door and locked.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It because I didn't know what to do. And I think he went out, like, the side door, the sliding door in the kitchen that goes up to the backyard.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We had footprints coming out the back and open door when we got there. That's the sliding glass door was left halfway open.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You go into Zanna's room. What did you see?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Zanna was there. She was laying on the floor, and Ethan was on the bed. I got woken up by my friend. We had partied pretty hard the night before. He's like, there's a ton of cops over at Zanna's house. I walked over there. I didn't see Ethan outside, so I figured he was inside helping whoever needed to be helped. Okay. Do you mind hanging out here, please? Hunter Johnson came up to me, and I was like, where's Ethan and Zana? And he's like, they're not here anymore. What do you mean they're not here anymore? He's like, I think they were murdered last night.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And you're at the grocery store. I was at the grocery store. Mm. And I was talking to a friend.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Fine.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It's okay. And my phone kept ringing, and it was Hunter on the other end. And he just said, he's not here. And he kept repeating it. And so I was like, well, go get him.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Go find him.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And he just kept saying it, and he goes, no, mom, you don't understand. Ethan and Zana are not on this earth anymore. I just was like, there's just no way. And I drove down the road and called Jim and you know, it makes it real when you have to repeat.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Drives me crazy because I've always wanted to protect my family and there was really nothing there that I could have done. Instantly he was taken.

[Narrator/Reporter]

We still didn't know where Kaylee and Maddie were. We didn't know where Murphy was. And then U of I sent the homicide text. Throughout the day, the University of Idaho sent campus wide text messages with updates on the investigation about a homicide and an unknown suspect. But at 5:17pm students get a text message that says for the first time four people have been killed. That was the moment that we knew where Kaylee and Maddie. What time do you think you fell asleep? The two surviving roommates, Dylan and Bethany, have received a lot of criticism for not calling 911 immediately on the night of the murders. But they both told police they weren't certain that what Dylan thought she saw was real. I told her tonight I need to come to your room because she was the only one that was answering me. So I just ran down there and.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

For a second I stopped and I saw Zanna passed out and I thought.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Maybe she was just like sleeping or something. I didn't think anything because I was.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

So out of it.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And we just fell asleep and then we woke up this morning and no one was answering.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We understand the disbelief that she's going through. What 19 year old kid is going to come up with and assume what actually happened was happening.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Investigators now know they're a few hours behind the killer. But as they walk into Maddie's third floor bedroom, police get their first big break.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The comforter's over. The girls take the comforter off. Lo and behold, there's a knife sheath laying right there.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They find a sheath for a K bar style knife. There's no murder weapon, but the sheath is there.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

That was definitely the first aha moment. We have seen something in this house. From the joke.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Four murdered students, a panicked campus, and now the world's eyes on Moscow, Idaho.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Now to the murders of those four college students from the University of Idaho.

[Narrator/Reporter]

As investors investigators try to figure out what happened in that house on King Road.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We've told the public very clearly from the beginning that we believe it was a targeted attack.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They said, oh, this was a targeted attack, nothing to worry about. And my first question was, but you don't have anybody. That means there's somebody still out there. How could we not worry about we.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Don'T want to put our investigation in jeopardy by releasing what we have. The investigation grew massively. We were trying to get every piece of video footage from that day from every surveillance camera in town captured from that night.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Right across the street from Zanna's bedroom is a house. They have surveillance footage of a white Hyundai Elantra circling the house in the early morning hours of November 13th.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We quickly realized that we had this white vehicle during this time leaving at a very fast, high rate of speed. You can see it is burning out of that neighborhood. So we believed at that point this was the vehicle of our subject. So we narrowed it down to a. A 2011-2016 Elantra. Believe it or not, when we ran Idaho registrations and just looking local, we had over 25,000. The search to track down that car has no limit. We are just wanting to talk to the individuals who are in that vehicle.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Investigators also have a crucial piece of evidence found at the crime scene left behind by the killer. A sheath for a K bar knife.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

This knife sheath was found under Maddie's body in the bed. Immediately it stood out because it was in stark contrast to the entire house. About four days in, the lab came back and said they had a sole source. Male DNA found on the button of the night sheath. But there was no matches in CODIS for that DNA. Once we know we had the DNA from the sheath, then we flew that to Othram and then they started to develop and work their part of it. Othram is a company in which we build technology to basically bring certainty to investigations. Forensic genetic genealogy is a tool that we use to identify someone or find a nearest relative. So I got a call and I was asked what is the fastest that we could produce a result. Kristen was adamant that we get these folks answers.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I can't imagine that being my child and knowing that there's someone out there that could help. We have to help. How fast can we get this DNA?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

It was a sergeant from the Moscow Police Department who got on a plane and Boise. They flew directly to Texas and hand delivered it to Othram.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They brought us down a tube of.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

DNA that was remaining from that knife sheath. That DNA extract contained a lot of DNA. It was not a trace amount of DNA. It was 500 times more DNA than we generally see in our low quantity DNA cases.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The technology at Othram is then able to build a profile that's uploaded to genealogy databases which search for people who are connected to that unknown DNA.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

In this particular case, there was A unique biogeographical ancestry that allowed us to kind of narrow the search even early on. And what we found is that there was a multi generational American family based in Pennsylvania, genetic relatives that were related to the person we were looking for.

[Narrator/Reporter]

While there's a massive multifaceted investigation working to find him, Ryan Kohberger leaves Washington and heads home to Pennsylvania for winter break. He drives across the country with his father in that white Hyundai Elantra.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hello. How you doing? How y' all doing today?

[Narrator/Reporter]

So it's a long trip from Moscow, Idaho, all the way to Pennsylvania. Coburger's pulled over twice during this time.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Right up on the back end of that van. Pulled you over for tailgating. So y' all work at the university there? I actually do work there.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And he's pulled over for following a vehicle too closely both times. By the time the co workers arrived back in Pennsylvania, the FBI had taken over that genetic genealogy search from Othram. And just over a month after the murders, investigators get a name.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

On December 19, the Investigative Genealogy team leader calls in and he says, hey, Darren. He goes, I have a first name for you. It's Brian. And he goes, hey, we also have a last name for you. Coburger. And he drives a white Hyundai Elantra. Once we had his name at that point, immediately we knew that he was in Pennsylvania.

[Narrator/Reporter]

When did the surveillance on him start?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Immediately. He only left the house three times. And he was noticed to be wearing rubber gloves all the times he had left the house.

[Narrator/Reporter]

They need a way to test that DNA. So they pull the trash.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The agent on scene had made contact with the trash company to be able to ride the truck to collect the trash. They stored anything that could contain DNA. They found an item in the trash that had male DNA that comes back and says, we have DNA in this trash that is the father of the DNA left on the knife sheath once we had the DNA paternity match from the trash pole.

[Narrator/Reporter]

From a Q tip specifically.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yeah. We knew at that point that we had the person whose DNA was on that sheath at that point. You have what you need to get an arrest warrant for Bryan Coburger.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And news of an arrest spreads fast.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

The big story on Action News Tonight is a major break in the murder of four Idaho college students. People in this sleepy Poconos community are stunned. We got live feed. We saw the armored vehicles roll in them, make entry, and we get the call out in custody. And we want to get right to our breaking news as we come on the air. The arrest of a Twitter 28 year old man in Pennsylvania in connection with the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Nearly seven weeks after the brutal murders, an arrest is finally made.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Pennsylvania State police make that arrest. We've got live feed coming from the helicopter from Pennsylvania State Police. We're getting constantly updated on what's going on, telling us, yes, they've got Brian in the house. We saw the armored vehicles roll in, then make entry and we get the call out. In custody, detectives arrested 28 year old Brian Christopher Kohberger in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Coburger faces four counts of first degree murder and one count of felony burglary.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Authorities have not revealed to possibly possible motive just yet. People in this sleepy Poconos community are stunned that one of their own has been arrested in connection with this grizzly crime. Agents from the Scranton office of the FBI after the arrest interviewed Brian's parents. They were, you know, aghast. We do know there, there was conversation among the family about hey, Brian does drive a car like that? Brian do you think? You know. And it was immediately quashed. There's no way Brian could do this. No way, Brian. Nobody can comprehend that their child is capable of something like this.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What was his reaction to the national media attention?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He was very surprised actually. He didn't realize that it would garner national media news, I would say.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Really?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Yeah, it actually was. It was surprising because he inquired as to which outlets were actually circling. Police department search warrant come to the door.

[Narrator/Reporter]

After the arrest, police in Washington searched Coburger's apartment. And in these just released photos you can see the spartan place he left behind. One of the few personal items they found is a birthday card from his parents.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He was taken back to the Pennsylvania State police barracks immediately upon being arrested and had given what turned out to be about a two and a half, three hour statement. It was a significantly long time that he interviewed until he asked for an attorney.

[Narrator/Reporter]

What did he tell you about that interview?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

He was very limited. I didn't want to know a lot about the case because he was going to have an attorney that would represent him or on the murder charges. I want to make sure he's aware of how the process is going to play out. I want to make sure he understands that the death penalty may be considered in the case.

[Narrator/Reporter]

You thought right away it would be a death penalty case?

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Oh, absolutely. I had zero doubt.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Bryan Coburger agreed to be extradited and he was flown across the country to the Moscow Pullman airport and then brought here to the Lehta county jail to face murder charges, charges while the world watched on. When they brought him off the plane, people were like, we got him. Thank God he wasn't a local. He wasn't one of us. Kohberger's attorneys enter a not guilty plea for him, insisting that he's innocent. But prosecutors decide to pursue the death penalty. And as they prepare for trial, they dig into every part of Kohberger's life, particularly his digital life, sifting through his Amazon purchase history that showed he bought a k bar knife and sharpener back in Pennsylvania. And they look at his cell phone and computer searches right up until the days before his arrest.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

On Christmas night, the 11 o' clock hour heading into the very early morning of the 26th, he was on a rudimentary website called serial killer timelines, Just a list of hyperlinked names. And he just went down this list and clicked one after another after another for like two hours. December 27th, there's some sort of a show that he watched. It's a YouTube and it's Ted Bundy sort of standing facing forward with a hood pulled up and over the front. And on 1229, just to days later, he's taking a picture of himself looking like Ted Bunny.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And although investigators weren't able to make a direct link between Bryan Kohberger and any of the victims, those digital forensic experts did find something interesting on his phone. The FBI gave us keywords and said, okay, search for these things. We needed victim names. We needed. What did they call their wi fi? So all these things were. We searched for it, and I remember saying to Jared, I have a hit for Mad Greek. Remember, Mad Greek is that Moscow restaurant where Maddy and Zanna both worked. This search for Mad Greek, however he arrived at it, was done through the Google maps app.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

What we can say is that Mad Greek was presented to him on his phone. It doesn't necessarily draw a hard line to these victims. Now to the sudden and stunning turn in the Idaho college murders case. After insisting his innocence for nearly defendant Bryan Kohberger today pleading guilty to fatally stabbing four students.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Kohberger had maintained his innocence the entire time, but he decided to change his plea from innocent to guilty. That was huge. And as part of that plea deal, prosecutors agree to take the death penalty off the table.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

We got what we wanted, and we got what the law like when you.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Say we got what we wanted, though, we. That we does not include all of the victims families. There are victims families that have been very public about wanting more. Perhaps a taped confession. The location of the murder weapon. You don't felt like you. You didn't feel like you could have asked for those things.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

There was no legal way we could have compelled those. And quite frankly, there is nothing that he could have said that I think would have been credible or believable. And the minimizing in the lies that would have even been more damaging and frustrating to everybody. Be seated. Thank you.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Without a trial, Kohberger moves right to a sentencing hearing. And the loved ones for the victims finally get their own day in court.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

All right, so with that, let's start with then impact statements.

[Narrator/Reporter]

I just wanted to reclaim their power. The truth is, they're as dumb as they come. Sloppy, weak, dirty. Bryan Coburger pleaded guilty to four counts of first degree murder, but he still has to sit and face the families of his victims.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

All right, so with that, let's start with then impact statements.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The first statement comes from one of the two surviving roommates, Bethany Funk. She's unable to be in the courtroom herself, so her statement is read by her friend and also one of the first people to arrive at the house that day, Emily Allotte. I was so frantic that morning and scared death not knowing what had happened. And when I made the 911 call, I couldn't even get out the words. And from then on, I don't remember a thing. I wish more than anything I could.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hug them one last time.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And I wish I could tell them how much I love them. I will keep living for them as.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Long as I am lucky enough to still be here.

[Narrator/Reporter]

And then it's the second surviving roommate, Dylan Mortenson.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Dylan, just take your time, all right?

[Narrator/Reporter]

I was barely 19 when he did this. I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable. I couldn't be alone. Then there are the panic attacks, the.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Kind that slam into me like a.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Tsunami out of nowhere. I can't breathe, I can't think.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I can't stop shaking.

[Narrator/Reporter]

Living is how I honor them. Speaking today is to help me find some sort of justice for them. He may have taken so much from me, but he will never get to take my voice. One after another, family members describe the loved ones they lost. And notably among them is Kaylee's sister, Olivia Gonzalez. My sister Kaylee and her best friend Maddie were not yours to take. They were not yours to study, to stalk, or to silence. The whole time, I just wanted to reclaim their power, reclaim their voice, Especially in a way that, you know, really was the end to this chapter. You got under his skin. Absolutely disappointments like you thrive on pain, on fear, and on the illusion of power. The truth is the scariest part about you is how painfully average you turned out to be. The truth is as dumb as they come. Stupid. Clumsy. Slow. Sloppy. Weak. Dirty. Did you say everything that you wanted to say? For the most part, yes. I didn't want to break eye contact, so that gaze was so intense, and it really did feel like a standoff. You want the truth? Here's the one you'll hate the most. If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night, like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked ass. The Chapin family was not at the sentencing. They chose instead to honor Ethan privately.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

Hi.

[Narrator/Reporter]

The Chapins recently got to visit that DNA lab that played such a crucial role in solving this case. It came after a chance meeting a few years back. This stranger, who I did not know, came up and she just wrapped her arms around me and hugged me, and she just said, we are working on your case and you don't have to worry. Everything will be okay. Everything's going to be okay. That there will be justice in the outcome. I mean, that was what I was trying to relay. Right. And that's how it felt. Jim and I would rely on that information to, you know, in your toughest days, you were like, kristen told us not to worry. And we. And we use that. The Chapins now want to help advocate for the work being done at this lab. Maybe our family could become a face for the victim side of what these people do. If we can make a positive impact for the future. On some level, it's important.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I miss him every day. When you lose your son at 20, it's a different loss. And I miss him every single day. Alrighty. It's nice that, you know, when we have so many different photographs and videos, we can. You can still hear their voices. They were some really, really cool people.

[Narrator/Reporter]

It helps to remember them and not what happened to them. Hopefully one day they're just seen as who they are and not what happened to them.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

And just as college is starting again, there's now a memorial garden at the University of Idaho with a plaque bearing the name of each of the four victims.

[Narrator/Reporter]

A touching tribute. As for Bryan Coburger, David. He received four life sentences, one for each of his victims and an additional 10 years for burglary. As part of that plea deal, he waived his right to an appeal. That's our program for tonight. Thanks so much for watching.

[Interviewer/Investigator]

I'm Deborah Roberts and I'm David Muir. From all of us here at 2020 in ABC News, good night.

[Narrator/Reporter]

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