Even if you’re not an avid true crime consumer, chances are you’ve still heard of the high-profile quadruple murder that took place last year in Moscow, Idaho, and not only frightened a mostly young student community, but it also shook and reverberated through the nation.
On November 13, 2022, the bodies of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves were discovered in Mogen and Kernodle’s house – Goncalves had moved out but returned to sleep over – after they had been all stabbed hours prior, during the hour of the wolf.
Bryan Kohberger was apprehended as the suspect more than a month thereafter. But although the media spotlight has been turned to him – as it often happens in homicide cases – he’s not the protagonist of this story. If anything, and if he’s in fact the killer as the evidence seems to suggest, he’s the villain who unjustifiably robbed these very young adults of the vital right to continue creating their own beautiful narratives, and their friends and family of seeing them unravel as they should have.
So, let’s bring the focus back to those who deserve it, for the fact that they lived and should’ve kept living if someone, an unfeeling monster, had not stolen that sacred right away from them.
Who are the victims?
Xana Kernodle, 20, from Avondale, Arizona, is described by her older sister, Jazzmin, as “one of the happiest, funniest people [she’s] ever met.” This is especially admirable taking into consideration the rocky start she had in regards to her family in her first years. Due to their parents’ toxic patterns which included drug abuse, Xana and Jazzmin would end up being rehomed to live with her uncle and aunt. Despite the difficulties – perhaps in part because of them – Xana grew into someone who strived to manifest the positive energy she wished to be surrounded by.
Ethan Chapin, 20, from Conway, Washington, is Xana’s boyfriend. He is one of 3 triplets – a girl, Maizie, and two boys, Ethan and Hunter – and he “loved his siblings, boats, and working on a tulip farm.” Jazzmin Kernodle described him as “the sweetest kid ever.” Ethan’s family won’t be attending the trial as, according to what his mother told NBC’s TODAY, they have trust in the prosecutors to do their work as the now family of 4 needs to focus on healing and being there for each other instead.
Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21 and from Idaho, were inseparable best friends, even in their last hours as they slept side by side on the same bed on the house’s third floor. The two met a decade ago in 2013 at Charter Academy in the city of Coeur d’Alene in Kootenai County. They went with each other on family vacations and insisted on being enrolled at the same high school, Lake City High School. Mogen’s boyfriend, Jake, said he hoped his girlfriend is remembered for the love and kindness she spread to others.
Unlike Ethan’s family – who have every right to their own grieving process – Kaylee’s family is ready to be at the trial and see justice be served with their own eyes. Her father, Steve Goncalves, spoke with ABC News saying: “I can’t wait to see the evidence. … And then I’m gonna bring it, and he’s gonna realize that this … is the family that’s gonna make sure he doesn’t get away with it.”
The tragedy taking place on November 13, 2022
The victims were all home by 2 am, with Maddie and Kaylee having gone to eat some mac and cheese from a food truck, and Ethan and Xana having attended a nearby party at a fraternity house. At around 4 am, Xana got DoorDash and records show that at 4:12 she was active on TikTok. Around this time, the victims were all in their beds more than ready to call it a night.
The first to be attacked were Maddie and Kaylee, in this order. Due to the way their sleeping arrangement was set up, Kaylee would wake up to find herself, in her parents’ words, “trapped.”
One of the two surviving roomates, alerted by noise for a second time – this time around by what she thought to be Xana crying – opened the door and she would get to see the killer, clad in all black, walk right past her and out of the home, effectively leaving four dead and two alive.
No murder weapon was ever found but the Marine Corps knife sheath, cleaned off of DNA except for a speck belonging to Kohberger, was discovered seemingly placed beneath the body of one of the two best friends on purpose, likely a misdirect.
At 4:20 a white Hyundai Elantra was captured on footage speeding away from the area after having passed by the street three times prior to the time of the crime. It took over 7 hours for the police to be called. The four students, with their whole lives ahead of them, were pronounced dead at around noon.
More than a month later, and when some people feared the investigation was stalling, a suspect was finally revealed and taken into custody. In August 2023, Bryan Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial so it got postponed indefinitely, which is yet another layer of hurt that the suspect, if he’s indeed guilty, is putting these bereaved families through.
