Idaho student murders crime scene photos accidentally released
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Crime scene photos from the 2022 murder of four University of Idaho students were accidentally released this week, sparking outrage from victims’ families.
The photos showed the inside of the house off the Moscow, Idaho campus where Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death on Nov. 13, 2022, according to family members.
Goncalves’ family argued that evidence of a quadruple murder should never have been made available without strict controls, saying the release of the footage reflected a lapse in judgment and basic security measures.
“Please be kind and no matter how difficult it is, put yourself outside of yourself and consume the content as if it were the person you love,” the Goncalves family said in a statement. he said. “Your daughter, sister, son or brother. Murder is not entertainment and crime scene photos are not content.”
Madison Mogen (top left) smiles on the shoulders of her best friend Kaylee Goncalves as she poses with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other roommates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
BODY CAMERA FOOTAGE OF IDAHO MURDERS SHOWS HILLING ACCOUNT OF SURVIVING ROOMMATE
In previous court applications, families had requested urgent intervention to prevent further dissemination of the images.
A request for a temporary restraining order was filed on August 12, and Judge Megan Marshall granted the request on August 15. Court records show that a permanent injunction was issued Oct. 1 preventing further release of certain materials.
On Dec. 11, 2022, four weeks after four students were stabbed to death, a guard parked outside 1122 King Road. The property is scheduled to be demolished a year later. Critics believe it should remain standing until the suspect appears in court. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
Lawyers for the city of Moscow told the court they could personally oppose the release of the images, but their authority is limited by Idaho’s public records law, which generally favors disclosure and allows only narrow privacy exemptions. They described themselves as “intermediaries” according to the statute.
The city has already released redacted body camera footage and photos showing the interior of the home at 1122 King Road.
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Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty for stabbing four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)
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The photos emerged more than three years after Bryan Kohberger was charged with murder.
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In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea deal that spared him the death penalty. He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole and was incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
Idaho State Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
