Crime Scene Docs Detail Bryan Kohberger’s Path Through House, Murdering 3 Sleeping Victims — and Who Was Awake By Chris Spargo 63

Bryan Kohberger could have murdered all four University of Idaho students in as little as 90 seconds.

The Idaho State Police ascertained this after using crime scene evidence to piece together the route he took on the night of the killings from his car to the murder house, and then back to the car.

Three of those victims were asleep when Kohberger attacked, but one was awake, according to the newly unsealed investigative documents, which were obtained by PEOPLE.

The ISP obtained video footage from cameras in the neighborhood, which showed that Kohberger parked behind 1122 King Road in a small, paved lot that overlooks the residence at approximately 4:07 a.m. on the night of the murders.

He then entered the home through the sliding glass door on the second floor and made his way through the kitchen to a set of stairs leading to the third floor, the ISP determined after reviewing evidence at the scene.

Investigators believe that Kohberger first looked in the room of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and upon seeing her bed empty, went down the hall to the other bedroom on that floor.

In that bedroom, he found Goncalves and Madison Mogen, 21, sleeping in bed together, according to the ISP.

He then proceeded to repeatedly stab both young women, who were later found dead in that same bed.

Goncalves’ injuries were so severe that she died almost immediately, but Mogen may have still been alive when Kohberger left the room.

Why Kohberger left and what happened in that moment is still unclear, but what is known is that after fatally injuring his first two victims, Kohberger came across Xana Kernodle.

Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson said at Kohberger’s plea hearing that Kohberger likely did not enter the house planning to kill four people and likely murdered Kernodle after they crossed paths — or she caught him in the act.

So while it is unknown if Kohberger took the stairs back down to the second floor while exiting the home and then saw Kernodle, or if she caught him and he then fled down the stairs after her, the ISP did determine that Kohberger caught up to Kernodle just as she entered her bedroom.

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Her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, was attacked in his sleep and murdered in his bed, said the ISP.

His injuries left him unable to move and render help to his girlfriend, which suggests that he might have been the third victim killed by Kohberger.

That would have left just Kohberger and Kernodle, who unlike the other three victims, was wide awake as Kohberger attacked and stabbed her.

“Kernodle was initially attacked just inside the bedroom near the entrance. Kernodle fought the suspect in the bedroom area and was ultimately killed on the floor of the bedroom next to the bed,” the ISP stated.

The Moscow Police Department recently released footage from a neighbor’s security camera that picked up the sounds of a woman screaming and then whimpering just before 4:18 a.m. that day.

There is then a loud thud, followed by silence.

The medical examiner would later reveal that Kernodle was stabbed more than 50 times that night and had multiple defensive wounds covering her hands. 

After that, Kohberger walked back down the hall, across the living room and kitchen and then out the sliding door, which he did not fully close.

Along the way, he locked eyes with one of the surviving roommates and the lone eyewitness in the case, Dylan Mortensen.

Kohberger then walked to his car and sped away from the scene, shortly after 4:20 a.m.

How Long Did the Killings Take?

Once the ISP was able to put all these pieces in place and lay out Kohberger’s path through the home that night, they began to do test runs so as to discover how long it would have taken Kohberger to murder his four victims. 

In each of these test runs, Sgt. Darren Gilbertson would start at the sliding door and retrace Kohberger’s footsteps that night.

When he reached a location where a victim’s body was discovered, he would “simulate the number of strikes” each victim suffered that night before resuming his route.

A detective assisted by standing by, to count and keep track of each strike, while Cpl. Brett Payne of the MPD — who wrote the probable cause affidavit in the case — timed the runs. 

The fastest result was 90 seconds, while the slowest clocked in at two minutes and 33 seconds. 

The ISP next moved on to the route Kohberger took after getting out of his car and walking to the residence that night. 

No evidence existed that allowed the ISP to definitively determine the route Kohberger took, so the decision was made to test-run two options. 

The first path went through the backyard of the residence and was the most direct approach Kohberger could have taken from his parking spot to the home.

The ISP then put together a much longer route, through a small patch of woods surrounding the property, which would have kept Kohberger hidden and avoided any large, open spaces.

Once these routes were set, the same three investigators resumed their roles and conducted timed test runs.

The results of those test runs were then combined with the results of the previous indoor test runs, which allowed the ISP to conclude that Kohberger could have exited his car, walked to the home, stabbed all four victims, and then been back in his car in as little as two minutes and six seconds.

Even if he took the longer and slower route, the ISP learned from the test runs that Kohberger would have needed just three minutes and 45 seconds.

Kohberger spent far more time in the home than that, entering at around 4:07 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022 and being seen in his car driving away at 4:20 a.m.

The longer time is likely due to the two unknowns in Kohberger’s route: what happened in the time between Kohberger leaving Mogen’s bedroom and getting to Kernodle’s room, and how hard Kernodle fought her attacker.

In addition to putting up a fight, evidence strongly suggests that it was Kernodle who first discovered Kohberger in the home, which ultimately led to his arrest.

When he exited Mogen’s room that night, he left behind a knife sheath containing enough DNA for authorities to assemble a genetic profile they were ultimately able to run through genealogy sites and link back to Kohberger’s father.

Thompson said that his team believes Kohberger may have made this crucial mistake in a panic once he realized he had been discovered by Kernodle.

That sheath remains the only thing that directly ties Kohberger to the murders, to which he confessed as part of a plea deal.

Kohberger is now serving four life sentences for those murders.