The chilling traces of a brutal crime scene are etched into the walls and floors of an Idaho home: blood-stained walls, mattresses drenched with evidence of violence, and floorboards tinged with a haunting red. Overturned furniture hints at a desperate struggle, suggesting that at least one young victim valiantly resisted in their final moments.

This week, a trove of previously unreleased crime scene photographs from the Idaho murders emerged, offering an unprecedented glimpse into the off-campus residence in Moscow where Bryan Kohberger tragically ended the lives of four college students in November 2022.

In a quiet release, the Idaho State Police made nearly 3,000 images available to the public on Tuesday, only to retract them shortly thereafter. However, The Daily Mail managed to download the complete set of files before they vanished from public view, though they have opted not to publish the most graphic of these images.

Nearly 3,000 images were quietly made public by Idaho State Police on Tuesday before being swiftly taken down. 

The Daily Mail downloaded the files in full before they disappeared, but has chosen not to publish the most graphic images.

Many highlight typical student life: red plastic cups, empty beer cans, books and school work, clothing strewn across bedrooms.

But hundreds of the images document the obscene brutality that unfolded in the early hours of November 13, 2022.

Ethan Chapin 20, a freshman from Mount Vernon, Wash, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, a senior from Rathdrum, Idaho, Xana Kernodle, 20, a junior from Post Falls, Idaho and Madison ‘Maddie’ Mogen, 21, a senior from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.

Pools of blood cover the floor in Xana Kernodle’s room – with an out-of-place bedside cabinet suggesting she put up a fight 

A folded rug and strewn clothes in furniture back up investigators’ theory that Kernodle bravely fought Kohberger 

The blood-soaked mattress and pillows in Kernodle’s room, where her boyfriend Ethan Chapin had been sleeping and was also killed

Blood splatter and stains are visible throughout the home, from the kitchen and bedrooms to the hallways, stairwell and common areas.

Some show blood-soaked bedding – sheets, comforters, pillows – in the rooms where the victims slept, along with blood smeared across walls, furniture, rugs and personal belongings such as cellphones and laptops. 

The victims – Madison ‘Maddie’ Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 – were stabbed to death in their home by Kohberger, a former criminology PhD student with no known connection to any of the students and who has never provided a motive.

The now-demolished house was a three-story rental with six bedrooms spread across three levels.

Investigators believe Kohberger entered through an unlocked back door, where he went straight to the third floor and first stabbed best friends Mogen and Goncalves, who were in Mogen’s bed.

Eerie photos show Mogen’s bright pink cowboy boots sitting on the windowsill, next to a decorative pink-and-white initial, a picture frame, a small plant and a candle.

Her room was heavily decorated with flowers, a mirror, and books, including a copy of the bestselling Colleen Hoover novel It Ends With Us, stacked on a shelf amid the chaos. 

Blood covers Mogen’s bedding, mattress, pillows and surrounding furniture. 

Mogen’s pink cowboy boots sit eerily still on the windowsill with a decorative ‘M’ initial 

The floor of Kernodle’s bedroom shows blood dripping down the side of the bed and walls

Blood splatters a white wall in Kernodle’s room

A laptop lies on top of a blood-stained chair in Kernodle’s room

Blood splatter on the floor covers a cell phone in Kernodle’s room 

A shot from behind the doorframe hints at the chaos that unfolded

Investigators doing measurements where blood was found on furniture in Kernodle’s room

Streaks mark the door frame and handle, hinting at a struggle in Mogen’s bedroom before the first two victims were killed. 

Kohberger’s leather knife sheath, later found in the room, would become pivotal in securing his conviction last July. 

DNA recovered from the sheath placed him inside the home during the murders, a key forensic link that helped prosecutors close the case. 

While Mogen and Goncalves were being attacked, Kernodle had just received a DoorDash delivery and took it to the kitchen on the second floor. 

Investigators theorize that she may have heard the commotion and headed upstairs toward Mogen’s room, potentially startling Kohberger and causing him to leave Mogen’s room, leaving the sheath behind. 

What we do know for sure is that Kohberger then followed Kernodle to her bedroom, where she was stabbed more than 50 times. 

Chapin, her boyfriend, who was in her bed, was also fatally stabbed.

Photographs of Kernodle’s room reveal blood-stained bedding and mattresses, streaks on walls, pools of blood on the floor, and blood spattered across furniture and clothing. 

Beer cans are seen strewn on the staircase. The blue splatters are a chemical mixture used by forensic investigators to detect trace amounts of blood 

A kitchen knife beside red plastic cups in the kitchen. It is not the knife used in the killings

Blood marks on the bedroom door of Madison ‘Maddie’ Mogen’s bedroom on the third floor – along with an inspirational mood board

Mogen’s room on the night she was ambushed and murdered 

Bryan Kohberger’s knife sheath was left on Mogen’s bed – it became pivotal in convicting Kohberger 

A brown bag of Kernodle’s DoorDash delivery from Jack in the Box on the kitchen counter

Best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen 

Some images show rips in the mattress, suggesting she struggled against her attacker, while overturned furniture hints at a desperate attempt to defend herself.

Kohberger, who had been studying at Washington State University, pleaded guilty to all charges, including four counts of first-degree murder, on July 2, 2025. 

He was sentenced to four life terms plus ten years. Despite the conviction, the motive for his killings remains unknown. 

The release of the photos prompted the Goncalves family to speak publicly, urging empathy and respect for the victims. 

‘Please be kind & as difficult as it is, place yourself outside of yourself & consume the content as if it were your loved one. Your daughter, your sister, your son or brother.

‘Kaylee Jade, I am so sorry that this has happened to you. I am so sorry that people who never even knew you, now post about you, suggesting things about your life that are so untrue. We will never quit fighting for you.’