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The autopsy findings for the University of Idaho students who fell victim to a tragic incident have been disclosed by the Ada County court. The case was relocated there following the successful request for a venue change by the accused, Bryan Kohberger.
These examinations were carried out by Dr. Veena Singh, the chief medical examiner in Spokane. Prosecutors had intended for her to testify during the trial’s penalty phase, although this became unnecessary when the accused entered a guilty plea.
The students, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle, along with two other housemates, posed for a final photograph that Goncalves shared on Instagram before the fatal events of November 2022. (Image credit: Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram)
The autopsy reports, which omit any photographs, reveal some injuries that have been previously discussed. Dr. Singh determined that the wounds on all victims matched the characteristics of a “Ka-Bar Full Size US Marine Corps Fighting Knife,” believed to be the murder weapon. Additionally, she noted that various sections of the weapon might have inflicted different injuries.
Dr. Singh found that all of the victims suffered wounds “consistent” with a “Ka-Bar Full Size US Marine Corps Fighting Knife” — the suspected murder weapon. Some injuries may have been caused by different parts of the weapon, she found.
An evidence photo from the Moscow Police Department shows a KA-BAR knife sheath believed to have housed the knife Bryan Kohberger used to murder four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Moscow Police Department)
All four were killed by multiple sharp-force injuries and “endured a high degree of pain and/or suffering” in the attack, which took place as three of the four were sleeping around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022.
She noted that Kaylee Goncalves, 21, had also suffered blunt-force injuries to her face and that an “unidentified object” appeared to have been used to cover her mouth. She also showed signs of asphyxia.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, on July 23, 2025, for his sentencing hearing for the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students nearly three years earlier. (Kyle Green/AP Photo)
The victims were Goncalves, her 21-year-old best friend, Madison Mogen, 20-year-old Xana Kernodle and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin.
Kernodle was the only one not in bed when Kohberger attacked — suffering defensive wounds on her hands and arms.
Police found a leather Ka-Bar sheath in the bed with Goncalves and Mogen that prosecutors later said had Kohberger’s DNA on it.
The victims of the Nov. 13 University of Idaho massacre are Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen. (Instagram)
Investigators used investigative genetic genealogy to come up with leads about the suspect, and discovered a potential match in Kohberger, who had been attending classes 10 miles from the crime scene. He was arrested at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30, 2022.
The reports were included in a batch of newly unsealed court filings as the court continues to make more information in the case available to the public.
Kohberger, who was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at the neighboring Washington State University, pleaded guilty last year to avoid death by the firing squad.
He is serving four consecutive life sentences plus another 10 years.
His early weeks in prison were marked with complaints about the food and mistreatment by fellow inmates.
