WARNING: Graphic Content

This week, crime scene photos linked to the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students were inadvertently released, provoking outrage among the victims’ families.

Family members revealed that the images depicted the interior of the Moscow, Idaho, residence where Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin were tragically stabbed to death on November 13, 2022.

The Goncalves family criticized the release, describing it as a serious oversight and a violation of fundamental security protocols. They emphasized that evidence from such a grave crime should remain under strict control.

“Please approach this with empathy and imagine if it were your own loved one,” the Goncalves family urged in a statement. “Consider your daughter, sister, son, or brother. Murder is not entertainment, and crime scene photos should not be treated as mere content.”

In the final Instagram post shared by Kaylee Goncalves just a day before the murders, Madison Mogen smiles while perched on Goncalves’ shoulders. Alongside them are Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates, capturing a moment of friendship and joy. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)

In earlier court filings, families sought emergency intervention to prevent further dissemination of the images.

A motion for a temporary restraining order was filed Aug. 12, and Judge Megan Marshall granted the request on Aug. 15. Court records show a permanent injunction barring further release of certain materials was issued Oct. 1.

A watchman parked outside 1122 King Road on Dec. 11, 2022, four weeks after four students were stabbed to death inside. A year later, the property was scheduled for demolition. Critics believe it should remain standing until the suspect goes to trial. (Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)

Attorneys for the city of Moscow told the court that while they may personally oppose releasing the images, their authority is limited by Idaho’s public records law, which generally favors disclosure and allows only narrow privacy exemptions. They described themselves as “middlemen” under the statute.

The city has already released redacted body-camera footage and photos showing parts of the interior of the home at 1122 King Road.

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 being spared the death penalty for the stabbing of four University of Idaho students nearly three years ago. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)

The photographs emerged more than three years after Bryan Kohberger was charged in the killings.

In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole and is incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.

The Idaho State Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.