WARNING: Graphic Content
Authorities are addressing the issue after graphic crime scene photos, related to the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, were accidentally released earlier this week.
The Idaho State Police received numerous public records requests for these photographs after the criminal case was resolved, a department spokesperson revealed, as reported by the New York Post.
The spokesperson explained that during the redaction process, the Idaho State Police adhered to Judge Megan Marshall’s permanent injunction. This injunction required the City of Moscow to censor any parts of the photos showing the victims’ bodies or the blood surrounding them.
A poignant image posted by Kaylee Goncalves on Instagram the day before the tragedy shows Madison Mogen smiling while perched on Goncalves’ shoulders, alongside Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates.
In response to concerns, the records were temporarily withdrawn for further review to ensure privacy and public transparency were appropriately balanced.
The explanation comes after a trove of images showing the interior of the off-campus Moscow home where undergraduate students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, according to family members.
In a statement, the family of Goncalves condemned the release of the images, while asking the public to exercise discretion when deciding whether to view the previously unseen evidence.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse, for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years ago. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
“Please be kind & as difficult as it is, place yourself outside of yourself & consume the content as if it were your loved one,” the Goncalves family said in a statement. “Your daughter, your sister, your son or brother. Murder isn’t entertainment & crime scene photos aren’t content.”
The families of the four victims previously asked the court to prevent further release of the images, according to court filings.
The house at 1122 King Road, where four University of Idaho students were killed on Nov. 13, 2022, sits boarded up in Moscow, Idaho, on Dec. 27, 2023. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
A motion for a temporary restraining order was filed Aug. 12, which was subsequently granted by Judge Megan Marshall three days later. Court records indicate a permanent injunction barring further release of certain materials was issued Oct. 1.
Attorneys for the city of Moscow previously told the court that while officials may personally oppose releasing the images, they are bound by Idaho’s public records law, which typically only allows narrow privacy exemptions.
Public records involving redacted body-camera video and photos showing portions of the interior crime scene of the home have already been released, following Bryan Kohberger’s guilty plea in the quadruple murders.
In July 2025, Kohberger admitted to four counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty.
Kohberger was subsequently sentenced to four consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He remains in custody at the Idaho Maximum Security Prison.
The Idaho State Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
