A 30-year-old criminology doctoral student on 2 July 2025 pleaded guilty to the November 2022 killing of four students of a university in Idaho and the judge has set his sentencing for 23 July.
Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, accepting four consecutive life sentences to avoid the death penalty.
Yet the fundamental question that has haunted investigators and the public remains unanswered: why did criminology doctoral student spare two housemates—Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen—whilst systematically killing their friends on 13 November 2022 in the quiet town of Moscow in what authorities describe as a calculated predatory attack?
Unravel Mystery of Selective Killings
Kohberger's guilty plea, entered in Boise on 2 July 2025, revealed chilling details but no clear reason for his actions.
Prosecutors say he entered the off-campus rental home around 4am, targeting the victims with a military-style knife purchased online months earlier.
Autopsies showed the victims, likely asleep initially, were stabbed multiple times, some with defensive wounds, suggesting a struggle.
Kohberger, a graduate student at nearby Washington State University, had no known connection to the victims, who were friends in the university's Greek system.
One surviving roommate reported seeing a masked man with 'bushy eyebrows' leaving the house, per court documents, but he spared her and another roommate.
X posts speculate that he may have targeted one victim, possibly Maddie Mogen, and killed others to eliminate witnesses, though this remains unconfirmed.
Trace Kohberger's Calculated Moves
Kohberger's background as a criminology student raises questions about his intent.
Prosecutors revealed he planned the attack, buying a knife sheath to replace the one left at the crime scene, scrubbing his apartment, and dismantling his car to cover his tracks .
Surveillance footage showed his white sedan circling the victims' neighbourhood multiple times before the murders, and his cellphone was turned off during the attack, suggesting premeditation.
Yet, no sexual component or personal motive was identified, and the decision to spare the roommates puzzles investigators.
Some X users suggest he was unaware of their presence in the six-bedroom house, while others argue he deliberately avoided them to limit the crime's scope.
NEW: One of the surviving housemates told detectives a masked intruder left her King Road home carrying what looked like a vacuum after stabbing four Idaho students #truecrime #BryanKohberger https://t.co/SBFDwkREaO
— Michael Ruiz (@mikerreports) February 21, 2025
The Goncalves family, furious about the plea deal, demanded a full confession to clarify why the roommates were spared, but Kohberger offered no answers.
Probe Gaps in Motive and Mercy
The case's lack of a clear motive has fuelled public fascination. Kohberger's criminology expertise, including a paper on crime scene processing, gave him knowledge to evade detection, yet he left DNA on a knife sheath, leading to his arrest in Pennsylvania weeks later.
The Goncalves family, opposed to the plea, expressed outrage on social media, stating, 'We deserve to know when the beginning of the end was.'
In contrast, the Chapin and Mogen families supported the deal, citing a path to 'hope and healing.' The judge, Steven Hippler, set sentencing for 23 July 2025, noting he ignored public pressure to focus on justice.
The mystery of why Kohberger spared the roommates, whether intentional or accidental, remains a haunting gap, with no trial to shed light.
Kohberger's Silence Leaves Questions Unanswered
Bryan Kohberger's guilty plea closes a chapter on the Idaho murders, but the question of why he killed four students while sparing their roommates lingers.
His calculated actions and criminology expertise suggest a deliberate plan, yet the absence of a motive or explanation for his mercy keeps Moscow grieving and guessing.
The victims' families, divided on the plea, are left with partial closure, while the nation wonders what drove a scholar of crime to commit one.
For now, Kohberger's silence speaks loudest, but it offers no solace to those seeking answers.
The Idaho student murders case officially closes with Kohberger's guilty plea, but the psychological mystery of his selective targeting ensures it will remain a subject of study and speculation for years to come.
