Murder With My Husband - 280. Idaho Murders A-Z

Episode Date: August 4, 2025

In this episode, Payton and Garrett delve into the chilling case that shook the quiet town of Moscow, Idaho, the brutal murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. Links: Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderwithmyhusband NEW COLORING BOOK MERCH: https://mwmhshop.com Discount Codes: https://mailchi.mp/c6f48670aeac/oh-no-media-discount-codes Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/themwmh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/murderwithmyhusband/ Watch on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@murderwithmyhusband Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/into-the-dark/id1662304327 Listen on spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/36SDVKB2MEWpFGVs9kRgQ7?si=f5224c9fd99542a7 Case Sources: NYTimes.com - https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/us/idaho-murders-bryan-kohberger-dna.html    CNN.com - https://www.cnn.com/2025/03/10/us/idaho-killings-bryan-kohberger-dna-wwk   ABCNews.go.com - https://abcnews.go.com/US/idaho-killings-latest-motive-unknown-new-information-former/story?id=124030822 People.com - https://people.com/idaho-murder-suspect-bryan-kohberger-11730739  Independent.co.uk - https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/idaho-murders-bryan-kohberger-confession-why-b2795782.html NewsWeek.com - https://www.newsweek.com/bryan-kohberger-past-job-fish-cutter-1785013  Facts.net - https://facts.net/history/people/13-facts-about-bryan-kohberger/  NYPost.com - https://nypost.com/2023/06/06/bryan-kohberger-once-bragged-about-boxing-routine-weight-loss-and-speaking-skills-in-job-application/https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-key-evidence-that-linked-bryan-kohberger-to-the-murders-of-4-idaho-students    PBS.org - https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/the-key-evidence-that-linked-bryan-kohberger-to-the-murders-of-4-idaho-students     CBSNews.com - https://www.cbsnews.com/news/idaho-murders-suspect-bryan-kohberger-selfie-evidence-bushy-eyebrows/ King5.com - https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/kohberger-trial-idaho-murders/everything-we-learned-bryan-kohberger-motive-sentencing/281-501aaf8e-1a75-4594-ba90-97cd3150742b NBCNews.com -  https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/judge-denies-bryan-kohberger-motions-exclude-key-dna-evidence-trial-rcna192952   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're listening to an Ono Media Podcast. Hey everyone, welcome back to the podcast. This is Murder With My Husband. I'm Peyton Morland. And I'm Garrett Morland. And he's the husband. And I'm the husband. I have the most super exciting, fun news for you. When Garrett told me that he was designing Murder With My Husband hats, I was like, well, I want to design something too. That would be fun. So I began working on a murder with my husband

coloring book. And if you know me at all, you know that I love coloring. I'm a little connoisseur. I'm not actually very artistic, but I do enjoy coloring. And so I've been working on this book. It's basically a journey with Garrett, Daisy and I trying to solve a mystery. That's kind of like the story of the coloring book.

I made it kind of bold so it's easy to color. It's not front and back, so you can use markers on the other side if you want. You could get it for your kids. You can get it for you. Honestly, it's just super cute. Daisy is so cute as a little detective with her little spy glass.

It's adorable. But yeah, so those are available now. If you want to go check it out. There will be links everywhere. You can check it out. It's really cute. Paint did a good job. You guys should go check it out.

It comes with color pencils. It does come with some colored pencils. You can use markers as well. She made it one sided so that you can put something behind it so nothing will bleed through. Really cute. Go check it out. There'll be links everywhere. Yeah, I'm proud put something behind it so nothing will bleed through. Really cute. Go check it out. There'll be links everywhere.

Yeah, I'm proud of her. Honestly, it's kind of just silly and little, but it's so cute and fun. I had fun doing it. It's really cute. If you're listening and you're thinking about turning the episode off right now, you are not going to want to

because we have something that has been highly requested. The last year, I would say. You're not going to want to miss this. But first, I guess I have my 10 seconds. I can't remember, did I say? Oh no, I don't think I've said this yet. I neared my upper body the other day and I've never used narrow my upper body.

Just like I've done it once before on my legs. I grow a lot of hair on my legs. And you guys might think, oh my gosh, do you? No, like I look like a bear, do I not? Yep. Like I grow some crazy hair on my legs. So like two times a year on there, my legs start fresh. First time I decided to narrow my body,

I didn't know that I couldn't put it on my boobs. Nipples. Can I say nipples? Yes. All right, I didn't know that I couldn't put narrow my nipples, I burnt, I burnt my freaking nipples, hurt. I had to go play pickleball the next day and I had to put band-aids on my nipples and

anyways, if you are listening to this or watching this do not put an air on your nipples. It's not worth it and It's ineffective, but it does work on your chest, but it did work on my chest. That was fine Like it didn't burn any other part of my body Just something new I learned Just in case anyone else was curious. I did it for you so don't do it. That's my 10 seconds nothing too crazy. I think based off of that we're ready to hop into this case. Everyone should know or have heard some information about this. I just know what I've seen on social media so this will be a good, I guess, summary, somewhat detailed summary of everything from A to B.

A to Z. A to Z. I meant A to Z. From A to Z. And all right, I'll hand it over to Peyton. Yo, Garrett's not scripted. If, you know, he just, he just, he comes out here. I'd just be talking, man.

He just talks, okay? And he does a really good job. I'm just a talker. I would say that I'm pretty decent at talking. Put me in front of like a million people, I'll talk. Honestly. It doesn't bother me. There was, I think during our live shows,

there was a moment where Garrett would talk and then I would have to react. His job is not as easy as it looks. And I don't know if it's because I'm just so used to telling the story. Look, I've never claimed to be a fighter. I never said I was a fighter. I never said I was a fighter.

All right. Like Garrett said, this has been highly requested. And I think it just, we had to do it considering that Idaho was kind of a hot topic for us when we first started the show. Our sources for this episode are NewYorkTimes.com, CNN.com, ABCNews.go.com, People.com, Independent.co.uk, Newsweek.com, Facts.net, NewYorkPost.com, PBS.org, CBSNews.com, King5.com, and NBCNews.com and NBC News. Madison Mogan, Kaylee Gonzalves, Zana Curnodle, Ethan Chapin. These were the four young college students whose lives were taken on

November 13th, 2022 right outside of the University of Idaho campus. All because of one cold-blooded killer, a 28-year-old man named Brian Coburger. This case has been all over the place. It has been discussed. There have been many rumors, gossip, disrespect towards the victims and their families. But if there's one thing, as this case is wrapped up this year

that is left, it's a lot of unanswered questions, honestly, about the entire case, even though we supposedly have the answers. And that is what we are gonna address today. On July 2nd, 2025, three years after the murders, Coburger pleaded guilty to all four murders, which landed him behind bars for the rest of his life. But this plea deal meant he didn't have to answer many of the pressing questions.

What was the motive? Why these four victims? And what might have happened if he stood trial after all. Today I'm going to walk you through the case and then the evidence that would have come out in court and the new updates and information that has been released since Brian's sentencing. And there might even be some other information we're missing. I mean, because it seems like there's more stuff coming out each day. We tried to make this as recent as possible. So if there is some things that are missing,

sorry, the way it is. We are really just going to try to unravel what really went on in the mind of Brian Coburger. So we're going to back up. It is Saturday, November 12th, 2022. It is just another weekend in the small town of Moscow, Idaho. The students at the University of Idaho are looking to blow off some steam, get a little partying and fun in before they all return home for Thanksgiving break.

One of them was a 21-year-old senior from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho named Madison Mogan or Maddie as her friends called her. Now Maddie was studying marketing and was a member of a sorority. She was a gentle warm hearted girl who was loyal and worked hard to maintain her friendships and connections to her family, including her friend who she had been close to since the sixth grade, who also happened to be her former roommate, 21-year-old Kaylee Gonzalves.

Now, Kaylee was originally from Rathrum, Idaho, though she eventually had plans to move to Austin, Texas after graduation, and she also was planning to get a marketing job there. Kaylee was also part of a sorority. She was in a different sorority though from Madison and her other roommate, 20-year-old Zana Cronodal. So now we have three roommates, Maddie, Kaylee, and Zana.

Zana and Maddie were sorority sisters. Zana had grown up in Idaho too, but she had also spent some of her childhood in Arizona. Her father described her as strong-willed and independent, but she also had fallen hard for another college student, a handsome freshman, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin. Ethan, one of three triplets with a brother and a sister, came from Conway, Washington.

He was in a fraternity and as a former basketball player, decided to major in recreation, sport, and tourism management. So all four of these college students seemed incredibly social and outgoing, loving their college life and dreaming of all the possibilities that the future might hold for them. They had no idea though that November 12th would be their last night to celebrate. That evening, Xana and Ethan went to a party at his fraternity house. This was actually just a short walk

from the house on King Road where these girls lived, Zanna, Kaylee, and Maddie. And they actually had two other female roommates that lived in the house on King Road with them, 21-year-old Dylan Mortenson and Bethany Funk. So Dylan, Bethany, Kaylee, Maddie and Zana all living together at this house on King Road while going to college.

Now, as Zana and Ethan are at the party at the fraternity house, Maddie and Kaylee were off at a sports bar in Moscow called the Corner Club, which they actually got to around 10 p.m. that night. Kaylee had moved out of the house that she shared with the girls pretty recently. So she had been living there during college, but she had just moved out,

but was actually back that night to hang out with her former roommates. And she was planning to stay the night at her former house. So right before that, Kaylee even uploaded a picture to her Instagram reading, quote, one lucky girl to be surrounded by these people every day. And it's kind of a picture that has gone viral because it has all of the victims in it together. Now, Bethany and Dylan, the other two roommates, also went out drinking that night and they returned home around 1 a.m.

Kaylee and Maddie stopped at a food truck and called a car getting home at around 1.56 a.m. And then meanwhile, Ethan went back to the house with Zanna to spend the night with her at the house, getting home around the same time as Kaylee and Maddie. So almost everyone is back home by 2 a.m. But around 4 a.m. that night, Dylan, whose room was on the same floor as Zanna's, woke up to a strange sound. Now just to set up the layout of the house for you, because it kind of is important for the story, there are three floors in total in this house at King Road.

Now on the first floor is where Bethany Funk's bedroom is, okay? Only her bedroom's on the first floor is where Bethany Funk's bedroom is. Only her bedroom's on the first. The second floor is where Xana and Dylan's bedrooms are. And then the third is where Maddie's bedroom is as well as where Kaylee's was before she moved out. Now that morning around 4 a.m., Dylan thinks she can hear, she wakes up and she thinks she can hear what sounds like

Kaylee maybe playing with a dog on the floor above her, so on the third floor. And then she thinks she hears either Kaylee or Maddie say something like, there's someone here. She also says she heard what she thought was crying, eventually coming from Zanna's room down the hall from hers, followed by a male voice saying, it's okay, I'm going to help you. So she wakes up at 4am and is like, what is going on in the house?

She's spooked, she's scared. She decides it's gotten to a point where she's going to stand up and peek out her bedroom door to just kind of see what's going on. So she sticks her head out her bedroom door and that's when she sees a man in all black clothing and a ski mask walk past her toward a sliding glass door walk past her toward a sliding glass door near the rear side of the house. And it is during this time that that man turns and makes eye contact with Dylan.

So Dylan says they make eye contact and she sees that he's a white man with a big nose and bushy eyebrows. And that he's holding some type of quote, small vacuum type of object. Remember it is nighttime. She has just woke up. She's trying to grasp what's going on.

So Dylan, a little scared, but like the guy didn't hurt her and she doesn't hear anything going on, goes back into her room and calls Bethany Funk. This is the roommate that she was out with earlier who is asleep on the floor below hers. And she says, hey, I was hearing noise. I just think I saw someone dressed in all black, like wandering through the house. But then he's like, really? Did you say anything?

And she's like, no, I'm just so like, she's scared. She's telling Bethany that she's scared. So Bethany says, hey, just like run downstairs, just come to my room. And Dylan does. So they get down and they're trying to decide what to do. No one in their right mind believes that their roommates have just been murdered and that they're sitting here alive in the house. Yeah.

This case is a little different because I know, um, bits and pieces of it. And I know there's been a lot of speculation and opinions and thoughts and... Judgment. Judgment. And it's hard because I try to think back when I was in college, I had six roommates for a while and then I had eight roommates for a while. There's a lot of stuff going on in the house. There's a lot of noises.

There's a lot of crap. Also, especially in college, I don't think you ever think, oh, there's a random person in our house right now. Murdering, murdering people like, I don't know, insane. Like honestly, it's out of this world to even think of something, to even think that something like that can happen. I mean, there were times where I would come out of my room and there would be a boy I had never seen before

in my house, in my dorm room. You know what I mean? Like, I think sometimes people forget that college life at times can be very just like in and out, strangers all the time, you're constantly meeting new people. Now, granted, if she was like in her family home and there was a man standing there in a ski mask,

she would probably be like, we have an intruder. Oh yeah, she'd probably call her parents and be like, what the heck is going on? I also want to note that it is 2022. So we are only about a year and a half out of COVID. So people wearing masks really wasn't that like uncommon of a site. If like sure it's not twenty twenty, but still, I mean, if I see a person in a

mask now, I don't really question it. Yeah, yeah. So I think in in her gut, she definitely has she spooked like she's like, I don't understand what's happening. She does not believe that her roommates are were just murdered. I think that's safe to say. Insane. So they are together in the downstairs room. They're trying to figure out what is going on. So they try calling their roommates, phones.

It's 4 a.m. No one answers. They don't panic though, because they figure a couple of things. Dylan only saw like a strange man. It's not like she saw any of her other roommates awake and walking around. It is 4 a.m.

They might be asleep. They might not be answering their phone. And two, they decide together that the man walking through the house was probably just one of Ethan's frat brothers who had come over, maybe playing like a joke on Xana and Ethan or something. That is what they come up with because Ethan is there and he has a whole bunch of frat brothers.

Dylan also thinks she might just be entirely mistaken since she was drinking the night before. I think it's really easy that once they were together to talk each other down off the ledge, find some peace and comfort, and they both finally fall back asleep. Now the next morning around 11 a.m., which seems late, but I mean, they were awake till two, then awake at four.

So around 11 a.m. Bethany wakes up and she notices no one else in the house is up yet except for her and Dylan. So at this point they're like, wait, they're still not up. So they start sending some text messages to the other roommates via text and Snapchat, but there is still no answer from any of their roommates. And it's around that time that they realize Zanna's location is off on her phone, which is weird.

Like they're checking for the location. They realize hers is off. So they decide to walk up and just peek in through Zana's door. And it's at this point that they see Zana passed out on the floor in her underwear and sweatshirt, but that's all they see before they get freaked out and leave the house. They are like, something is definitely wrong here. We need to not be in here. We need help.

So at this point, they call two other friends over to help them with the situation. The people they call is Emily Allant and her boyfriend, Hunter Johnson. Now they come over and Hunter goes in the house. They're like, hey, you are a boy and we think you can handle this. So Hunter goes into the house and he walks up to the second floor to Zana's bedroom. And he also sees Zana passed out on the floor. And he actually rushes back outside the house and says,

we just need to call 911, something's going on. So, okay. They didn't see blood yet, I assume? No, they haven't even walked into the bedroom, let alone gone up to the third floor. They are just so spooked and freaked out. I'm not questioning anything, I'm just curious. at this point, wouldn't it smell a little bit? I don't think yet.

Because it's been all night? I mean, since I guess like six hours, seven hours. I don't think it would yet. Okay. Okay. But I think it was obviously eerie enough. That they were freaking out. It takes a lot for a group of college kids to decide to get serious and call the police yeah I get that yeah so I agree I mean I I think

it's I think it is reasonable that people were quick to be like why did it take so long to call the cops I think that's reasonable I think so too I mean I I mean when I was involved in a hit and run and I called the cops, they basically told me, oh, that sucks, man, sorry. Like, OK, I'm probably not going to call the cops again. But I also think people don't take into consideration the fact that these people are in college.

For sure. They constantly live this in and out just party life. Nothing's really that serious. Like you have to take into account that this isn't a family in a suburban area that sees one of their siblings on the floor. Yes. So the group of kids calls 911

just after 11 55 a.m. that morning. They frantically tell the dispatcher that something bad had happened at their house and One of their roommates got drunk the night before and now she's unconscious and she hasn't woken up and they really don't think She's breathing but when the police arrive a few minutes later They find something far worse than any of them expected. And I think this is also a point in the case that has bothered the public that the 911 call came in as one of their roommates passed out, maybe struggling to breathe when in reality it was-

They were dead. Four homicides, like brutal, bloody homicides. Like where does that miscommunication come in? But again, hopefully now that I've broke down the story for you, you can understand how these events actually unfolded and kind of make sense. Yeah, I can't really judge. Like obviously, I mean, I have questions and thoughts

and I can't judge because one, I've never been in this situation and two, it's good four people were just killed. Like I don't know how it's insane. Also Dylan and Bethany, they have enough guilt. They don't need you to put it on it. I promise you that. I promise they already hate themselves enough right now. Like they just need love and support and validation

and understanding at this point because they have gone through hell and honestly the public's involvement in this case have only made their lives worse after going through this horrid experience so and I think after like learning more about it we're gonna continue to get into it but learning more about it and the trial and so on and so forth you realize like they did what they thought was right. Yeah. They didn't do anything. Anyway, sorry. Sorry. Thank you. Go. So police arrive to this, like basically on college campus, to this house where there's a different roommate in each bedroom and they discover Zana Kernodle dead

on the floor of her bedroom. She's not passed out like they had thought. She is dead. And Zana has been stabbed 50 times. Very brutal. Wait, what? 50 times. She's on the floor of her bedroom, stabbed 50 times. Her boyfriend-

Okay, wait. I mean, I don't know what I can ask. No one heard, obviously. No. What Dylan has said, what she's told police is all we know about the noises, and Bethany claims to not have heard anything. So, okay. It is hard to wrap your mind around, but I don't believe that they...

Did she say anything about it being loud in the house that night? Yeah, she thought they were playing with a dog because they did. One of the roommates did have a dog. So they thought like the stomping around and running and playing was with a dog. 50 times. Oh my gosh. But then she heard what she thought was her roommate saying, we think there's someone here.

And then she heard a man say, don't worry. And so she got up to look. Oh my gosh. You're telling me that this guy, first of all, killed four people, stabbed one of them 50 times. Okay. So her boyfriend, Ethan had also been stabbed multiple times with one lethal blow to his jugular vein.

So police discover this couple dead in Zana's bedroom. Then they continue moving up the house because they know that there are two other girls in this house that they haven't heard from. So they go up to Maddie's room and they find Kay up to Maddie's room and they find Kaylee and Maddie, both in Maddie's room in her bed.

They could have slept in different rooms, but that night they happened to both be in Maddie's room. I'm sorry, I'm gonna have questions and I'm sure they're the same questions you guys have. Was there not a bunch of screaming and yelling? Not according to- Not according to anyone. There has been neighbor footage of moaning.

Maybe there was some moaning or grunting. There was no outright screaming. If neighbors can hear that? It was on the neighboring- There's the wall of the house and then the neighbor's front door was right there and the ring doorbell could hear it. I feel like that has to be pretty loud, right? I mean, it woke her up and got her out of bed,

so it was loud enough that it got her out of bed. I'm just asking questions. I'm not putting blame. I'm just, I'm genuinely curious on what the freak happened. Well, these are the questions... That everyone had? That everyone has, because they're like, if he would just think about anyone other than himself and explain what happened that night,

we might have answers to this. Because he could say, oh, none of them screamed or this or that, you know what I mean? He's not gonna say that. He's a sadist. Yeah, he's not going to say that. Right. He's a narcissist.

Well, he's a lot of words, but. So both of these girls have been stabbed to death as well. Kaylee has been stabbed over 34 times. Oh my. Her face was unrecognizable, while Maddie's total is actually not specified. OK. I can't keep interrupting, but between just three people, The police total is actually not specified. Okay.

I can't keep interrupting, but between just three people, it sounds like over a hundred times. How do you stab someone that many times? Rage. Adrenaline. They were far dead. They were already dead. By the way, we're just going to send them to prison for life.

So the autopsy is performed on November 17th. The results show that all four victims were attacked with a large knife and that their wounds were very extensive. The autopsy shows that Zanna did fight back. So when putting together the timeline of the investigation, because police are like, who was killed first? What happened here?

Why did Dylan and Bethany not hear screaming? Like what happened here to make this so seamless and fast? But Zana has defensive wounds. So police discover that Zana had ordered food through the DoorDash app that was delivered around 4 a.m. They believe that Zana and Coburger had either just missed each other in the house,

walking through the house while she went to pick up her DoorDash, and then she heard the commotion, and that's why she was even out of bed when she was murdered. Either way, these timelines are very creepy because there are people moving through this house and we're not sure when they encountered each other. They do though suspect that Maddie, Kaylee, and Ethan were

asleep at the time of their attacks, which would make sense why it was more quiet because for two of those victims, which would make sense why it was more quiet. Because for two of those victims, they were basically sleeping. Basically. I mean, and then you can kind of, you don't have to like finish attacking one to get to the other. You can move back and forth to try to subdue one. You know what I mean? So maybe that is why it was so quiet. This is horrible, man.

This is horrible. It's awful. It is awful. They find though that there has been no evidence of sexual assault with any of the victims. Still, investigators feel confident that this was a targeted attack, not completely random. And for the next several weeks, police speak with anyone and everyone who might have had a connection to the victims, including anyone who was spotted with them earlier that night while they were out. But they release little to no updates about the case. And this is the point where you probably heard about the case. We heard about it. I

definitely heard about it because I'm from Idaho. Everyone was talking about it for college students like brutally stabbed to death in their home with two surviving roommates. The case itself just, it went viral. It spread. No one really knew what happened. Now I am going to say seven weeks after the murders, police made an arrest. Police made an arrest a week before they arrested Brian Coburger. I was sent court records showing that police had a suspect and the evidence that they had against him that was going to lead to an arrest. But I couldn't say anything because it hadn't been made public yet. You guys know, we could have leaked that information before anyone else,

but we didn't. We could have sold that shiz to TMZ, made a lot of money. But guess what? We didn't. If you're wondering how I got it at sources. You know, we never give up our sources. So just an FYI out there. FYI, if anyone ever sends us anything,

we'll snitches, get stitches. And we're not snitches. Just an FYI out there. FYI. If anyone ever sends us anything, snitches get stitches and we're not snitches. It was weird though to like have read this entire court document. It was long understand that they have a suspect that they had evidence and then get online and see people being like the police aren't doing anything. There's nothing going on and thinking, oh my gosh, they've been investigating this entire time and have kept it away from the public and literally are about to make an arrest. We should have just said, we should have just leaked it.

It would have been kind of cool. So seven weeks after the murders, police make an arrest. The person they arrest, Brian Christopher Koberger, a 28 year old grad student at Washington State University. This is a different college than the victims college, but it's actually just 10 minutes away from the Idaho campus. So it's basically just two colleges that share the same. And if we're arresting people just based off looks, we got the right guy. His eyes are very dead. We got the right guy. Very dead.

On December 30th, 2022, he's arrested at his parents' home, but it's not in Idaho, it's in Pennsylvania. They went across the United States to arrest him and he was charged with four counts of first degree murder. Now let's get a little bit of background on Brian. I wouldn't be spotlighting this if it didn't have some impact on the case. Hey, we know you probably hit play to escape your business banking, not think about it. But what if we told you there was a way to skip over the pressures of banking? By matching with the TD Small Business Account Manager, you can get the proactive business banking advice

and support your business needs. Ready to press play? Get up to $2,700 when you open select small business banking products. Yep, that's $2,700 to turn up your business. Visit td.com slash small business match to learn more. Conditions apply. So he had a bachelor's degree in psychology

from a university in Pennsylvania and in the fall of 2022 he had begun studying his masters in criminal justice across the United States at Washington State. Criminal justice and psychology. That's ironic. Prior to his arrest, he had worked as a security officer for a school in Pennsylvania where his mother was employed, and he had recently just interviewed for a graduate research assistant position with the Pullman Police Department near his campus. So it's safe to say this guy had a clear interest in being some sort of police officer or someone who held a position of power. Now, digging a little further back, it was clear, Koberger was troubled long before entering college. You don't do what he did without being haunted. So all the way back to his teenage years, Koberger had written a post online about his struggles with suicidal thoughts,

dissociation, and his lack of emotion and feelings of remorse. Basically online saying like, I'm fear that I'm a psychopath. Apparently he also dealt with depression and according to people who knew him in high school, he had a history of abusing heroin and kind of just like having a lack of empathy. But it was during his graduate studies that things really seemed to amplify for Coburger. Like maybe he was trying to hold off this, I'm going to be the killer narrative and was trying to go, well, I'll still be involved in crime because it really interests me, but I'll be a police officer.

Seems like when he moved to Idaho, Washington, he was like, you know what, actually, I'm just gonna go full force serial killer. Like I'm gonna finally give in to the dark side of me. Insane. So in the months before the murders, he posted something on Reddit asking formerly incarcerated people to take a survey.

He wanted to know their quote,, thoughts, emotions, and actions from the beginning to end of the crime commission process. He said it was part of a research project to, quote, understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision-making when committing a crime. Another classmate of his said he recalled just a few days before the murders were committed, Coburger became very curious about forensics, DNA, and other evidence that prosecutors could use to get a conviction in court. And even more terrifying, just prior to the crime, Coburger had been chatting with a woman he met on Tinder. And when they began talking about horror movies,

he asked her what she thought the worst way to die would be. And she said, I think being stabbed to death. Coburger responded to this woman, something to the effect of a K-Bar, which is a fixed blade knife. Like he specified the type of knife. And sure enough, what was found at the scene of the crime? Not the weapon itself, but a sheath to a K-Bar knife.

So there was quite a bit of evidence pointing to Brian Kohlberger circumstantially, which meant things weren't looking good for him leading up to his trial. In fact, more damning evidence against him came out as trial was leading up. And on June 26th, 2023, the prosecution announced that they would be pursuing the death penalty, which is a big deal because the state of Idaho hasn't carried out an execution since 2012. So, Coburger's attorneys tried to block that by saying he had been diagnosed with a form of autism,

he should be exempt from execution due to the Constitution's prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. But in November of 2024, the judge said, no way, absolutely not. The motion stands and the prosecution will be able to pursue the death penalty if Coburger is convicted. Cruel and unusual punishment. How ironic is that? Yeah. And honestly, like, or hypocritical, whatever you want to.

If you're talking death penalty cases, killing four random people for fun, stabbing them that amount of times in a rage. Yeah, that feels pretty much like you are for sure a danger to society. There was no motive. Like, I feel like we should do like, uh, instead of like a trial, we should just do like a USA vote to like whenever something, yeah, whenever something like this happens, we post a poll on Facebook, Instagram and tech talk. We post a poll on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. Everyone votes and whatever the choice that is chosen is the choice that is made.

I just, I don't know. I think that's a pretty dang good idea. Keep going. So you're leaving it all to the owners of those companies to decide because they can sway those votes. You lie about them. Okay. Well, then we'll just, we'll have to do the vote somewhere else.

But I still think it should be up to the public to make that decision. I mean, it is kind of the jury. Yeah, but you know. At this point, Brian's team starts reassessing their strategy. Jury selection was scheduled to begin on August 4th, 2025. Now remember these murders happened in 2022

and he was arrested in 2022. So it's been three years of back and forth trying to figure out how to get to trial, gathering evidence, appeals, like delays. Yeah. But a month before on July 2nd, this year, Coburger appeared at a hearing and announced, nevermind, I'm pleading guilty to burglary

and four counts of first degree murder. So I assume it's because he was probably gonna get the death penalty. Yes, and he wanted just life in prison. So they gave him a plea. You know, Brian, I'm really glad that you wanted to live. So, and that you got the choice to live. I think it probably matters most

what the victim's families felt about this. And it was split. Some didn't want to go through a trial. Some felt like this wasn't justice. I get that. I get that, yeah. In making that plea, that means that he did not, in a court, for the public or the victims' families, have to give a motive or the public or the victim's families have to give a motive or any sort of statement or story regarding that night

and why he did what he did. In fact, the judge actually gave him an opportunity to address the court and be like, hey, is there anything that you would like to do to try to maybe answer some questions. And he said, quote, I respectfully decline. Okay. And that's that on July 23rd, 30 year old Brian Coburger was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences.

Therefore dodging the death penalty for his plea. But that left a lot of people unsettled. It left a lot of people answering questions. What would have been presented in court? What fate might the jury have chosen for Brian Coburger? And could it have been enough to actually land him the death penalty? Well, since Coburger didn't get a jury, I am gonna present you the evidence

that it's rumored would have been put forth at trial and I'll let you decide what you would have voted if you were on the jury instead. Give it to me. So here is our make-believe trial with the evidence that the state has released to the public. Let's start with the footage that the state has released to the public. Let's start with the footage that was found after the murders.

About an hour after the roommates all returned to the house that night, a white car appeared on surveillance cameras around the neighborhood. Obviously, police went around to doorbell footage, security cameras, and they gathered it and they see this white car around the house at the time of the crime. Now their house was on a dead end street and yet you can see a white Hyundai Elantra pass the house a few times circling the crime scene, the future crime scene that's about to happen literally that hour, multiple times, including at 4 0 4 a.m. This is around the time the murders were believed to be committed.

There is also a security camera that captures audio. This is the one I was telling you about of what sounds like whimpering, a dog barking, and then a huge thud coming from the home. This happens at 4 17 a.m. So at 404 this car is circling. They believe this is Brian in his car and at 417 chaos begins. Shortly after that the Elantra is seen literally speeding away from this house at four in the morning like ripping it, tire squealing, and it's in the direction of the Washington State University campus. So where he would be returning to.

And around the 29th of November, police tracked this car to a WSU student named Brian Coburger. So this is how he kind of first comes up on their radar. So now that the police had his name, they look up his record. They found that he had actually been pulled over in Moscow, Idaho back in August. And during that traffic stop, he had given the officer his cell phone number. So the police are like, we have a cell phone number, which in turn allows them to track

where his cell phone was at the time of the murders by accessing his records. Easy enough to get a warrant for that once you've seen his car on footage. And with that, they also pull up Coburger's license photo and sure enough, they find he is a white guy with bushy eyebrows. He looks a lot like the person Dylan Mortenson described seeing in the house that night.

Oh, and by the way, they also discover Coburger had gotten a new license plate for his car five days after the murders were committed. Give me a break, man. Now let's move on to that location data from his cell phone because this certainly would have came up in court as well. So after receiving Coburger's cell records, police learned that his cell phone was actually turned off

beginning at 2.47 a.m., the morning of the murders. So we know someone was awake on his phone, turning it off around 3 a.m. And its last location that it pinged was in Pullman, Washington near his campus. Then someone was awake and the phone mysteriously turned back on at 448 a.m. Shortly after, the suspected time of the murders and now the phone is in Moscow, Idaho. So while the phone was turned off, it moved.

It left its location and went towards the scene of the crime. His data also showed he returned to the area near the crime scene later that morning before the bodies were even discovered. Police and the prosecution believe he was returning, doing a drive by to the scene of the crime to see if police had been called, what had happened, was it taped off? He drives by and realizes, what's going on? I definitely saw a girl that was left alive and there's no police here?

Like she didn't call 911? Interesting. They believe that's why he peeled out so fast because he had left someone alive. They believe he thought that police were gonna be called immediately. Well, he left two people alive. He didn't know he had left two people alive.

He'd only seen one. So he does a little drive-by to just check up on the case. I also wanna mention around this time, on his phone, he also took a selfie with a thumbs up smiling right after he brutally murdered four people, just a little side note for you. What, yeah, on his phone in his bathroom. He went home after murdering them and took that picture. It's crazy, dude.

This is crazy. So they're like, OK, this cell phone data is pretty intense. It's pretty heavy. It does a lot of damage to his case. And so they keep digging and they learn he had actually visited the area around the home, the home of these four college students, at least 23 times in the months before the murders. And when his phone would ping at the home, it was usually between the hours of 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.

So basically 23 times before he showed up and actually murdered, in the middle of the night, he drove by their house. Either- Do we know why their house? No. So this is a big question. Was he there to only kill one person?

Was his target Maddie and then Kaylee happened to be there? But they can't figure out a connection between them? No, there is no known connection. No one can say that he knew any of the victims. I would assume it's two things either one. He saw her in public once and followed or one of them in public or two. Yes, like they saw him on social media

and he's like, oh, that's the person that started stalking them. It's rumored that their house was the host house of many parties where the doors were just left open. I mean, the door was unlocked that night. So people actually believe that Brian could have possibly been in the house and like looked at the layout of the house, found whoever his intended victims room was, or if it was everyone like he could have definitely learned the layout

of the house before the night that night. So it seems like at least one of the roommates in the past months, Kaylee Gonzalves, actually noticed a man watching her at one point when she went out to walk her dog. This is the dog and the story is Kaylee's dog. Now remember, Kaylee had actually moved out of the house by the night of the murders.

She was literally just back there that night to visit her friends one last time. She wasn't even living there anymore. I'm so pissed. She was ready to move on with her life. And from what I can tell, she didn't move because of a stalker, but because she was graduating early, she'd gotten a new job.

But there was more information I found that showed Kaylee, Xanaana and Maddie were actually all being watched by Coburger prior to their deaths. Okay. So Coburger followed all of the girls on Instagram. He had liked several of Kaylee and Xana's photos. He definitely found them on Instagram and decided that. A hundred, I mean, yeah.

Or found them in person and followed them on Instagram. Either way, he was stalking them on social media and being a weirdo. But this is where the belief that Matty was the intended target comes in because he had liked almost every single one of Matty's posts and had apparently downloaded some of her photos to his devices. That's disgusting. Kayleigh had also mentioned to friends that she thought she had a stalker, that someone had mailed her something once,

and she was getting strange messages on Facebook. Oh, weird. We don't know if this has a connection to him. Then on November 4th, nine days before the murders, the roommates came home to find that their front door was open and literally off the hinges. It was so bad that Zana's dad actually came over and fixed it. So just some, some unusual activity. But maybe the biggest piece of evidence in this case that

you probably already know was a knife sheath that was left at the crime scene. While the knife itself was never found, the sheath was telling. It was discovered on the bed next to Maddie and Kaylee's body. It had a Marine Corps logo on it and it belonged to a K-Bar knife. Now more importantly, Forensics was able to extract DNA from the button on the snap of the sheath. Impressive. And while it didn't match anyone in any law enforcement databases, they used genetic genealogy to see if there was a match. So with help of those consumer databases like ancestry.com,

they build a profile that points that whoever had done this was in the Coburger family. Now they don't have Coburger's DNA, but they link it to his family tree. Got it, yeah. To get an exact match, obviously, and absolutely confirm that it's their number one suspect. They need Brian's DNA.

They need a sample of his DNA. So a few days before Coburger's arrested, police collect garbage from outside his parents' home in Pennsylvania, where they know Coburger had driven home and was staying at this point. They bring them back to the lab for testing, and when one comes up as a direct match for what was on the sheath, investigators know they have their guy. They have Brian Coburger's DNA on the knife sheath that was left at the crime scene.

That's why three days later on December 30th, they were able to finally arrest him because that's pretty obvious. If I was Brian's parents, I'd be pretty pith if I spent all this money thinking my kid might be innocent. Some people believe that his dad knew what he had done because his dad came to Idaho and drove him back to Pennsylvania after the murders. I don't get that personally. I don't get standing up. I don't get wanting to defend your kid. Enabling. and drove him back to Pennsylvania after the murders.

I don't get that personally. I don't get standing up. I don't get wanting to defend your kid. Enabling. And when it comes to something like that, it's not like, oh, he ran a red light or no, no, no. Like this is. You can love your kid while holding them accountable.

100%. It's totally possible. In fact, loving your kid while holding them accountable is usually the best thing you can do for them. Yeah, I just, yeah, it's kind of embarrassing. Before pleading guilty, Coburger's defense attorney motion to throw this DNA evidence out,

basically their strongest piece of evidence, but the request was denied, which also might have pushed Coburger into making that guilty plea because that's a smoking gun. Like, how do you even argue that? But that wasn't the only thing pointing in his direction. Detectives also found evidence on Coburger's computer

once they arrested him, showing that he had purchased a K-Bar knife and a sheath just months before the killings. And then he searched for a new knife and cover right after the murders. I mean, it's black and white. I mean, sorry, I mean, I didn't mean black and white. I mean, it's open and shut.

Yeah. So since Coburger's guilty plea, a lot more evidence has actually come to light because the state doesn't really have to keep it on lockdown anymore. So I'll share with you a few details that have come out since his guilty plea. Okay, so that selfie, the 10.30 AM selfie is what came out.

That look on his face is so eerie. A friend of his also told police he had very obvious scratch marks on his face right after the murders. And they said the same thing happened back in October of 2022, a month before the murders. So people began to wonder, did he have a practice victim before this?

Coburger's car and house were also meticulously cleaned after the murders. And more eyewitnesses came forward to say they saw a man lurking around that King Road neighborhood and acting nervous around the time of the crimes. And as far as finding any new evidence inside the house where the crimes took place, this is a very problematic part of this case

that I do have a firm stance on because we will never find more evidence at the King Road house. On December 28th, 2023, the University of Idaho decided to demolish the King Road house before he had even pled guilty, saying it was quote, a grim reminder of the heinous act. Hello? Who made? Hello? Is this mic on? Who made that decision? Also, this was despite the fact that two of the families like came forward

publicly insisting, no, no, no, please keep the house standing through the trial. Like keep it standing through the trial. What if the jury want to go visit? What if there's more evidence there? Who in their right mind? Who made that call? They just believed that it was that they needed to, like, delete it out of the college campus to kind of like close that chapter, even though it wasn't legally closed yet.

The amount of incompetent people we have making decisions in our lives blows my mind. That is an insane decision to make. I will say the prosecutors kind of, they didn't really fight for it. They said the current condition of the premises is so substantially different than at the time of the homicides. They didn't even believe that they would be able to get the jury in there. Like they didn't lock down it enough. Yeah.

So while the house was knocked down, these questions around Coburger's motives still stand. Many want to know why Coburger went after these four college students in particular. Was he zeroing in on one roommate, maybe Maddie, but ended up taking more lives when he realized that Kaylee was there and then maybe that murder had disturbed Xana or Xana had gotten up to get her door dash and they had run into each other, whatever it may be.

Then he had to kill Xana. And then once he got Xana in the room, he realized Ethan was in there passed out. So he killed Ethan. Like, we don't know what was intended to happen that night. We only know like the result of what happened that night. Was it something about the house that made him target the people in there?

And if so, why did he leave two roommates alive that night? Especially if he literally made eye contact with one of them after killing four, why stop? While Coburger himself has yet to give an answer to these questions, that doesn't mean the truth will not come out over time. New information about this case continues to surface, just like Garrett said every day,

and it is possible that one day, Coburger himself will want to talk. We know that he has done a lot of studying of serial killers. He is very fascinated by serial killers. He has done so much history into psychology and the mind behind it. So maybe eventually he will fall into the serial killer trap where it brings them pride and ego

to admit to what they've done. And so they speak out about it, not to help the families. But for their own benefit, yeah. Yeah, to kind of put their stamp on their crime. And so they speak out about it, not to help the families, but for their own benefit, yeah. Yeah, to kind of put their stamp on their crime. Now, during the sentencing hearing, Judge Stephen Hippler gave one reason for Coburger's crimes, cowardice. He also added that while he too wants to understand

this senseless killer by continually asking the question of why, he says us continuing to question it gives Coburger more power and control. So I will leave you with one final message from the judge that kind of articulates my feelings. Quote, there is no reason for these crimes that could approach anything resembling rationality. In my view, the time has now come to end Mr. Coburger's

15 minutes of fame. Now, if you watched the sentencing hearing, you know that Kayleigh Gonzalves' sister gave a really impactful victim impact statement. And I think closing out this case, I want to end with her words. She said, I won't stand here and give you what you want. I won't offer you tears.

I won't offer you trembling disappointments like you thrive on pain, on fear, and on the illusion of power. I will not feed your beast. Instead, I will call you what you are, sociopath, psychopath, murderer. I will ask the questions that reverberate violently in my own head so loudly that I can't think straight most any day. Some of these might be familiar, so sit up straight when I talk to you." She goes on to say, if you were really smart, do you think you would be here right now?

What's it like needing this much attention just to feel real? You're terrified of being ordinary, aren't you? Do you feel anything at all? Or are you exactly what you always feared? Nothing. If you're so powerful, then why are you still hiding, defendant? You see, I'm here today as me. But who are you? She then says, you act like no one could ever understand your mind.

But the truth is, you are basic. You're a textbook case of insecurity disguised as control. Your patterns are predictable. Your motives are shallow. You are not profound. You're pathetic. You aren't special or deep, not mysterious or exceptional. Don't ever get it twisted again.

No one is scared of you today. No one is intimidated by you. No one is impressed by you. No one thinks you are important. You orchestrated this like you thought you were God and now look at you, begging a courtroom for scraps. You spent months preparing and still all it took was my sister and a sheath. You worked so hard to seem dangerous, but real control doesn't have to prove itself. The truth is, the scariest part about you is how painfully average you turned out to be. The truth is,

you are as dumb as they come, stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty. Let me be very clear. Don't ever try to convince yourself that you mattered just because someone finally said your name out loud. I see through you. You want the truth, here's the one you'll hate the most. If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your effing ass. Thank you."

And that is how she ended her impact statement. And I think if there is a, like, if you could write the perfect impact statement about a way to actually get through to a psychopath or a murderer in this regard, she did it perfectly. I agree. Reminding everyone and him, you are not special. You are not some crazy

Smart person because you were able to kill four people and people can't comprehend how you could do that Yeah, people actually just think you're lame your average and you suck like you're a bad person That's all people think about you and I just a hundred percent agree and I think her impact statement was impactful. All right, you guys, that was the kind of summarization. Also, if we had had a trial, maybe this is what would have been brought up. Story of the Idaho Four. Please remember their names, remember their families,

keep them at the forefront. Remember that all four of these victims were more than just the Idaho four murder victims. And let's put Brian Coburger to rest. All right, you guys, we will see you next time with another one. I love it. And I hate it. Goodbye.