Alina Calix-Martinez ’25
On Sunday, Nov. 13, 2022, the lives of four University of Idaho students were taken as they were stabbed to death in their off-campus house. Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapins were all brutally murdered between 4:00 and 4:25 a.m. when the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, 28, allegedly arrived at the house where six roommates lived. Two roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, were left unharmed. The four victims were all close friends; the day before their death, Goncalves posted a group photo of all five of the roommates together. According to the New York Times, Goncalves and Mogen arrived back at their house at 1:56 a.m. after spending the night out together.
At their vigil, Steve Goncalves, Goncalves’s father, said his daughter and Mogen were lifelong friends. They had met in the sixth grade and gone through high school together. The night of their deaths, they had fallen asleep next to each other when Kohberger entered their home.
The surrounding community was shaken by their deaths. According to The Catholic Review, St. Augustine’s Catholic Church, a nearby church in Moscow, Idaho, hosted prayer services for the victims, led by Father Chase Hasenoehrl: “We lift up the blessed repose of their souls in prayer.”
In addition to the prayer for the victims, the University held a vigil on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022 to mourn their community members. According to Fox News, each of the victim’s parents shared sentiments and stories of their children. Stacy Chapin, Chapin’s mother, claimed that she wants to “share Ethan’s legacy.” New scholarships at the University have been made to honor the victims. Chapin’s fraternity, The Sigma Chi Foundation, created the Ethan Chapin Memorial Fund in honor of his life.
Kernodle’s family also created the Xana Kernodle Scholarship Endowment in memory of their daughter. They are matching every dollar donated, up to $10,000, for the fund.
According to People Magazine, before the night of the murders, Kohberger had driven around their house at least twelve times, indicating he may have stalked the victims, starting on Aug. 21, 2022, also the earliest time Kohberger’s phone was detected near the roommates’ house. On Dec. 30, 2022, he was arrested for four charges of first degree murder and felony burglary. According to the New York Post, when questioned if he murdered the students, he said, “I didn’t do anything.” The suspect is currently at a detention center in Pennsylvania.
According to community member Susan Ellis, the murders are an unfortunate reminder of how important college safety is when she told Fox News: “Now we lock our doors. Now, you know, we make sure we know who’s walking beside us. […] We’re not the innocent community we used to be.”
The Wicket 