SPOKANE, Wash. (Court TV) — A review of newly released autopsy reports of the four Idaho college students brutally murdered in their home reveals the extent of the injuries each victim suffered and shows one victim suffered more severe injuries than the rest of the group.
A photo recovered from Bryan Kohberger’s Android device is dated after he killed four University of Idaho students on Nov. 13, 2022. (Court TV)
Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were killed in their off-campus home on Nov. 13, 2022. Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to breaking into the students’ home and killing them, but never provided any insight into his motive. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prison after entering a guilty plea to avoid the death penalty.
Nearly one year after Kohberger was sentenced, prosecutors have unsealed the autopsy reports for the victims authored by Spokane County Chief Medical Examiner Veena Singh, who prosecutors had planned to call as a witness had the case gone to trial. “It is expected that Dr. Singh will testify that Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen endured a high degree of pain and/or suffering prior to their deaths as a result of the injuries inflicted,” prosecutors wrote in a briefing attached to the reports. “It is expected Dr. Singh will testify Ethan Chapin also experienced a high degree of pain and/or suffering prior to his death as a result of the injuries inflicted but to a lesser degree than the other decedents.”
Madison Mogen
Madison Mogen’s autopsy report reveals that she suffered stab and incise wounds of the scalp, face, neck, chest and upper extremeties. The stab wounds went so far as to injure her lung and liver; Singh noted perforations to Mogen’s subclavian vein, subclavian artery and blood vessels of the chest wall.
In all, Mogen suffered 28 stab wounds, with 13 centered around her face and neck.
Investigators said that the roommates and Chapin were killed on a weekend after they’d each arrived back at the house from a night out at parties.
Ethan Chapin
Ethan Chapin also suffered stab and incise wounds to his scalp, face, neck and chest as well as his upper and lower extremities. The injuries included perforations of his jugular vein, subclavian vein and subclavian artery.
Slain University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves with roommates Dylan Mortensen (left) and Bethany Funke (right). (Court TV)
“When first viewed, blood is caked over the neck and in the left ear, and dried in smears and rivulets over the face, chest and arms,” the autopsy notes describe. Chapin suffered fewer injuries than the girls in the house, with four wounds to his scalp and neck, one to his chest and 12 to his upper and lower body; one stab wound to his neck reached a depth of 7 inches.
Xena Kernodle
Xana Kernodle suffered stab wounds to the same areas as her boyfriend and roommates, including her scalp, face, neck, chest, abdomen and back. Her autopsy noted she suffered punctures to the outer table of her skull along with perforations of her jugular vein, heart, lung and pulmonary blood vessels.
Kernodle’s is the only autopsy that notes some of the injuries that she suffered appear to be defensive wounds. Serration of the injuries on her face, the autopsy said, “could be caused by Kernodle fighting and/or holding/touching the knife and/or hand that is holding the knife, causing the injury.”
Kaylee Goncalves
The injuries noted in Kaylee Goncalves’ autopsy surpass any others noted in the case. She suffered not only multiple sharp force injuries consistent with being stabbed in her scalp, face, neck, chest and upper extremities, but also suffered blunt force injuries and asphyxial injuries.
Goncalves’ face, neck and scalp alone had more than 24 stab wounds; she suffered 11 wounds to her chest and three to her upper extremities as well.
Blunt force injuries, which were only inflicted upon Gonzales, caused bleeding around her brain and a nasal fracture, along with patterned bruises to her lower face. One of her teeth had been knocked out, and tooth fragments and clotted blood were found in her oral cavity.
In addition to those injuries, Singh also identified evidence that Goncalves had been suffocated, writing, “An unidentified object was placed across Goncalves’ mouth.”
The families of all four victims have filed a lawsuit against Washington State University, where Kohberger was a Ph.D. candidate, alleging the school failed to act to stop the murders.
