Bryan Kohberger ‘Disfigured’ Kaylee Goncalves’ Face, Fled Murder Scene After ‘Intense Struggle’ with Xana Kernodle: Police

Newly unsealed police documents from the Moscow Police Department offer harrowing details about the University of Idaho student murders, revealing the brutality of the November 2022 attack and the strength of the victims in their final moments.

According to multiple reports released this week, Bryan Kohberger stabbed Kaylee Goncalves so viciously that her face was left “disfigured,” making it difficult for surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen to recognize her. Officer Corbin Smith detailed the extent of Goncalves’ injuries in one of the previously sealed accounts.

Xana Kernodle, another victim, appeared to have fought back fiercely. Responding officers noted she had deep defensive wounds, including severe cuts between her fingers. Sgt. Shaine Gunderson wrote in his report that “an intense struggle had occurred” in her bedroom.

The reports also state that Kohberger fled the scene through a second-floor sliding glass door after encountering Kernodle, who may have interrupted him after he had already killed Goncalves and her best friend Madison Mogen on the third floor. Mortensen told investigators she saw the masked killer walk past her after hearing a scream and a struggle.

Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, was also found dead — likely killed in his sleep, police said. His body was discovered in bed with a blanket partially covering him.

The reports do not clarify whether the fast food delivery Kernodle received shortly before the attack factored into the timeline. Mortensen initially described the suspect carrying a “package” as he left the house, though police have not confirmed what it was.

Mortensen, in interviews and during her victim impact statement at Kohberger’s sentencing on July 23, recalled hearing someone yell “somebody’s in the house,” followed by heavy footsteps and a commotion downstairs. She then heard a male voice calmly say, “You’re gonna be fine. I’m gonna help you.”

In her statement to the court, Mortensen described the lasting trauma of surviving the massacre. “I made escape plans everywhere I went,” she said. “All I can do is scream, because the emotional pain and the grief is too much to handle.”

Turning to Kohberger, who showed no emotion in court, she said: “He is a hollow vessel. Something less than human… He chose destruction. He chose evil.”

Judge Steven Hippler, who sentenced Kohberger to four life sentences without the possibility of parole, condemned the killer’s lack of remorse. “Even in pleading guilty, he has given nothing — no remorse, no recognition of the pain he’s caused,” Hippler said, also imposing a $270,000 penalty and a 10-year burglary sentence.

Kohberger remained silent throughout the proceedings and left the courtroom without acknowledging his mother or sister.