A new theory may have answered the one question everyone has about the Idaho murders.

Flanked by rolling wheat fields and a mountain range, Moscow is a city of 26,000 people huddled around the University of Idaho campus.

It's the kind of place where people are comfortable venturing out after dark, where bikes can be left unlocked.

Yet, in November 2022, it became the centre of a chilling quadruple murder that shocked the world. Four young University of Idaho students were found dead in their sharehouse. It was Moscow's first murder in seven years.

The tragedy captured international headlines as authorities raced against time and the rumour mill to find the truth about what happened.

Soon after the murders, investigators zeroed in on PhD criminology student Bryan Kohberger.

Now, almost three years on, the case has taken a huge turn.

Kohberger was set to stand trial, but he agreed to plead guilty in the quadruple murder case in July.

One question remains. Why did he do it?

Listen to The Quicky discuss the Idaho killings. Post continues below.

The one question everyone has about the Idaho murders.

A new documentary series called One Night in Idaho: The College Murders has presented a disturbing theory about the former criminology student's motive.

The series features interviews with Kohberger's former classmates. The then 28-year-old was described as a curious university student, who was always asking questions about killers' motives and how they felt about the crimes they committed.

He reportedly did not socialise much.

"He was someone who travelled to school and then bounced," Kohberger's former classmate Josh Ferraro said. "You didn't really think too much of him, and you would try to get personal, and he wouldn't give you much."

Another former classmate, Brittany Slaven, added: "He never had any friends he really associated with. I don't think too many people paid much mind to him."

According to Kohberger's former classmates, they studied serial killer Elliot Rodger in school. They recalled that Kohberger took an interest in the 22-year-old, who killed six people in 2014 near the University of California, targeting a sorority house.

"Bryan was interested in a lot of things that we learned, but he did have more of an interest in Elliot Rodger," Slaven said. "I talked to other girls in the class where we were all bothered by what Elliot Rodger did, but Bryan did not seem bothered."

Administrators of a Facebook group also gave interviews, explaining that someone under the username 'Pappa Rodger' posted various times about the crime; asking questions about how the killer held the knife and talking about a knife sheath before it was public knowledge.

From left to right: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and and Xana Kernodle. Image: Instagram/@autumngoncalves and GoFundMe.

"Did the killer stop at four victims out of exhaustion, convenience, or lack of knowledge?" Pappa Rodger posted. "Did the killer shower at the crime scene afterward?"

They claimed the person in the Facebook avatar even resembled Kohberger. And, when he was arrested, the user never posted again.

The name 'Pappa Rodger' raised other questions about Kohberger, and whether or not he was an 'incel'.

Incel is short for "involuntary celibate" and describes someone, typically male, who is frustrated by their lack of sexual experiences.

In their interviews, the Facebook group admins pointed out that Pappa Rodger is named similarly to the killer Rodger, who had become something of a hero in the incel community.

Prior to the murders, Rodger posted a video online about seeking revenge for being rejected by women.

"I'm 22 years old and I'm still a virgin," he said in the video, per CNN. "I've never even kissed a girl… I don't know why you girls aren't attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it. It's an injustice, a crime, because… I don't know what you don't see in me. I'm the perfect guy and yet you throw yourselves at these obnoxious men instead of me, the supreme gentleman. I will punish all of you for it."

Rodger went on to say he planned to enter "the hottest sorority house" and "slaughter every spoiled, stuck-up, blonde s--t I see inside there".

Four years after Rodger's attack, a 25-year-old named Alek Minassian ran down 10 people, mostly women, in Toronto, Canada. He credited his inspiration to Rodger.

Before the crime, as per the BBC, Minassian posted on Facebook: "The Incel Rebellion has already begun! We will overthrow all the Chads and Stacys! All hail the Supreme Gentleman Elliot Rodger!"

It has not been confirmed whether Kohberger was similarly inspired by Rodger, but there is speculation.

"After Bryan Kohberger is arrested, I start thinking, okay, Pappa Rodger, Elliot Rodger," Facebook group admin Kristine Cameron said. "If you listen to some of the manifestos of Elliot Rodger, he talks about hating all the girls from Alpha Phi, the same sorority that Kaylee [Goncalves] was in."

Kaylee Goncalves was one of Kohberger's victims, along with Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, and Madison Mogen.

"It does seem like girls were the intended victim of Bryan's rage," Liz Garbus, co-director of One Night in Idaho, told TIME.

Key suspect pleads guilty, sentenced to life in prison.

Until pleading guilty, Kohberger had maintained his innocence, and prosecutors had not shared whether they had a motive. The BBC reports that it is not believed he knew the victims personally.

As a result of the plea deal, Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection to the 2022 stabbings.

ABC News reported the victims' family members were sent a letter informing them of the deal — and the fact Kohberger will avoid the death penalty by pleading guilty.

The terms of the sentence were set out in the plea agreement.

Kohberger will serve four consecutive life sentences on each of the murder counts, and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count. Judge Hippler said he will formally be sentenced on 23 July. It's expected he will spend the rest of his life behind bars.

He has also waived his right to appeal the case or ask for leniency.

"Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty?" Judge Hippler asked Kohberger about his plea.

"Yes," Kohberger replied.

Despite the guilty plea, some of the families of those involved aren't convinced the plea deal was the best result. They wanted a full confession, as well as details about the murder weapon and the surety that the defendant acted alone.

In a post on Facebook, the Goncalves' family said they "are beyond furious at the State of Idaho".

"They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support," the post read.

The Idaho Statesman, a daily newspaper from Boise in Idaho, said it viewed the plea letter, which was signed by Moscow Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson.

The letter said: "This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family. This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals."

Madison Mogen's mother and step-father however, were in support of the guilty plea deal.

A statement shared by their lawyer expressed their thanks for those who supported them.

"We support the plea agreement 100 per cent," the lawyer read.

"We turn from tragedy and mourning... to the light of the future. We have closure," he said.

What we know about the University of Idaho killings.

Around lunchtime on November 13, 2022, Moscow City Police were dispatched to a home on King Road in the city's southwest following a 911 call. There, they found the bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and her partner of roughly a year, Ethan Chapin, 20.

Each had been stabbed in their beds on the second and third floors of the home. None of the victims were sexually assaulted, none of their belongings were stolen, and there was no sign of forced entry to the home.

Two of the victims' housemates, both of whom slept in bedrooms on the first floor, were unharmed and, according to police, had been unaware of the brutal crime that took place above them.

Police have gathered large amounts of evidence from the King Road home. Image: Moscow City Police.

Over two weeks, authorities collected more than 113 pieces of physical evidence, took more than 4,000 crime scene photographs, received more than 1,000 tips and conducted at least 150 interviews.

They concluded that the killings were an "isolated, targeted" attack.

"To be honest, you're going to have to trust us on that at this point, because we are not going to release why we think that," Moscow Police Captain Roger Lanier told a news conference.

Xana's father Jeffrey Kernodle told his local news station, 3TV/CBS 5, his daughter was in constant communication with her family, and nothing about the evening of November 12 had seemed out of the ordinary.

"It doesn't make sense," he said.

"They were just hanging out at home. Xana was just hanging out at home with her boyfriend."

Kaylee's sister, Alivia Goncalves, was also left reeling.

"They were smart, they were vigilant, they were careful and this all still happened," she wrote in a statement published by the Idaho Statesman.

"No one is in custody and that means no one is safe. Yes, we are all heartbroken. Yes, we are all grasping. But more strong than any of these feelings is anger. We are angry. You should be angry."

The timeline of events.

In a statement, Moscow City Police shared an updated timeline of the housemates' movements on the evening of November 12.

According to police, in the hours before their deaths, Kaylee and Madison were at a local bar in downtown Moscow. They arrived around 10pm and left at 1:30am, before heading to a local street food vendor.

Security footage at 'Grub Truck' shows the pair laughing while they wait to collect their food order. They were then given a lift home by a "private party" and arrived at 1:56am. The driver has been ruled out as a suspect, as has a man in a white hood captured in the food truck footage.

Footage from Saturday night purportedly shows two victims of the Moscow Idaho Student murders

Kaylee Goncalves & Madison Mogen appear to order at a food truck just hours before the King Rd homicide pic.twitter.com/tD9DytoHjO

— Idaho Tribune (@IdahoTribune) November 16, 2022

Meanwhile, Xana and Ethan were seen at the Sigma Chi fraternity house on the University of Idaho Campus.

The couple were believed to have returned to the King Road home at 1:45am. Ethan was not a permanent resident of the house, but stayed with Xana that evening.

The two surviving housemates were also both out in Moscow that evening, and police say they returned separately by 1am.

According to The New York Times, call logs from Kaylee's phone show seven phone calls were made her ex-boyfriend, who was also a student at the University of Idaho, between 2:26 and 2:52am.

Several calls to the same number were also made from Madison's phone. Each time the calls went unanswered.

Police confirmed they had investigated the calls and that the ex-boyfriend had been ruled out as a suspect.

At some point in the hours that followed, Kaylee, Madison, Ethan and Xana were killed.

A coroner's report stated that all four were likely asleep when they were attacked, and that some of them had sustained defensive wounds, suggesting they struggled with the perpetrator.

"It's such a horrific crime," Latah County coroner Cathy Mabbutt said, according to The New York Times. "It's hard to think that somebody, whether they live here or they were here, commits something like that and is at large."

Police said that the surviving residents on the first floor didn't wake up until later that morning. They then summoned friends to the home out of concern that they couldn't rouse one of their housemates on the second floor, who they thought had "passed out".

Neither of the surviving housemates were considered to be suspects.

Housemate's eerie account.

Two-and-a-half years on from the brutal murders that shocked the world, chilling new details have come to light — and they've come straight from inside the house.

Dylan Mortensen shared her account, saying that she had no idea her housemates were being murdered on that awful night.

She wasn't sure if she was dreaming when a shadowy figure in all black walked past her room late at night. She recalled hearing strange noises and then a male voice say, "It's okay. I'm going to help you."

At one point, she says they even made eye contact.

Terrified, Dylan ran to fellow housemate Bethany Funke's room on the ground floor. After a string of unanswered messages to her housemates and a rising sense of dread, she asked her sorority "Big", Emily Alandt, to come over about 11:50am.

Just before midday, Emily's boyfriend Hunter Johnson went upstairs to check on their friends.

What he found was unimaginable.

Xana and Ethan had been brutally stabbed. Minutes later, police arrived and discovered Kaylee and Madison had also been killed, in a bedroom upstairs.

Speaking to People ahead of the upcoming book The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy and Prime Video docuseries One Night in Idaho: The College Murders, Hunter recalled the moment the horror set in.

"I was like, 'What is going on?'" Johnson told People

"'Is this real?' Then you realise the gravity of what you just walked into… That was our last day living as kids."

"Our innocence was gone," Emily added.

A chilling 911 call.

In March 2025, the frantic 911 call made on the day the students were stabbed was revealed.

At 11:55am on November 13, 2022, a distressed woman called authorities saying, "Something happened in our house", CBS News reports.

She broke down crying while giving the address. At that point, another woman takes the phone and starts talking.

"One of the roommates who's passed out, and she was drunk last night, and she's not waking up," the second woman tells the dispatcher. "And they saw some man in their house last night."

The dispatcher tells them she needed to know what was going on at the time and if someone was passed out.

One of the women then goes to check on the student and says she's still passed out and not waking up. At this point, the callers sound very distressed, as if they're breathing heavily or have been crying.

A male voice is then heard on the line telling the dispatcher the woman who was passed out was not breathing. The dispatcher tells the group help is on the way and the call ends shortly after when police arrive.

Police have previously declined to say who placed the call.

Bryan Kohberger in court after he was charged with murder in the Idaho university killings. Image: Getty.

A stalker, dead dogs and cold cases: rumours abound.

Throughout the investigation, police have been forced to publicly combat rumours about the case that have circulated online and on social media.

Among them: that the victims were tied and gagged; that the case was tied to mysterious animal deaths in the area, including a report of a skinned dog; and that there was a connection between the killings and previous stabbings in neighbouring states of Washington and Oregon.

One line of investigation that remains open, however, is related to multiple reports that Kaylee had previously expressed concern that she was being stalked.

A suspect is arrested.

The motive behind the stabbing murders still remains a mystery.

One month after the stabbings, Kohberger was arrested by police and the FBI in Scranton, Pennsylvania — over 4,000 kilometres from Moscow, Idaho.

He was charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan, Xana, Madison and Kaylee.

Kohberger is reportedly a college student but did not attend the University of Idaho, according to reports.

He appears to have been pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice at Washington State University in Pullman, less than 10 miles from Moscow.

Bryan Christopher Kohberger. Image: Monroe Co. Correctional Facility.

Kohberger's DNA has been matched to samples recovered at the scene of the crimes, according to CNN.

A judge previously entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf and prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he's convicted, CBS News reports.

Kohberger's trial was due to begin on August 11, 2025, and is expected to last more than three months. However, now he will be sentenced in late July, following his upcoming plea change, which is expected to take place at a hearing on Wednesday, per ABC News.

Following the arrest, Madison's father, Ben Mogen, told the Spokesman-Review newspaper he was hopeful justice would be served.

"From the very beginning, I’ve known people don't get away with these things these days. There’s too many things that you can get caught up on, like DNA and videos everywhere," he said.

Authorities narrowed their focus to Kohberger after they traced his ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra seen in the area of the killings.

The 'crime scene scenario' paper.

Prosecutors were looking to include one of Kohberger's college essays titled "Crime Scene Scenario Final" as part of their evidence, according to US media.

ABC News reports the 12-page paper details a case involving a woman who was stabbed to death at a trailer park.

In the paper, Kohberger lists the steps for a crime scene investigator entering the scene, including packaging evidence for forensic analysis, determining suspects, motives and writing closing reports.

Prosecutors said there were aspects of the case that are similar to the Idaho murders, including the murder weapon, surveillance video and collection of DNA, per ABC.

Former NYPD cold case investigator and criminal justice professor Joseph Giacalone told Fox News elements of Kohberger's essay, such as discussion of fibre-free clothing to avoid contaminating a crime scene, would not be helpful for his defence.

"Prosecutors are going to talk about this when they bring up the lack of forensic evidence left by the killer," he said.

"They're going to say, 'Look how much he knew about this.'"

A controversial selfie.

In an earlier court filing, the prosecution made the chilling allegation that Kohberger took a selfie just hours after the brutal killings, per People.

Authorities want the photo allowed into evidence as one of the surviving roommates said in multiple police interviews that the man she saw leaving the home after the killings had "bushy eyebrows".

That photo has since been released. In it, a smiling Kohberger gives a thumbs up while wearing a white button-up shirt.

Bryan Kohberger smiles in a selfie taken on November 13, 2022, hours after the Idaho murders. Image: Latah County Prosecutor's Office.

Prosecutors say Kohberger bought a black balaclava on January 10, 2022 — 11 months before the murders, the New York Post reports. This is reportedly the same type of mask one of the housemates witnessed the intruder wear.

Prosecutors say Kohberger also purchased a combat-style knife, sheath and sharpener from Amazon eight months before the killings.

The Post reports Kohberger's defence claimed he has autism, which will make "fair and just trial a challenge". They said his inability to show emotion in a courtroom may cause jurors to be biased against him.

Earlier, his defence pushed for the court to disqualify key pieces of evidence, including security camera recordings that show a car similar to Kohberger's near the crime scene and DNA samples on a knife sheath left at the scene.

His legal team also requested to block words such as "murder", "murderer", "psychopath", "sociopath" and "bushy eyebrows" — a description of the supposed killer given by a roommate who was in the house — saying it was unfairly prejudicial.

This article was published on November 30, 2022 and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Getty/Instagram/@kayleegoncalves