Chilling new details have emerged of the suffering the four University of Idaho victims faced moments before their death.
Unsealed autopsy records found Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen “endured a high degree of pain and/or suffering” leading up to their deaths as a result of the injuries inflicted on them by murderer Bryan Kohberger.
In July last year, Kohberger unexpectedly pleaded guilty to murdering all four University of Idaho students — earning him life in prison.
Forensic pathologist Dr Veena Singh was set to testify at Mr Kohberger’s murder trial after carrying out autopsies on all four victims as the medical examiner for Spokane County, Wash., according to a newly unsealed discovery disclosure obtained by PEOPLE.
Dr Singh determined all four deaths were homicide.
The report found Ethan Chapin also suffered a high degree of pain and suffering before dying but “to a lesser degree than the other victims”.
The autopsies found Goncalves, Mogen and Chapin were killed as they lay in bed and suffered catastrophic injuries before even being able to get on their feet.
Xana Kernodle was not asleep at the time of the attack and bravely fought against the killer as he stabbed her 67 times. So numerous were her injuries that her autopsy ran four pages longer than the other victims’.
But Dr Singh’s testimony wasn’t needed because Mr Kohberger struck a deal with prosectors to plead guilty to four counts of murder to avoid the death penalty.
The controversial deal he struck with prosecutors allowed him to avoid the death penalty and dodge a trial where victims’ loved ones might have gotten a look into the motivation for the heinous stabbings — the lack of which drew ire from some victims’ families. He is being held at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna.
The sick killer stabbed Goncalves roughly 38 times, Mogen 28 times, Chapin 17 times, and Kernodle 67 times, at their off-campus home in Moscow, previously unsealed court documents show.
Evidence also showed that Kernodle moved around her bedroom during a struggle with the knife-wielding Kohberger in the November 2022 attack, the New York Post reported.
Goncalves and Mogen were both found together in Mogen’s bedroom. The two close friends died from multiple sharp force injuries, the outlet said.
Goncalves had 24 stab and incised wounds on her scalp, face, and neck, 11 wounds to the chest, and three stab and incised wounds of the upper extremities, according to the report.
Additional factors, such as blunt force injuries of the head and asphyxias injuries, contributed to her death. The autopsy report revealed she also had punctures on the outer table of the skull, injuries to the teeth and tongue, and a haemorrhage into the chest cavities.
Mogen was stabbed 13 times on her scalp, face, and neck, five times to her chest, and had 10 incised wounds of the upper extremities, the filing added.
She suffered wounds to her lung and liver, perforations of the subclavian vein, artery, and blood vessels of the chest wall, and an incision of the nasal septum, the outlet said.
Chapin and Kernodle, who were dating, were found dead of multiple sharp force injuries in Kernodle’s room. Chapin was still in the bed, and Kernodle was on the floor, the findings showed.
Chapin had one stab wound of the upper chest, four stab and incised wounds of the scalp, face, and neck, six incised wounds of his upper extremities, and six stab and incised wounds of the lower extremities. He also suffered perforations of the jugular vein, subclavian vein, and subclavian artery.
