Idaho
Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger targeted one of his victims, new theory claims
Bryan Kohberger had identified a single target on the night he allegedly murdered four college students in Idaho, a new book has claimed.
Murder suspect Kohberger was fixated on Madison Mogen when he entered the off-campus house in Moscow on November 13, 2022, according to journalist Howard Blum.
The 29-year-old criminology PhD student is currently awaiting trial for the murders of Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, who were all found stabbed to death.
Officials believe Kohberger was after Mogen because he passed the rooms of two surviving roommates before starting the killing spree, Blum told ABC News.
“If he was just on a killing spree, it would have been natural, instinctive, to go to one of those doors,” he said. “Instead he goes up this narrow staircase and he turns directly into Maddie’s room, and I think Maddie was his target.”

Police linked Kohberger to the murders that rocked the college town through DNA found on a knife sheath, cell phone data, an eyewitness account and his white Hyundai Elantra.
Blum’s book also claims that Kohberger’s family had concerns about his behavior leading up to his arrest six weeks after the murder. His father said he had been “on edge” when he picked him up from school after the killings.
“[Kohberger’s father] has been reading the headlines – he knows that four students were killed 12 miles from his son’s house. He knows what a troubled son he has,” Blum told ABC.
One of Kohberger’s two sisters had also approached their father to voice suspicions about him, but he had brushed off the concerns, unwilling to “confront” the possibility.
Blums’ book, When the Night Comes Calling: A Requiem for the Idaho Student Murders is set to be released on June 25.

It comes after a hearing in the case was set for June 27 where attorneys are expected to discuss dates for the trial and sentencing.
They will also discuss whether the trial should be moved outside the county to seat an impartial jury. The state has been opposed to the move, while the defense is in favor of it.
Kohberger previously declined to enter a plea prompting Judge John Judge to enter his plea as not guilty on his behalf in May 2023. Latah County prosecutors say they intend to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
Last month, the defense argued that prosecutors had not handed all the evidence over for them to review and have filed multiple motions to compel the state to do so.
Prosecutors insisted they are doing all they can to share evidence but have been partly delayed by federal rules, due to the FBI’s involvement in the investigation.
Earlier this year, Kohberger’s attorneys also filed a motion to dismiss the murder charges against him, citing a biased grand jury, inadmissible evidence and prosecutorial misconduct. Judge Judge denied the motion.
Idaho
Interstate 84 near Mountain Home back open after utility work
MOUNTAIN HOME, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Interstate 84 near Mountain Home is back open after crews closed the freeway due to utility work.
Crews closed westbound and eastbound lanes on Saturday morning from milepost 90 to milepost 95 due to Idaho Power working on power lines in the area, according to the Elmore County Sheriff’s Office. All lanes are now back open in both directions.
The sheriff’s office and the Mountain Home Police Department apologized for the inconvenience, saying they were just informed of the closure on Saturday morning.
More information regarding road closures and traffic conditions can be found at the Idaho Transportation Department’s 511 map.
Copyright 2026 KMVT. All rights reserved.
Idaho
Idaho murder victims’ families file wrongful death lawsuit against Washington State University
The families of the four University of Idaho students killed in a brutal 2022 stabbing attack have filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Washington State University (WSU), alleging the school ignored repeated warning signs about Bryan Kohberger.
The civil complaint, filed Jan. 7 in Skagit County Superior Court, was brought by Steve Goncalves, father of Kaylee Goncalves; Karen Laramie, mother of Madison Mogen; Jeffrey Kernodle, father of Xana Kernodle; and Stacy Chapin, mother of Ethan Chapin.
The lawsuit accuses WSU of gross negligence, wrongful death and violations of federal education laws, including Title IX. The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages.
Attorney Robert Clifford, senior partner at Clifford Law Offices, said that the decision to leave damages “unspecified” is a strategic norm in high-stakes litigation because it prevents the focus from shifting towards sensationalism and keeps the decision firmly in the hands of the jury.
“Ultimately, that’s to be determined and answered by the jury,” said Clifford, who is not involved in the lawsuit. “But you have some compelling facts and the liability is going to depend on the strength of what the school knew.”
Despite Kohberger’s guilty plea in the murders, Clifford explained the civil case remains strong because the families face a lower burden of proof – requiring only a preponderance of evidence to establish the university’s liability.
“The mere fact that he pled guilty might not even be admissible in the civil proceeding because he’s not the defendant, right? If he is a defendant in the civil proceeding, then his plea of guilty will be important. And indeed, this school might try to use that to say, ‘See, it wasn’t our fault. He admits that it was his fault.’ But the bar is different for someone in a criminal proceeding than it is in a civil proceeding.”
According to the lawsuit, WSU hired Kohberger as a teaching assistant in its criminal justice and criminology department and provided him with a salary, tuition benefits, health insurance and on-campus housing.
The victims’ families allege the university had extensive authority over Kohberger’s conduct but failed to act despite mounting concerns.
Here’s the latest coverage on Bryan Kohberger:
The complaint says WSU received at least 13 formal reports accusing Kohberger of threatening, stalking, harassing or predatory behavior toward female students and staff during the fall 2022 semester. The families argue university officials did not meaningfully investigate those complaints or remove Kohberger from campus before the murders – even though they had the authority to do so.
The lawsuit also alleges that the university failed to use its own threat-assessment systems designed to identify individuals who pose a risk of violence, even as concerns about Kohberger escalated. Instead, the families claim, the university continued to employ him, house him and give him access to students.
“The murders were foreseeable and preventable,” the complaint states, alleging WSU prioritized avoiding legal and reputational risk over student safety.
The lawsuit also alleges broad failures within the public university, including alleged dysfunction within campus police and compliance officers who are responsible for handling accusations of misconduct, including sexual harassment and stalking.
Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025 to four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. He was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutors said Kohberger stabbed the four students in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, inside an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, just miles from the WSU campus in Pullman, Washington.
Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania in December 2022 following a multi-state investigation.
Authorities linked him to the crime through DNA evidence, surveillance video and cellphone data showing repeated late-night trips near the victims’ home.
WSU has not yet filed a response to the lawsuit. Fox News Digital has reached out to WSU for comment.
Idaho
Turkey Town Hall to be held at the end of January to discuss North End nuisance
BOISE, Idaho — At the end of January, Boise City Councilmember Jimmy Hallyburton will hold a town hall meeting to discuss the growing population of wild turkeys in the North End. The meeting, which is set to take place at Lowell Elementary School on January 29 at 7 p.m., will center around education and how to treat wildlife in an urban setting.
The public meeting will feature speakers from the Boise Parks and Recreation Department, Idaho Fish & Game, and Councilmember Hallyburton.
Hallyburton told Idaho News 6 over the phone that the meeting was prompted by damaging and, in some cases, violent behavior by wild turkeys in the North End. Residents in the area have reported turkeys scratching cars with their talons, ruining vegetable gardens, sparring with domesticated dogs & cats, and even becoming aggressive towards human beings.
A viewer in the North End recently shared a video with Idaho News 6 that shows a flock of turkeys accosting a postal service worker. Thankfully, a dog intervened and saved the USPS worker from further harm.
See the video of the attack below
Hallyburton said that the North End community needs to take a focused approach to how it deals with the turkeys. “We’re making it too easy for them to live in the North End,” Hallyburton said. “We need to make our urban areas less habitable for the turkeys.”
The North End councilmember goes on to explain that residents who are feeding or treating the turkeys as pets are creating an environment in which human vs. wildlife conflict is more likely. “You might think that you’re helping the turkeys, but you’re actually causing them harm over the long term,” said Hallyburton.
Hallyburton added that the population of turkeys in the area has ballooned from a single flock of around a dozen turkeys to multiple flocks and roughly 40 turkeys. They are mostly located in the residential area of the North End between 18th and 28th streets.
Idaho Fish & Game recommends “gentle hazing” to keep turkeys from roosting in urban areas. This can include squirting turkeys with water when they approach one’s property.
Since transplanting wildlife has become more difficult in recent years due to new laws, the only other option for the turkeys would be extermination, which Hallyburton said he would like to avoid at all costs.
WATCH: Wild turkeys take over Boise’s North End
Wild turkeys turn Boise’s North End into their new roost
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