Bryan Kohberger used second murder weapon which was never found and wasn't in Netflix doc
Netflix’s brand-new true crime documentary about the Bryan Kohberger quadruple murders has been a huge hit already, landing straight on the top of the streamer’s charts in the UK.
The documentary, called The Idaho Student Murders: College Nightmare, tells the story of how Kohberger stabbed Madison May Mogen, Kaylee Jade Goncalves, Xana Alexia Kernodle, and Ethan James Chapin to death in an off-campus student house in Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger believed he had committed the ‘perfect murder’ but was ultimately caught and sentenced to four consecutive life sentences after he plead guilty to avoid the death penalty.
Warning: This article contains discussion of content that some readers may find distressing.
The quadruple murderer was caught in large due to him leaving the sheath of the knife he used to kill behind at the crime scene, with DNA pulled from this which matched Kohberger. This was then combined with an Amazon order for a knife of the exact same make.
What is less known however, and was not included in Netflix’s true crime doc, is that there was a second murder weapon outside of the knife he used.
Court documents and the family have mentioned a second murder weapon, but it was never found
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The theory surrounding a second murder weapon arose due to the injuries suffered by one of the four people Kohberger killed.
The majority of injuries sustained during the horrific attack were from sharp force trauma, however the injuries Kaylee Goncalves’ sustained point towards a second weapon in addition to the knife.
Her autopsy report indicated that in addition to being stabbed over 20 times she suffered blunt force trauma injuries. Whilst this potentially could have been from the base of the knife, Kaylee’s family believe that a second weapon was used and questioned Kohberger over this in court.
In her victim impact statement during his sentencing hearing, Kaylee’s sister Alivea said: “Where is the murder weapon? The clothes you wore that night? What did you bring into the house with you? What was the second weapon you used on Kaylee?”
Kristi Goncalves, Kaylee’s mother, also spoke in an interview outside court where she said there was a second murder weapon used based on the damage done to Kaylee’s face during the attack.
She said: “We do know there was a second weapon used on Kaylee, we just don’t know what it was… Kaylee was not just stabbed.”
Steve Goncalves, Kaylee’s father, said: “It was horrific what Kaylee went through.
“There was quite a bit of damage to her face. This guy’s an absolute monster.”
He called Kohberger a monster and said that he looked an ‘absolute demon in the face’ when they made eye contact in court.
A timeline of the Idaho murders
12 November 2022
Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, attend a party at Chapin’s fraternity Sigma Chi. Meanwhile, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21, go to sports bar the Corner Club.
13 November 2022
1.45am - Kernodle and Chapin return home to their house on King Road
1.56am - Goncalves and Mogen arrive home
2.44am - Kohberger’s Hyundai sedan is spotted by a CCTV camera at Washington State University. Shortly afterwards, the car is seen again heading towards a road that connects Pullman, Washington, to Moscow, Idaho, where the victims live.
4am - Bryan Kohberger is believed to have entered the property
4.17am - A security camera reveals the sound of a barking dog, voices and what sounds like a thud. At some point around this time, their housemate Dylan Mortensen is awoken and hears a male voice say: “It's OK, Kaylee, I'm here for you.” She later hears crying and sees a masked man in the property.
4.19am - Mortensen attempts to call Kernodle, Goncalves and Mogen, but all calls go unanswered. She started texting Bethany Funke, saying she’s ‘freaking out’ after seeing a man in a ‘ski mask’. Mortensen joins Funke in her room and they lock themselves in.
11.58am - After Mortensen calls her friend Emily Alandt, she and her boyfriend Hunter Johnson come over to the King Road property. Johnson discovers Chapin and Kernodle's bodies and calls 911.
17 November 2022
Preliminary autopsy results show all four victims were attacked with a large knife
7 December 2022
Police say they are looking to speak to any occupants of a white Hyundai Elantra from 2011-13.
30 December 2022
Kohberger is arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. Police later reveal they used DNA on a knife sheath to link him to the crime scene, and tracked his car and phone across the area.
22 May 2023
Kohberger remains silent when asked to enter a plea during his arraignment. The judge enters a not guilty plea on his behalf.
26 June 2023
Prosecutors announce they will seek the death penalty.
28 December 2023
The King Road property where the murders took place is demolished to allow the community to heal.
17 April 2024
Kohberger’s defence team claims in court documents that phone mast data shows Kohberger was miles away from Moscow, Idaho at the time of the murders.
4 March 2025
Kohberger’s defence team say he exhibits traits of autism spectrum disorder, and putting him to death would be unconstitutional.
2 July 2025
Weeks before the trial is set to begin, Kohberger pleads guilty to burglary and four counts of first-degree murder.
23 July 2025
Kohberger is sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus 10 years for the burglary charge.
He comes face to face with the families of his victims for the first time, who read out impact statements.
Goncalves' sister Alivea tells him that if her sister hadn’t been sleeping when he attacked, ‘Kaylee would've kicked your f**king a**’.
Meanwhile, Mortensen says she’s suffered from debilitating panic attacks since the night of the murders, telling Kohberger he has taken away her ‘ability to trust the world’.
27 July 2026
Kohberger announces he is seeking to take back his guilty plea and overturn his conviction.
He tells the New York Times: “My actual innocence is my truth, and the plea, hinged on by false promises and blatant disinformation, MUST be withdrawn.”
The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: True Crime, Netflix, Bryan Kohberger, TV and Film, Documentaries
Michael Slavin