Idaho Judge Bars Release of Graphic Evidence in Kohberger Case

Fri Oct 10 2025 17:44:23 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

An Idaho judge has ruled to restrict access to highly graphic crime scene photos related to the brutal murder of four University of Idaho students, emphasizing the need to protect the victims' families from further emotional trauma.

In a significant ruling, Judge Megan Marshall of Idaho has prohibited the release of disturbing crime scene images from the investigation into the murders of four University of Idaho students by Bryan Kohberger. Marshalls decision seeks to shield the victims' families from additional emotional distress, deeming the images an unnecessary invasion of privacy. However, she acknowledged the public's right to access other related investigation materials. Kohberger, who received a life sentence for the murders, has been involved in a case that caught worldwide attention, prompting intense public interest in the investigation's records.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — An Idaho judge is blocking the release of some graphic photos taken by investigators after Bryan Kohberger killed four University of Idaho students in 2022.

Second District Judge Megan Marshall made the ruling on Wednesday, stating that the dissemination of incredibly disturbing photos across the internet — where the victims’ families might inadvertently see them — constitutes an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

She ordered the city of Moscow to black out portions of the images that show any part of the victims’ bodies or the immediate blood surrounding them.

Despite this, the judge acknowledged the public's interest in the investigation records, allowing the release of other photos, videos and documents linked to the case, including emotionally charged videos depicting friends of the victims on the morning their bodies were discovered.

Kohberger was sentenced to life without parole in July for the shocking stabbing murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho.

Family members, particularly those of victims Mogen and Chapin, had petitioned the judge to keep parts of the graphic evidence private, describing the images as invasive and traumatizing.

The criminal case drew worldwide attention, prompting the Moscow Police Department to receive hundreds of requests for the release of investigatory records. Idaho law generally allows for the sealing of investigation records to be lifted once a criminal investigation is complete.

After Kohberger’s sentencing, the city of Moscow responded to one of these requests by releasing some crime scene photos and videos, with efforts made to blur out the bodies of the deceased students and faces of individuals who spoke to police outside the premises.

“There is little to be gained by the public in seeing the decedents’ bodies, the blood-soaked sheets, blood spatter or other death-scene depictions,” Marshall wrote, highlighting the extreme emotional distress these images have already caused the families.

“Releasing these records will have minor effect upon those who continue to be perplexed by the facts or fixated on unfounded conspiracies whereas it has and will continue to have profound effects upon the decedents’ loved ones,” she concluded.