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Families of Idaho student murder victims furious after gruesome crime scene photos accidentally leak

January 22, 2026 | | Print Article

The family of four University of Idaho students who were murdered in the dead of night is furious over crime scene photos that accidentally leaked this week.

The gruesome photos show the inside of the off-campus Moscow, Idaho home where Kaylee Concalves, Madison Mogen, Zana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death.

“Please be kind & as difficult as it is, place yourself outside of yourself & consume the content as if it were your loved one,” the Goncalves family said in a statement, according to Fox News Digital. “Your daughter, your sister, your son, or brother. Murder isn’t entertainment & crime scene photos aren’t content.”

Earlier court filings reveal that the victims’ families had fought to keep images from being disseminated.

Judge Megan Marshall granted a temporary restraining order in August to keep the photos sealed, and a permanent injunction forbidding the release of certain materials was issued on Oct 1, Fox reported.

Moscow attorneys claim to empathize with the families, but say their authority to keep the images hidden from the public is limited by Idaho’s public records law.

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Photos allegedly of the inside of Kohberger’s apartment unsurprisingly show a “sparse, cold, and straight-up unsettling” scene.

Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in July 2025, in a plea to avoid the death penalty. He is currently incarcerated at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution and serving four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

But for many, a life-sentence is not enough.

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