Kohberger may have targeted Kaylee Goncalves' home of women

A Netflix filmmaker says Bryan Kohberger may have targeted the Moscow, Idaho house where Kaylee Goncalves and her roommates lived because it was a "house full of women." Skye Borgman, director of The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, told Fox News the choice of that home could help explain the case's lingering motive mystery.

Key Takeaways

• Director Skye Borgman says Kohberger appeared to target a "house full of women" where Kaylee Goncalves lived with roommates.
• Former classmates said Kohberger was not well liked and often spoke negatively about women.
• Kohberger pleaded guilty in July 2025, then sought to withdraw that plea in July 2026.
• An FBI agent featured in the docuseries said investigators saw no evidence he was part of the incel movement.

Why might Kohberger have targeted Kaylee Goncalves' home?

Borgman told Fox News that the off-campus Moscow house had five women living in it. Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, shared the home with Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen when the murders occurred on November 13, 2022.

"The night that the murders happened, Xana Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, was over, but really, this was a house full of women, and it seems quite clear that he targeted it," Borgman said.

She also said Kohberger watched the house in the days, weeks, and months before the killings, adding it seemed likely he had "a very low regard, if not hatred, for women." More coverage is available in our True Crime & Unsolved Mysteries hub.

What did classmates and investigators say about Kohberger?

The Netflix docuseries features Washington State University classmates who said Kohberger was "not particularly well liked" and often spoke negatively about women. Several students found him "creepy" and said he made them uncomfortable.

A female student reported him to campus police, saying he followed her to her car. Kohberger was a teaching assistant and lost that job after he was reported. Former WSU Police Chief Gary Jenkins said none of the reported incidents were referred for criminal charges because "nothing that occurred rose to the level of a crime."

FBI special agent Ed Jacobson said in the documentary that investigators "never saw evidence that shows Bryan Kohberger is part of the incel movement," though he noted Kohberger was "very good at hiding his online activity."

Has Kohberger ever explained why he killed the students?

Kohberger, now 31, pleaded guilty in July 2025 as part of a deal that avoided the death penalty. He was sentenced to four life terms without parole. DNA evidence and a Ka-Bar knife sheath found near a victim's body tied him to the scene after his December 30, 2022 arrest.

In July 2026, he filed a petition to withdraw the guilty plea, telling The New York Times that his "actual innocence" was his truth. The Goncalves family later called him "a guilty man once again claiming he is innocent."

Borgman said the biggest unanswered question remains why. "I would love to, I think, along with the rest of the world, know why he did what he did," she said, noting families wish the plea deal had forced more answers about motive.