Viewers of new Idaho murders doc are turning to six other documentaries with more details
Netflix’s latest look at the Idaho student murders has brought renewed attention to the case, but viewers wanting to go deeper have plenty more to watch.
The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare revisits the killings of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were murdered at an off-campus home in Moscow in November 2022.
Bryan Kohberger later pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and burglary, and was sentenced in July 2025 to four consecutive life terms, plus 10 years for burglary.
Netflix’s three-part series covers the timeline, Kohberger’s background, and the impact on the victims’ families, whilst also exploring details surrounding the surviving roommates and the investigation.
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That said, it is far from the only documentary to examine the case, and they are well worth exploring if you were frustrated about some key parts being left out.
After all, plenty who’ve been checking out the Netflix retelling have been annoyed about crucial details being skimped over — like any investigations into Kohberger’s motive, why exactly the student’s house was torn down before the trial was complete, and not really offering any new compared to other documentaries on the matter beyond being speculative.
As pointed out by The Tab, those six are One Night in Idaho: The College Murders, The Idaho Student Murders, Zara McDermott: The Idaho Murders – Trial by TikTok, The Idaho College Murders, The Idaho Murders: A College Town Nightmare, and #Cybersleuths: The Idaho Murders.
Perhaps the biggest alternative is Amazon Prime Video’s four-part One Night in Idaho, which was made before Kohberger entered his guilty plea.
That timing means the series spends more time on the investigation and the effect the murders had on Moscow. It also contains the first interviews given by the parents of Ethan Chapin and Madison Mogen.
This documentary also features Emily Alandt, a friend of surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen. Speaking about the scrutiny over the delay before 911 was called, she said: “I think it’s very important for everybody to know that ‘What if?’ doesn’t matter, because if they had known what was going on it would have been too late anyways.”
Peacock’s 90-minute The Idaho Student Murders also concentrates on the pre-trial investigation; specifically, its focus includes the case prosecutors were building against Kohberger, whilst also featuring interviews — but with Kaylee Goncalves’ brother and friends of the victims.
BBC viewers may instead recognise Zara McDermott: The Idaho Murders – Trial by TikTok, which follows McDermott to the US and places more emphasis on the major manhunt for the killer, and the online frenzy surrounding the case in general.
Then there is The Idaho College Murders, a 43-minute 2023 documentary available via Apple TV, which brings in investigative journalists and criminal experts to consider theories around the killings.
Apple TV also carries the newer, two-part The Idaho Murders: A College Town Nightmare, a feature-length revisit of the crime, investigation and a look into the impact on the college community.
Finally, Paramount’s three-part #Cybersleuths: The Idaho Murders takes a very different route, following amateur TikTok investigators as they sift through police statements, online rumours, and supposed digital clues.
A timeline of the Idaho murders
November 12 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.
November 13 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.
November 17 2022
Preliminary autopsy results show all four victims were attacked with a large knife
December 7 2022
Police say they are looking to speak to any occupants of a white Hyundai Elantra from 2011-13.
December 30 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.
May 22 2023
Kohberger remains silent when asked to enter a plea during his arraignment. The judge enters a not guilty plea on his behalf.
June 26 2023
Prosecutors announce they will seek the death penalty.
December 28 2023
The King Road property where the murders took place is demolished to allow the community to heal.
April 17 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.
March 4 2025
Kohberger’s defence team say he exhibits traits of autism spectrum disorder, and putting him to death would be unconstitutional.
July 2 2025
Weeks before the trial is set to begin, Kohberger pleads guilty to burglary and four counts of first-degree murder.
July 23 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 gives a powerful statement in court, while 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’.
July 27 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.”
Topics: True crime, Netflix, Bryan Kohberger, Documentaries
Ben Williams