'Homicide' warning text sent to Idaho students before Bryan Kohberger survivors learned their roommates had died
A new Netflix documentary has revealed that police investigating the 2022 Idaho student murders were not consulted before the university sent a campus-wide alert confirming a homicide, with surviving roommates reportedly still waiting for confirmation about the fate of their friends.
The detail emerges in Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, a new three-part documentary released on July 29 that examines the case of Bryan Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty to killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022.
He recently filed to withdraw his guilty plea and seek a new trial, claiming he pleaded guilty due to bad legal advice.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20 were all allegedly murdered by Kohberger in the early hours of November 13, 2022.
Advert
Two other roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, had been home at the time and survived.
New details unveiled on the Idaho murders in the Netflix documentary
The new documentary shows a harrowing scene where the survivors clash with police officers after they discover their friends had been murdered - via a university issued text.
A group of students, who have had their faces blurred to protect their identities, can be heard speaking to a police officer outside the crime scene, with one telling him: "So f**ked up… you could have told us that happened before they sent a text."
The officer responds that he has no idea what they're referring to.
The student replies: "They sent a text to the entire university before even telling us what happened. Obviously we know but it’d be nice to have a confirmation."
What did the University of Idaho's text alert say?
The documentary shows the alert that was sent to students, which read: "VANDAL ALERT: Moscow PD is investigating a homicide on King Rd near campus. Suspect is not known at this time. Stay away from the area and shelter in place."
'We didn't get a heads up that they were going to put out the alert'
University of Idaho Dean of Students Blaine Eckles recalled in the documentary receiving a call from the head of the Moscow Police Department informing him that four bodies had been found and were believed to be students. "I was just flabbergasted," Eckles said.
"All kinds of questions go through your mind - how, who, why, what happened?"
Moscow Police Department Chief Anthony Dahlinger described the scene outside the house as chaotic once the alert went out, saying residents from nearby homes began coming outside as word spread.
He said the alert was sent without any coordination with his department, at a point when officers were still working to identify the four victims and notify their families.
'We didn't get a heads up that they were going to put out the alert', Dahlinger said, adding that police 'had to identify the victims and start working diligently to get ahold of their next of kin' before the university's message caused that information to begin circulating ahead of schedule.
What does the Idaho Murders: College Nightmare documentary investigate?
Beyond the alert controversy, the documentary also delves into Kohberger's background, including internet searches such as 'psychopaths paranoia' and 'serial killer' that he made before his arrest, as well as accounts from former friends describing a period of heroin addiction.
Kohberger, a doctoral student in criminology at Washington State University at the time, was arrested in December 2022 and later pleaded guilty to the murders in July 2025, before filing paperwork last week seeking to withdraw that plea.
He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences.
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 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’.
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: US News, Crime, Idaho, Netflix, Bryan Kohberger
Thomas Bamford