Disturbing photos of Idaho murders known as 'worst crime scene police have ever seen' removed after family speaks out

Gruesome photographs from the home where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered in 2022 have been removed from the internet by police after causing outrage among the victims' families.

Around 3000 images were quietly uploaded on Tuesday showing site of the 'worst crime scene police have seen', where spree killer Bryan Kohberger brutally stabbed his four housemates to death, off-campus in Moscow, Idaho.

Many revealed blood splattering the walls and floors, as well as soaking into mattresses and other furniture. This grisly trove of thousands of crime scene photographs were then removed just days later following a public outcry.

The family of victim, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, shared in a statement that they'd received no notice of the uploads and urged 'armchair experts': "Please be kind & as difficult as it is, place yourself outside of yourself & consume the content as if it were your loved one. Your daughter, your sister, your son or brother."

Kaylee's parents Steve and Kristi Goncalves spoke at Kohberger's sentencing hearing (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)

They continued: "Murder isn’t entertainment & crime scene photos aren’t content."

But by Thursday, all of the photos had been scrubbed from the internet by the Idaho State Police. A statement from the department explained that they were following legal direction laid down by Judge Marshall, who presided over Kohberger's trial.

The judge made a permanent injunction that requires authorities to 'redact areas of the photographs depicting ‘any portion of the bodies of the decedents or the blood immediately surrounding them.'

Yet many of the pictures showed blood covering many of the surfaces in the ransacked bedrooms of Kohberger's victims, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin, who were murdered in their sleep.

The police statement added: ”After questions were raised, the records were temporarily removed for further review to ensure the appropriate balance between privacy concerns and public transparency was struck.”

Bryan Kohberger pled guilty over the summer to avoid the death penalty (Kai Eiselein-Pool/Getty Images)

But while the mass release of documents relating to the case have been removed, the police clarified that the would be re-uploaded 'soon' with further redactions.

They also acknowledged that the upload had upset the families, adding: "This was a tragic case, and we do not take the impact of the crime or the release of records lightly."

However, many of the 2800 pictures uploaded on Tuesday were viewed and downloaded before they could be deleted, with some being republished by various news organizations.

This caused Goncalves' familiy to urge the public to avoid speculating about the horrific crime without knowing all the details.

They said: "We know so many of you armchair detectives will turn this into your show (profits) zooming into things, ‘analyzing blood splatter,’ suggesting that things ‘don’t add up’ yada yada yada.

"It’s disrespectful and gross."

Killer Kohberger, 31, is now serving four life sentences without the possibility of parole in the Idaho Maximum Security Institution, after pleading guilty to the murders in July 2025 in order to avoid the death penalty.