Victims endured – Court documents describe what medical examiner Dr. Veena Singh planned to say: Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen “endured a high degree of pain,” and Ethan Chapin experienced similar suffering, though “to a lesser degree.”
In the months after Bryan Kohberger was sentenced, the case has kept moving—file by file, detail by detail. Now, court documents describe what a medical examiner planned to tell the court about what four victims experienced before they died.
Medical examiner Dr. Veena Singh reportedly planned to testify that three of Kohberger’s victims faced an increased level of pain prior to their murders. In documents obtained by People on Friday. June 5. Singh found that Kaylee Goncalves. Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen “endured a high degree of pain and/or suffering prior to their deaths as a result of the injuries.”.
Singh’s findings also addressed Ethan Chapin, who “experienced a high degree of pain and/or suffering prior to his death as a result of the injuries inflicted but to a lesser degree than the other decedents.”
The autopsy reports described how those fatal injuries occurred. Goncalves. Mogen and Chapin were said to have suffered fatal injuries while laying in bed asleep. while Kernodle was not asleep at the time of her death. According to the same account, Kernodle fought back against her killer as she was stabbed 67 times.
Kohberger. 31. was found guilty in the legal sense through his plea and sentencing. but the families of the victims have continued to live with the details as they surface. Goncalves, Kernodle, Mogen and Chapin were found dead in their shared home in Moscow, Idaho on November 13, 2022. Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were the two survivors from the incident.
Weeks later, Kohberger was arrested in connection with their deaths at his parent’s property in Pennsylvania. Singh ultimately did not testify in the case because of Kohberger’s plea deal. In July 2025, Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. The arrangement allowed Kohberger to avoid the death penalty and he was not required to reveal details of the murders.
He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole, plus ten years for burglary. Since July 2025, he has been behind bars at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, Idaho.
For Kaylee Goncalves’ parents, the new documents don’t change the outcome—but they deepen the questions that have never left them. Goncalves’ parents are still trying to wrap their minds around what happened to their daughter and have unanswered questions for Kohberger.
“I would ask him, ‘Why?. Please, please, please. Do you not think that our family has been through enough?’” Kaylee’s mother. Kristi Goncalves. told the Daily Mail in an interview published on Thursday. June 4. She continued: “Do you not think what you did to our daughter — when we found out that you stabbed her 38 times with a seven-inch KaBar military model knife. 24 times to her face. to her head. 11 times to her chest and neck. and three defensive wounds as she sat up in that bed. and she fought for her life?. … Can you just tell me why?. I’m a mother, and you have a mother, too. Can you please just tell me why?”.
Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves, also wants an explanation.
“That’s all you would have to do. Explain to us how that happened and what other weapon you used,” Steve told the outlet.
Through the court record, the case keeps returning to the same painful point: what happened in the moments before death. Singh’s planned testimony. and the autopsy findings reflected in the documents. put the focus on the victims’ final experiences—Goncalves. Kernodle and Mogen described as enduring a high degree of pain. and Chapin suffering similarly but “to a lesser degree. ” alongside accounts of who was asleep and who fought back.
Bryan Kohberger Kaylee Goncalves Xana Kernodle Madison Mogen Ethan Chapin Dr. Veena Singh autopsy reports Moscow Idaho murders KaBar knife court documents