Newly released law enforcement photographs show convicted killer Bryan Kohberger shirtless and displaying a wound on his left ring finger in images taken days after four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed on Nov. 13, 2022.
The photos, obtained by NewsNation from the Latah County Sheriff’s Office and reported by multiple outlets, include a shirtless image in which a cut or wound is visible on Kohberger’s left ring finger. The outlet noted that investigators have suggested the injury could be consistent with a cut sustained if one of the victims fought back, though that possibility was presented as speculative in the reporting.
Kohberger, a former Washington State University graduate student, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30, 2022, more than a month after the killings. He pleaded guilty to the November 2022 murders of Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Ethan Chapin on July 2, 2025, and was later sentenced to four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years after a plea agreement that, in part, spared him from capital punishment by firing squad.
The newly released photographs also show Kohberger posing shirtless in several other undated images that prosecutors and investigators obtained; one extreme close-up shows him smiling directly into the camera. The images were among materials released by the Latah County Sheriff’s Office and described in reporting by NewsNation and other outlets.
Unsealed documents and interviews reported by People and cited in recent coverage said Kohberger had drawn repeated complaints while enrolled at Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. The material shows that faculty and classmates filed some 13 formal complaints against him during his studies, alleging a pattern of disturbing behavior that included repeated inappropriate comments and alleged stalking. Two women told Idaho State Police that Kohberger made what they described as daily visits to their workplaces and occasional unexpected visits to their homes before the slayings.
One woman, then a bookstore employee, told police she was changing in her room when she heard a knock at her window and then saw a figure run away after she called for her husband. Another undergraduate employee in the criminology department reported Kohberger frequently sought her out after work and made advances; she told investigators he sometimes made direct eye contact from outside the window of her workplace, according to the police documents.
Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra was also a key piece of evidence used by investigators to place him in the area of the killings. Law enforcement sources identified the vehicle early in the probe and later tied it to Kohberger as part of the case presented to grand jurors and at his subsequent court proceedings.
The four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death inside a home near campus on Nov. 13, 2022. The deaths prompted a large, months-long criminal investigation that included searches of Kohberger’s electronic devices and travel records, and culminated in his arrest at his parents’ home in late December.
Kohberger’s legal team and prosecutors reached a plea agreement ahead of a scheduled trial in 2025. He entered guilty pleas to multiple counts related to the killings in July 2025 and was sentenced in a hearing that month. Court filings and reporting on the case indicate the plea deal removed the option of capital punishment in exchange for the guilty plea and the agreed sentence.
Investigators have said they relied on a combination of forensic evidence, phone data, surveillance footage and witness accounts to build the case. Prosecutors have described the killings as a brutal attack on four students who lived together near the University of Idaho campus. The identities of the victims were publicly confirmed by family members and authorities in the days following the crime.
After his arrest, Kohberger was held in custody in Idaho pending prosecution. Public documents and court filings made during the case provided new details about his behavior before the slayings, including the complaints at Washington State and the accounts provided to Idaho police by the women who reported being followed or visited by someone matching his description.
The release of the photographs renewed public attention to the two-month period between the killings and Kohberger’s arrest, and to questions from family members of the victims and community members about the investigation. Officials have said they will continue to provide information through public records and court filings but noted that certain details remain subject to privacy protections and ongoing legal restrictions.
Kohberger’s sentencing formally closed the criminal prosecution of the November 2022 killings. Civil suits and other legal actions related to the case have been reported in the months since, and public records requests and unsealed filings have continued to yield additional material that media outlets have reported. Authorities and family members of the victims have called the deaths a devastating loss and urged others to report suspicious behavior to law enforcement.
