0:00 Let me ask you something. How safe do you feel in your own home? And how sure are you that you'd notice if something 0:06 was off? Something as simple as a door opening, a footstep in the hallway, or a 0:12 presence that didn't belong? Do you think that you'd recognize that danger in time? Or would it move quietly around 0:18 you while you slept soundly at night? On November the 13th, 2022, those questions 0:24 stopped being hypothetical when four university students were murdered inside their own home in Moscow, Idaho. At the 0:31 time, they were living just off campus in a place that was meant for rest, studying, and safety. 0:38 And what followed forced a community and then an entire nation to face one of the most horrifying and notorious cases of 0:45 2022. Welcome, or welcome back to Copy House Crime, folks. My name is Adrian 0:51 and today we're heading to Moscow, Idaho to look at a case that eventually became known as the Idaho 4. And I'll be honest 0:57 with you here, the more that you dig at this case, the more that it seems to unravel. In fact, there are many details 1:03 that I didn't even know about until I started researching this one. By the way, here is a quick reminder that I and 1:09 the rest of my team at Coffee House Crime are all in fact humans and we don't present with AI. We do have a cat 1:14 though named Nero, so subscribe for Nero or of course to support your favorite YouTubers. We really do appreciate it. 1:21 Thank you. Now then, with that said, let's get down to the usual. Please grab yourself a coffee and let's caffeinate 1:26 while we investigate. This is the case of the Idaho 4. 1:40 Welcome to Moscow, Idaho, folks. with a population of just over 25,000 1:45 residents. Moscow is inseparable from the University of Idaho. When I say that, what I mean is that the university 1:52 isn't simply in the town, but it is quite literally Moscow's pulse. As for 1:57 its students, Moscow feels safe. Violent crime is rare enough to feel abstract, 2:02 and when something bad happens, it tends to be elsewhere to other people. Houses near campus blur into social spaces. 2:10 Friends come and go and doors are routinely left unlocked. It's the kind of place where noise complaints are the 2:16 most likely police visit and where life feels like one long social event day in 2:21 and day out. Now on King Road, which is a short walk away from campus and found 2:26 on the southwest corner of town, was a threestory rental house that stood like many others. As you may have already 2:33 guessed, this was just another usual run-of-the-mill student house. cheap and cheerful and filled with six young 2:40 adults. The location was great actually. You had the university to the north and a few restaurants found only a few 2:46 minutes further. However, it was just before noon on November the 13th, 2022 2:52 that this house found on the skirts of Moscow became the epicenter of one of the most violent and brutal stories that 2:59 America had seen in years. 911 location of your emergency. Hi. 3:06 Something is happening. Something's happening. Cannot help. We don't know what. Tell me exactly what's going on. 3:12 Um, one of our one of the roommates has passed out and she was drunk last night 3:17 and she's not waking me up. Okay. Oh, and they saw some man in their house last night. Can I just tell you what 3:24 happened pretty much? What is going on currently? Is someone passed out right now? 3:29 I don't really know, but pretty much at 4:00 a.m. Okay. I need to know what's going on right now. Someone has passed out. Can 3:35 you find that out? Yeah. Oh, come. Come on. Let me You got to go check. 3:40 What's wrong? She's not waking up. 3:46 Yeah. Okay. Hello. 3:51 Is she breathing? No. Okay. I have already sent the ambulance and 3:58 law enforcement. Stay on the line. There's a point here right now. Okay. Okay. I'm going to let you go since he's 4:03 there with you and can help you. Okay. Thank you. Shortly after this terrifying phone call was made, police arrived at the 4:10 residence. From the street, nothing looked wrong or out of place. There was no shattered glass, no signs of forced 4:17 entry, and the curtains were drawn. As they approached the property, some of them even expected that they would only 4:23 be helping someone wake up. But once they were inside, the reality and gravity of it all quickly set in. What 4:30 officers encountered was nothing short of horrific. And that's because this wasn't a single or small medical 4:37 emergency, but was an allout catastrophe. Additional units were called in immediately, and the home 4:44 suddenly changed from a student house into a full-blown crime scene. The home 4:50 was unnaturally still as police officers moved through its narrow hallways, pausing at corners and closed doors and 4:57 announcing themselves into rooms that never answered back. The first grim discovery came on the second floor when 5:04 two students were found inside one of the bedrooms. And as officers continued in their investigation, they found two 5:11 more victims in another bedroom. It was at that moment that they realized that four young students had all had their 5:18 lives ended in the same house across multiple bedrooms and on a single night. 5:23 And so obviously they realized that whatever was going on, this extended far past them or the officers or even 5:31 Moscow. Meanwhile, outside the neighborhood's tone shifted. It is the kind of tension that everyone dreads 5:38 because as police presence grew and the patrol cars arrived and then remained at the property, everyone waiting outside 5:45 knew that this was not going to be just another noise complaint. It was in that moment that one of the officers stepped 5:51 away from the property to speak with one of its surviving roommates. And from this footage, you can tell how horrified 5:58 and shaken Dylan was. All I heard was I heard her go upstairs. I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to go to sleep now cuz she's 6:04 going upstairs." Also, you heard who go upstairs? Kayie and the dog Murphy 6:09 and upstairs to the very top. Yeah, that's where her room is. 6:18 Okay. And then all of a sudden, her walking up, I heard her scream and she ran downstairs cuz she saw someone. That's 6:25 what I'm pretty sure she said. she's someone's here and she scream and just ran downstairs and I called for her name 6:31 but I jumped up and locked my door cuz I was so scared. Um and then and the I 6:37 heard someone in the bathroom and I heard her crying and I heard some guy say that you're going to be okay. I'm going to help you and I kept calling her 6:43 name but she wasn't answering. And then I opened the door for a second and I saw this guy and he was not insanely tall 6:50 but he was wearing all black and like this mask which is covering his forehead and his mouth. And then I locked the 6:55 door and I called and I didn't know what to do. This is at 4. 4 a.m. Yes. Now, Dylan claimed that she'd woken up 7:02 in the middle of the night to sounds that she couldn't quite explain. Movements and voices that all felt a 7:08 little off. It is worth noting, however, that despite the strangeness, she never felt threatened by any of it. 7:15 Apparently, he was dressed all in dark clothing and didn't even acknowledge her presence. He just simply walked by 7:22 towards the exit. It's the kind of encounter that you'd feel very uncomfortable in, especially as a woman. 7:27 But with this being a student house, there could have been a million innocent explanations. And so, she simply walked 7:33 back inside her bedroom and shut her door. But the important part here is that her recollection of that evening 7:39 changed everything about the story at that stage of the investigation. Because not only did it verify that an unknown, 7:45 mysterious man was inside the property on the night that her four friends were murdered, but also that he had acted 7:52 while everyone was fast asleep in bed. And as investigators took a closer look at the crime scene, they realized that 7:58 although clues were in fact sparse, there were a couple that they could indeed work with. But before we jump the 8:05 gun here, who precisely were the Idaho 4? So before answering that question, I'd first like to take you behind the 8:11 scenes here at Coffee House Crime. With the turn of the new year, a lot of us are thinking about returning to work, 8:17 getting back into the swing of things, and of course, New Year's resolutions. But the truth is that a lot of us 8:23 YouTubers don't actually stop over the festive period. And I'm going to let you in on a small secret here about YouTube. 8:30 But by the time Christmas and the festive season has ended, many of us YouTubers actually see a huge dip to our 8:36 AdSense earnings, which makes sense, right? Because everyone's out of their usual routine over Christmas. And while 8:42 they're seeing their family and friends, they're probably focusing on more cozy subjects. So with that in mind, I just 8:48 want to say thank you to all of you who come here week in and week out to help support the channel. And with a natural 8:54 dip over the festive period, this is precisely how our sponsors like today's paid partner ZTO can help keep the 9:01 lights on over quieter moments. So, on the topic of resolutions, what have you 9:06 decided for yourself this year? Is it perhaps pick up a new hobby, maybe go to the gym more regularly, or finally get 9:13 around to looking after your health? Now, personally for me, I think this is probably the year that I finally get 9:18 around to fixing my repetitive strain injury that I picked up at the gym. and ZDOC will definitely help with that. And 9:24 if health is on your list too, then I would love to tell you about them. For those of you who haven't heard of Zukdoc, it's a free website that helps 9:31 you find and book highquality and network doctors, so you can find someone you love. With more than 150,000 9:37 providers across all 50 states, you can search and book providers across more than 200 specialties, including 9:43 dermatology, dentistry, primary care, and eye care. View thousands of verified 9:48 patient reviews to get a real sense of who your doctor is and find one that you actually vibe with. You can also see 9:54 their real-time availability. Click to book instantly and decide in person or video. Appointments made through ZDOC 10:01 typically happen within just 24 to 72 hours of booking. And you can even score sameday appointments, too. So, if you 10:08 are serious about your health, then there is no better resolution than looking after it. And Zukdoc will help 10:13 you find a doctor who listens, understands, and of course supports you. So go to zdoc.com/copyhouse 10:21 to find and instantly book a toprated doctor today. Thank you to Zok for sponsoring this video and thank you to 10:27 you folks for supporting the creators that you care about. And now let's dive into who the Idaho 4 really were. 10:37 As it always goes, they were all just ordinary people before this story became 10:42 well, a story. Much like you and I once were, they were all simply students, 10:47 just caught in the ordinary gravity of college life. So, beginning with Madison Morgan, she was 21 years old at the time 10:55 and was a senior at the University of Idaho studying marketing. friends described her as outgoing and loyal and 11:02 someone who kept people close and made plans easily. This is something we'll come back to towards the end of the 11:08 video, but Madison worked at a local restaurant named the Mad Greek. Having grown up in Idaho, she was nearing the 11:15 end of her college years, and so she was naturally looking ahead after graduation and whatever came next. Her close friend 11:23 Kaye Gonzalez was also 21 years old at the time. Also a senior who was studying 11:28 general studies, she and Madison were described as inseparable. By now, they had known each other for several years 11:35 and would have likely been forever friends. Now, Kaye was only weeks away from graduating and had already accepted 11:42 a job out of state. In fact, she had already even recently moved out of the 11:47 King Road house, but had returned to see her friends. As for the weekend that she was tragically murdered, Kaye was back 11:54 in Moscow to spend time with Madison and also to show her the new car that she had recently purchased. Now, on the 12:01 second floor lived Santa Canodal, who was a 20-year-old junior that was studying marketing at the time. 12:07 Alongside her was her boyfriend, Ethan Chapen, who was also 20 at the time. Ethan was a freshman who was majoring in 12:14 recreation, sport, and tourism management, and was well known on campus for his warmth and friendliness. And 12:21 although he didn't officially live at the King Road House, he spent much of his time here with his girlfriend, 12:26 Santa. Interesting side note here, but both Santa and Madison worked at the same restaurant, and their connection 12:32 was not accidental. This was a house that was shaped by overlapping friendships. Now, you could say that the 12:39 house on King Road was rarely quiet. It wasn't overly drunk or dangerous or 12:44 disorderly, but it definitely was social. Many of their friends would come by without any notice whatsoever. Music 12:51 would play on the porch on most days. And with this many visitors, the noise was kind of inevitable. It is worth 12:58 noting that in the months leading up to November, police had already been called to the address on more than one 13:04 occasion. It wasn't for violence or anything criminal like that, and it was merely just noise complaints. But of 13:11 course, with students being students, a lot of the other neighbors around would lose out on sleep. And as it turns out, 13:17 one of those visits was even captured on police body cam footage. Well, understand that you're responsible 13:22 for the residents. So, whoever else is here, if they have a safe way to get home, you need to kick them out or tell 13:28 them to come inside and be quiet. Cuz the houses that are on this hill all the way around here, we can hear you from 13:34 clear down the road when we were coming up here. We can hear the music and that's I'm so sorry. We're past the point of having polite 13:40 conversations, okay? The neighbors are being kept up. As you can see in this video, officers 13:45 approached the house late at night. The atmosphere was relaxed and Santa, who answered the door, was cooperative, 13:51 apologetic, and even friendly. The officers told Santa that she had to keep it down before then being on their way. 13:58 And from this footage, you can see how chill she and everybody else really was. And so with that said, let's talk about 14:06 the night of November the 12th followed by the morning of November the 13th. It 14:11 was a Saturday, meaning that football was the talk of the town. The University of Idaho Vandals played that afternoon. 14:17 And with it being a home game at the Kibby Dome, it drew in thousands of students. The Vandals would go on to win 14:24 that evening. And so it is no surprise to learn that everyone in the area had a reason to celebrate. Santa and Ethan 14:31 spent their evening at the Sigma Chai fraternity house and friends would later confirm that the two were together for 14:37 the entire night afterwards. It turns out that nothing about their evening stood out and it's reported that the two 14:43 left sometime around 1:45 before then heading back towards the property on 14:48 King Road. Meanwhile, both Kaye and Madison spent their entire night downtown, staying together while they 14:55 moved through their usual spots in the area. They eventually arrived at the Corner Club, which is a bar just off 15:01 Main Street, and once again, a regular stop for them. Both surveillance footage and witness reports placed them here 15:08 until around 1:30 that morning, where they appeared relaxed and with nothing out of the ordinary happening. There was 15:14 nothing to suggest that anything was wrong or a miss either. Though just like the other two, there was no obvious sign 15:21 of drama or issue. When the bar closed, Madison and Kaye walked a short distance towards the Grub Truck, a late night 15:28 food stand that was parked downtown. Just out of coincidence, it turns out that the truck was actually live 15:34 streaming on Twitch at the time. The camera had surveillance over the sidewalk in a wide, grainy view, where 15:40 both Madison and Kaye can eventually be seen appearing on camera while waiting for their food. As you can see, they 15:47 occasionally glance over towards the street. And then at approximately 1:56 15:52 a.m., the two then leave in a taxi, which was heading back toward King Road. Madison and Kaye arrive home just before 16:00 2:00 a.m. And coincidentially, both Santa and Ethan also make it back around the same time, 16:07 and soon enough, all of the lights were out, and the property fell silent at last. Now, for a while, nothing 16:13 happened, and all was peaceful. However, as we know, around 4:00 a.m., all of that changed. It all began when Dylan, 16:20 who was asleep on the second floor, woke up to what sounded like the dog playing upstairs. You see, Murphy the dog 16:27 belonged to Kaye. And of course, Kaye was visiting Madison over the weekend, and all three of them lived above Dylan 16:33 on the third floor. And with this being a student house, noise, even this late at night, wasn't unusual. It wasn't long 16:39 after this encounter that Dylan then heard Kaye say something along the lines of, "There's someone here." And again, 16:46 while that was an odd thing to hear, it didn't register as a danger or a warning at the time. Instead, it sounded casual 16:52 and perhaps even dismissive. A short while later, she then heard even more noise, but this time, it was actually 16:59 coming from the same second floor. She described the sound as crying coming from Sana's room, to which she then 17:05 heard a male voice respond with, "It's okay. I'm going to help you. However, once again, Dylan felt more confused 17:12 than worried, and there was no obvious sign of struggle or shouting going on. And so, after checking her front door 17:18 for the second time, she then headed back to sleep. But after opening her door for the third time, well, what she 17:25 saw would stop her cold because that is when she came face to face with a man who was walking straight towards her. 17:32 Slowly slinking down the hallway. The man was dressed all in black, wore a face mask, and had bushy eyebrows, a 17:38 detail that would later matter. But rather than say or do anything to Dylan, he quite literally ignored her 17:44 existence. Instead, he walked by her and towards the sliding glass door. I mean 17:49 that quite literally, by the way, because this man didn't even acknowledge Dylan. Instead, he just walked right by 17:55 her and then just like that, vanished into the night. Dylan stood frozen as 18:01 the man passed by. Once he was gone, she then shut her door and locked herself 18:06 inside her room. And it turns out that she was not the only person or thing to 18:11 spot something strange that night either. At approximately 4:17 that morning, a security camera, which was 18:18 found less than 50 ft away from the property, captured some rather strange audio. In this footage, you can hear 18:24 what sounds like voices or a whimper, which was then followed by a loud thud and then a dog barking repeatedly. 18:37 It was around the same time that a white Hyundai Elantre was captured making several passes through the neighborhood 18:43 after which the car was seen leaving the area quite rapidly. Moving on to the crime scene in the hours after the 18:50 brutal discovery, investigators searched for clues high and low. Detectives concluded that the killer had actually 18:56 done a very good job in leaving almost nothing behind. But of course, in this 19:02 day and age, there is always something that they can work on. It was on the third floor and where Madison and Kaye 19:08 were found that investigators discovered a tan leather knife sheath on the bed. The sheath was stamped with the markings 19:15 Kabar USMC. And judging by its design, the sheath was designed to stay attached 19:21 to a belt and not left behind at a crime scene. With all of this in mind, the 19:26 sheath was carefully collected and then sent for forensic testing. And when the results came back, it was resounding. 19:33 Located on the metal snap of this sheath was a single male DNA profile. The 19:39 profile wasn't a mixture or degraded in the slightest. Instead, it offered one 19:45 single suspect. As the lab work continued, investigators profiled the neighborhood and asked both far and wide 19:52 for surveillance footage. And thankfully, what they found was movement. Through all of the hours of 19:58 footage they scoured, no surprise, but they would eventually be most interested in the white Hyundai Elantre that we've 20:04 already mentioned before. Now, initially, analysts believed the car to be a 2011 to 2013 model. However, this 20:11 was eventually extended to be as new as 2016. When police asked the community for help in identifying the vehicle, 20:18 their response was overwhelming. We're talking about thousands of tips pouring in with many leads extending into 20:24 Washington, Oregon, Nevada, and even Montana. That was a lot of land for 20:30 police to cover. But I'd like to draw your attention to here, to the nearby town of Pullman, Washington, which can 20:36 be found about 10 mi away from Moscow. Despite being in different states, driving between these two towns only 20:44 takes around 15 minutes. And it turns out that one particular white Hyundai Electra that came from the town of 20:50 Pullman had now come across their sights. The vehicle's records would lead them to a graduate student living in the 20:57 area and his name was Brian Cobberger. And surprisingly, not only did his 21:02 vehicle fit the bill, but when detectives took a closer look into his profile, they realized that his trail 21:09 was not actually subtle at all. In fact, he already had history with Moscow. It 21:14 was in August of 2022 and only a few weeks before the killings that Brian had 21:19 been stopped by Moscow police for a routine traffic violation. Now, at the time, this interaction was quite 21:26 unremarkable. He gave the police officers his ID, answered their questions, and then provided them with 21:32 his phone number. So, when investigators later applied for warrants to obtain historical phone records, they took this 21:39 opportunity to check out his location data. And when they did, well, let's just say that it painted a pretty 21:46 devastating story. 21:51 Surprisingly, it showed that Brian was in the area of King Road at least a dozen times in the months leading up to 21:57 November the 13th, with most of these visits happening late at night or in the early hours of the morning. Of course, 22:04 this was a very strange detail for detectives to realize because Brian had no business in the area. So why was he 22:11 repeatedly traveling to King Road without any purpose or reason? Detectives also realized that between 3 22:17 and 5 on the morning of the murders, Brian's phone stopped connecting to nearby towers altogether. It didn't 22:23 appear near King Road or anywhere else for that matter and was untraceable in a 4G and 5G rich area. In short, the phone 22:31 was decisively turned off for 2 hours that morning over the space where four people were murdered. And of course, 22:38 that wasn't reassuring at all to detectives. If anything, it was incredibly suspicious. And when his 22:44 phone was finally switched on and connected back to the network, it showed Brian traveling southwest away from the 22:50 crime scene, which of course aligned perfectly with the surveillance footage. And all of a sudden, the data and even 22:57 the lack of data was creating a very damning picture. 23:03 Now, if that wasn't enough already, detectives in Pennsylvania would then go on to recover trash from Brian's family 23:10 home. Of course, the main aim here was to try to find DNA that belonged to Brian or his family. And when they 23:16 finally tested trash that belonged to his father, lab analysis showed that the profile was consistent with being the 23:23 biological father of the person whose DNA had been found on the knife sheath. 23:28 All of a sudden, all of these separate articles of evidence which had once floated separately, that being the 23:34 sheath, the car, the DNA, and the phone, was now all coming together. And what initially began as a lone, mysterious 23:41 man walking down a hallway, had now transpired into the actual name of the 23:46 Idaho for killer. So, we know his name, and we know all about his behavior. But 23:52 who precisely is Brian Cobberger? 27 years old at the time, Brian Christopher 23:57 Coberger seemed ordinary enough at first. Of course, minus that death stare because that is not ordinary. Now, on 24:04 the surface, his life appeared to be structured and was directed by his routines, academic goals, and a quiet 24:12 sense of ambition. Born on November the 21st, 1994 and raised in Pennsylvania, 24:17 Brian grew up in a suburban home with his parents and sisters. Family members would later describe his childhood as 24:24 normal and definitely not troubled. He attended local schools, moved through his teenage years without any notable 24:30 drama and always seemed relaxed. People who knew Brian in his earlier life do 24:35 recall his struggles. However, as a teenager, Brian dealt with both weight issues and social isolation. Over time, 24:43 he would eventually lose most of his excess weight and would then become focused on discipline, boxing, running, 24:49 and strict routines. Academically speaking, Brian first earned himself an associate degree before then going on to 24:57 receiving a bachelor's degree in psychology. Strangely enough, his interests would even narrow down towards 25:03 crime, and he then went on to complete a master's degree in, you guessed it, criminal justice. Now, here's the 25:10 interesting part, but it turns out that his coursework focused on criminal behavior, investigative methods, and 25:16 even the mechanics of crime itself. And then in 2022, he enrolled in a PhD 25:22 program in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman. Brian came 25:27 across as both serious and reserved, and although he wasn't known as an extrovert, he was described as sometimes 25:34 confident. Other people would say that he was cold, corrected others during discussions, and would take debate way 25:41 too seriously. Oh, and another interesting side note, but he had also applied for an internship with the 25:47 Pullman Police Department as a data analyst. And although he wasn't accepted into the program, you can quite clearly 25:54 see his intentions. In the days and weeks after the murders, and while Brian was still a free man, people who saw him 26:01 say he appeared quiet and more withdrawn. It was also noted that he attended all classes as usual, continued 26:08 on with his routine, and although a little bit more quiet, his behavior didn't seem much different than before. 26:14 It was almost like nothing big had happened in his life. But little did he know that soon enough he was going to 26:20 come face to face with dozens of armed officers. 26:25 It was on the morning of December the 15th, 2022 that Brian and his father were driving home for the holidays. This 26:33 included a 2300-mile journey from Idaho to Pennsylvania. However, not long into 26:39 the journey, officers would stop them in their tracks, but not for the reason you'd expect. They were initially 26:45 stopped in Hancock County, where an officer pulled the vehicle over for following another one too closely. After 26:52 approaching Brian's window, he handed over his license and his registration without any hesitation. The deputy 26:59 explained the reason for the stop, issued them a warning, and then sent Brian and his father away. However, only 27:05 9 minutes later, officers appeared yet again. Now, at this stage, you might be thinking to yourself that maybe officers 27:12 were finally going to arrest him. However, unfortunately, you'd be wrong. This time, it was an Indiana State 27:18 Police trooper that stopped them for the very same reason as before. But even still, no search was conducted, and once 27:26 again, they were released without a warning. Now, at the time, neither of these stops was unusual or strange, and 27:32 no laws had been broken. So, there was no plausible reason for them to detain Brian. But, of course, these two moments 27:39 stand out, not for what happened, but what didn't happen. You have to remember here that at this stage in the 27:45 investigation, both Brian and his car were under the spotlight. And yet here they were being noted down not once but 27:53 twice before then being allowed to go on their way. However, thankfully less than two weeks later, their journey would end 27:59 in a very different way. By the final week of December, the investigation had gone quiet on the surface. However, 28:06 behind the scenes, investigators were no longer looking for who was responsible, but instead were merely waiting to act 28:13 on it. They already had the outline of the case, the car, the phone data, the timeline, the DNA, and the man 28:20 responsible. And so, in the early hours of December the 30th, 2022, law 28:26 enforcement finally made their move. It was shortly before dawn that a tactical 28:31 team arrived at Brian's family home. Now, according to police reports, they actually found him while he was digging 28:38 through his own family's trash can while wearing latex gloves. Now, for any 28:43 innocent person out there, I don't think that's how you'd spend your typical Friday morning. So, I guess you could 28:49 say that they actually caught him red-handed. Brian was arrested without incident. And when he arrived at the 28:55 police station, he was charged as a fugitive from justice. That being a procedural step that allowed Idaho 29:02 authorities to bring him back across state lines. Simultaneously, search 29:07 warrants were executed on his home, his belongings, and the white Hyundai Elantre that had already traveled 29:13 thousands of miles with him. Detectives would also seize both his phone and his computer, which funnily enough would 29:20 conveniently lead to an entire album of his selfies being released, categorized into selfies that he had taken before 29:27 the murders and after. Speaking of selfies, this one was taken not even 6 29:33 hours after he had murdered four innocent people. I would also like to question why he took so many photos of 29:39 his own butt. Investigators would later state that sections of his browsing history from the weeks leading up to the 29:45 murders were also missing and that absence was extremely abnormal. And as for his mobile phone, well, 29:51 unfortunately, data was sparse. Brian barely kept any contacts in his phone 29:56 book. It was mostly just his mother and father and records showed that they frequently communicated in the days 30:02 after the murders which included both text messaging and phone calls. But beyond that, the authorities have been 30:09 quite careful in what they have publicly released. They have referenced material suggesting rather disturbing interests 30:16 and have also noted that there are patterns of online activity that point towards fixation and control. However, 30:23 most of that evidence has not been disclosed publicly in detail. But what really mattered here is that each 30:29 element on its own would describe a little bit of the story. But when they were all put together, well, that 30:35 created a much stronger picture and one that was far more believable. 30:43 The public's outrage was immediate. And as for Brian's reputation, well, you 30:48 could say that he's become one of the most hated men in America. In fact, he's become so notorious in the recent 2 or 3 30:55 years that I'd be surprised if he hadn't heard of his name before clicking this video. His trial was scheduled for June 31:01 the 30th, 2025. And for about 2 years, everything was building up towards that 31:06 moment. During all that time, they'd been collecting statements, testimonies, and of course, all of the evidence that 31:12 we've already talked about. But the thing is that trial would unfortunately never happen because only a few weeks 31:19 before it was set to begin, Brian accepted a plea agreement. To elaborate here, Brian formally pleaded guilty to 31:26 the murders of Madison, Kaye, Sana, and Ethan, and an associated burglary charge. And with his plea accepted, he 31:34 narrowly avoided any trial whatsoever. However, one of the most frustrating things about this case is that Brian 31:41 refused to comment past his plea deal. What that means is that he didn't provide any explanation or 31:47 acknowledgement beyond the admission itself. And neither could the court ask him to describe what he had done or even 31:53 why. It also meant that because he had pleaded guilty, the state was forced to withdraw its pursuit of the death 32:00 penalty. It basically meant that because Brian had merely said he was guilty, he wouldn't face trial, wouldn't have to 32:06 explain himself, wouldn't have to face his victim's families, and wouldn't have to face death itself. But the good news 32:13 here is that he also waved his right to any future appeals and the legal system accepted certainty without any further 32:20 detail. Meaning there is literally no way he can leave prison. However, on the other side of the coin, it still means 32:26 that we will never know his motive or any intricate details of his crime because unfortunately his right for 32:33 trial in the future was waved away too. At his sentencing, the judge imposed four consecutive life sentences without 32:40 the possibility of parole, ensuring that each victim's life was recognized individually and that there would be no 32:46 mechanism by which Brian could ever be released in the future. He was also given additional time for the burglary 32:53 charge, too, which of course was largely symbolic in the face of his life sentences. During his hearing, family 32:59 and loved ones of the victims addressed the courtroom. They spoke of who the Idaho 4 were before November the 13th 33:06 and how now their futures will never unfold due to the actions of one disturbed individual. Unsurprisingly, 33:14 Brian himself offered no statement of his own and basically kept quiet for the entire thing. And when the hearing was 33:20 over, he was led away in handcuffs to begin the rest of his life in maximum security. And thankfully from this 33:27 moment onwards his movements will be heavily controlled, his contact limited, and his days will be extremely 33:34 repetitive. His life won't be easy, that's for sure. 33:39 Not that it deserves to be, or quite frankly that he even deserves one. As you can likely imagine, his plea 33:46 agreement did nothing to bring relief. In fact, for some people, it actually kind of felt unfinished. By removing the 33:53 death penalty and requiring no explanation, his agreement left dozens of questions unanswered. Of course, as a 34:00 result, the full story would never be told in court. And I'm still left wondering here, why that house? Why did 34:07 he target those students? And what truly happened in those final minutes? 34:13 Tragically, we will never know. Okay, as far as the factual information goes, 34:18 this is where the story ends. But before I finish today, I would love to talk about the credible speculation that 34:25 we've seen. As far as motive or direction is concerned, many people believe that Brian may have been 34:30 targeting Madison, whose bedroom was located on the third floor. I would like to highlight that there is no proof that 34:36 the two had any personal relationship or even knew each other. However, Brian's movements do assume that maybe he was 34:44 targeting her. The reason that some people believe this is that when intruding the property, he bypassed most 34:50 of the rooms in the house and went straight to her bedroom. It is also the same room where Brian's knife sheath was 34:56 found. But the problem for Brian is that unexpectedly Madison's friend Kaye was 35:02 also there at the time, which of course would have shifted his actions entirely. Mobile phone data would also suggest 35:08 that Sana, who was on the second floor, was also awake on her phone shortly before the murders, and that her room 35:15 sat along the likely path that Brian would have had to take to leave. This means that both SA and Ethan would have 35:22 likely been unintentional witnesses that Brian would have likely wanted to silence after murdering both Madison and 35:28 Kaye. And with the speed in which Brian left the property and the sheath left behind, many believe that the situation 35:36 got out of hand and then he panicked. And so if we were to believe these speculations, we would assume that Brian 35:43 had broken into the property with the objective of targeting Madison, panicked when he realized that she wasn't alone, 35:49 murdered two innocent women as a result, and then doubled that to four when he realized that he couldn't leave any 35:56 witnesses behind. Speaking of speculation, there are many thoughts and feelings around the Mad Greek, which of 36:02 course is the restaurant where both Madison and SA worked. In the early stages of this investigation, there were 36:09 some media reports that suggested that maybe Brian had visited the restaurant in the weeks and months leading up to 36:15 the murders. And of course, this opened the doorway to possibilities of how Brian had maybe become aware of Madison 36:22 or even Sana. The restaurant's owner has publicly denied recognizing Brian and 36:28 stated that neither she nor any of her staff ever recall him being there. In addition to this, law enforcement has 36:34 never confirmed any interaction between him and the victims at the restaurant. And no evidence has ever been released 36:41 to support the claim either. And so as it stands, and as far as we know, the whole Mad Greek connection remains 36:47 unverified. And all of that is despite this image right here, which is an image released by law enforcement showing a 36:54 raw data extract taken from a Google review. Anyway, that is as much as I would like to speculate. And I'm going 37:01 to wrap this one up by remembering who the Idaho four were because their lives matter far more than the person who took 37:08 them. Madison Mogan was more than just a name tied to a case. She was a friend 37:14 who showed up, a co-orker who made work easy, and a daughter who stayed close to 37:19 home even when she was planning her future. Family and friends alike miss her tremendously, and the void that she 37:26 is left behind will likely never heal. This is the same for Kaye Gonzaleves, 37:31 who was a true friend with an honest path ahead. She had plans already forming, a new job waiting, and a life 37:38 that was only beginning to open outwards. She loved fiercely, spoke openly, and returned to Moscow that 37:45 weekend for only one simple reason, to lovingly spend time with one of her friends who had become an important part 37:52 of her life. Sana Kenodal was known for her energy and her humor. And her 37:57 friends remember her for the way that she filled a room without even trying. She balanced work, school, and 38:03 relationships responsibly and still made time and space for happiness. Ethan was 38:08 described as kind beyond measure and made people feel included without effort. On the night that he was 38:14 murdered, he was staying with the person that he loved in a house that he felt safe in and in a town that always was. 38:22 As for the house on King Road, it remained vacant for a long time. But over the weeks and then months and then 38:29 years that it remained empty, it basically became an ominous ghost in the area, reminding people and the town of 38:36 the horrors that it held. And so it is no surprise to learn that eventually it was decided to be torn down as a matter 38:44 of respect. Now only open ground remains in its space, and it's not clear if 38:50 anything will ever be built on top again. 38:56 In the same way that we finished last week's video, I always find it fascinating when a building is left behind. Not only for what it stood for 39:03 before the murders, but also how it transformed in the process. I think in this case, it absolutely was the right 39:10 decision to demolish the house. Because unfortunately, those four walls have experienced so much pain. And that, 39:16 folks, is the case of the Idaho 4, at least as it currently stands in January of 2026. Of course, with Brian not 39:24 sharing much of his own motive or story, there is still potential for more information to come out in the future. 39:30 We can only hope that he does so to bring closure to the victim's families. Before I go, I'd love to know what you 39:36 think about this case because, of course, it is quite the notorious one, so I'm sure you have your own opinion. 39:43 As always, please share your thoughts in the comment section down below. I really do appreciate the feedback, too. And 39:48 thank you again to ZuckDoc for sponsoring this video. Go to zdoc.com/coffthouse crime to find and instantly book a 39:54 toprated doctor today. If you'd like to follow me on social media, you can go to my Instagram, Facebook, or Spotify, all 40:00 under the name of Coffee House Crime. But of course, YouTube is my main home base. Anyway, folks, as you can probably 40:07 tell, my voice is absolutely shot today. So, I'm going to end it here. I'll see you again very shortly for another 40:13 video, likely next week. But until that moment arrives, remember to look after yourselves and each other. And of 40:19 course, stay safe and stay curious. Thank you and goodbye.