Netflix releases three-part documentary on Idaho college murders amid defendant's new plea

Netflix has added a three-episode documentary, The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, to its true-crime lineup. The series recounts the November 2022 stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at an off-campus house near the University of Idaho. The alleged perpetrator, former Ph.D. student Bryan Kohberger, previously entered a guilty plea but this week announced a request to withdraw that plea and proceed to trial, claiming he was misled during his confession.

The program provides background on the victims, details of the night of the attack and interviews with classmates, faculty members and family members. It also explores possible motives, including statements from former classmates that Kohberger displayed dismissive and hostile attitudes toward women while studying criminal justice at Washington State University. Faculty had expressed concerns about his behavior prior to his arrest, and he was dismissed from a teaching assistant position shortly before being taken into custody.

Kohberger's new legal move follows earlier documentary treatments of the case by Peacock and Amazon Prime, which aired similar series earlier this year. The Netflix series does not present new forensic evidence but offers a narrative of the events and the ongoing impact on the victims' families, who have expressed a desire for a trial and, in some cases, the death penalty.

"We wish he would have gotten the death penalty," a family member said in the documentary.

The release arrives as the legal proceedings remain unresolved, and the series adds to the public record of a case that continues to attract significant media attention.