‘The Idaho Murders’: Who Were Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, the Couple Killed by Bryan Kohberger?

Netflix’s new three-part documentary The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare has once again brought international attention to one of the most shocking crimes in recent U.S. history.On November 13, 2022, four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death inside an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. In July 2025, Bryan Kohberger admitted to carrying out the killings as part of a plea agreement, avoiding the death penalty in exchange for four consecutive life sentences without parole.Among those killed were couple Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, whose relationship had become well known among friends on campus. Here’s what to know about their lives, relationship, and the events leading up to their deaths.Who was Xana Kernodle?Xana Kernodle was a 20-year-old marketing student at the University of Idaho and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Originally from Arizona, she later grew up in Post Falls, Idaho, where she was raised primarily by her father, Jeff Kernodle. She was known by friends and family as outgoing, energetic, and fiercely loyal, with the Netflix documentary highlighting the close relationship she shared with her older sister, Jazzmin.Xana lived at the off-campus King Road house with roommates Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Dylan Mortensen, and Bethany Funke. She also worked part-time at the Mad Greek restaurant alongside Madison while studying for her degree.In The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, friends remember Xana as the life of the party. Her close friend Maya says, “Xana and Ethan were the life of the party, so them together made a lot of sense. They were so cute.”Who was Ethan Chapin?Ethan Chapin was a 20-year-old student from Mount Vernon, Washington, studying recreation, sport and tourism management at the University of Idaho. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and one of a set of triplets, remaining exceptionally close to his parents and siblings, Hunter and Maizie, throughout his life.Although Ethan didn’t live at the King Road house, he was staying overnight with his girlfriend, Xana Kernodle, when the attack happened. Friends describe him in the Netflix documentary as "a big teddy bear" with a love of country music, while another says he and Xana "were made for each other". His warmth and easygoing nature are a recurring theme throughout the series, which focuses heavily on the lives of the victims rather than the man who killed them.How did Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin meet?Xana and Ethan met while studying at the University of Idaho and quickly became one of the campus's best-known couples. Friends interviewed for the documentary describe them as inseparable.What happened to Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin?In the early hours of November 13, 2022, an intruder entered the three-story King Road house where Xana lived with her roommates.Add Cosmopolitan as a preferred source in your Google search results.Use your Google account to add this to your settings.Xana and Ethan were both fatally stabbed inside the property, alongside Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.According to the documentary, surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen later recalled hearing a man's voice say, “I'm going to help you,” before she saw a masked man dressed in black walk past her bedroom as he left the house. She has said their eyes briefly met before she shut and locked her door in fear.When police were eventually called to the property at 11:56 a.m., officers discovered Xana and Ethan dead inside the home. Shortly afterwards, they found Kaylee and Madison upstairs.Investigators also recovered a knife sheath from a bed beside one of the victims, which would later become a crucial piece of evidence in the investigation.Moscow Police officer Anthony Dahlinger says in the documentary that the victims had died from stab wounds and describes the scene as unlike anything officers in the department had encountered before.“This was so outside anything we had dealt with at the Police Department,” he says.Family friend Hunter Johnson was among those who arrived at the house before police after being contacted by the surviving roommates, and discovered Xana and Ethan.What have their families said?Xana’s father, Jeff Kernodle, recalls repeatedly trying to contact his daughter on the morning of November 13 after she failed to answer his calls.He began driving away before hearing reports that something serious was happening on King Road, prompting him to turn back.Officer Anthony Dahlinger describes informing Jeff and Xana’s sister, Jazzmin, of her death as one of the hardest notifications he has ever had to deliver.“I couldn’t deal with it. You know?” Jeff says in the documentary, reflecting on the moment he learned his daughter had been killed.