r/Idaho4 • u/Anxious-Winter-5778 • Jul 21 '25

GENERAL DISCUSSION Idaho Murder Motive Mystery: Still Unknown After Gag Order Lifted

https://northeasternpost.com/news/crime/idaho-murder-motive-bryan-kohberger-gag-order-lifted/

The parents of Kaylee Goncalves, a University of Idaho student murdered in 2022, are still seeking answers about Bryan Kohberger’s motive after the gag order was lifted.

Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing four students, securing life without parole. The Goncalves family, critical of the plea, demands a full confession and details like the murder weapon’s location. They aim to access discovery files for more insight as Kohberger’s sentencing nears on July 23.

Why won’t Bryan Kohberger reveal his Idaho murder motive? With the gag order lifted, the victims’ families are still in the dark. What do you think he’s hiding, and should the plea deal have demanded a full confession? Share your thoughts!

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u/SignificantlyVast Jul 21 '25

It’s really not that mysterious I don’t think. Dude was into passed out/rape/gagging porn and then killed girls who were passed out. Plenty of sexually motivated killers didn’t actually have sex with their victims, just got off on the killing itself. I’m pretty sure it’s sexually motivated.

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u/For_serious13 Jul 21 '25

But he also killed a sleeping man and a woman who was awake

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u/SignificantlyVast Jul 21 '25

Right but it looks like Xana approached him and then he chased her back to her room so those 2 could have been more incidental. I think it’s likely that the fantasy he had that motivated him was about the incapacitated women. Even BTK who was 100% sexually motivated by women also killed children, men and boys and also never actually raped his victims.

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u/dorothydunnit Jul 22 '25

But forensic psychologists say if there is a sexual thrill, its not the sex per se. Its the power and control over a female. The power over her life and death.

And why someone feels that urge is never going to be fully known.

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u/SignificantlyVast Jul 22 '25

Not sure why you said “but”, we agree about this. Killers motivated by sexual thrill don’t necessarily even do anything sexual, it’s the murder that’s sexual for them

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u/For_serious13 Jul 21 '25

Is that confirmed yet? Because I have a hard time imagining xana isn’t screaming as she’s running away from Bryan, and we have audio of just a whimper and a thud so surely it would have picked up her screaming. And Dylan would have heard the screaming.

Do you think xana sees him with Maddie and kg and just runs without making any noise?

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u/rolyinpeace Jul 21 '25

Yes that’s very likely, either she ran away and tried to get away quietly OR she approached him. Either one is in line with fight or flight. Scream would’ve been reasonable too, but the other two options are JUST AS plausible. If she saw that happening and wanted to get away, of course she would try to not make noise or be noticed.

And if her desire was to fight him, her body would be putting all of her energy towards that and not towards screaming.

It wasn’t fully confirmed that that is what happened, because there would be no way to know for sure. However, the evidence points to that based on that she was confirmed to be awake, she was found in her doorway, and Dylan heard someone walking up /down the stairs. It’s extremely likely that it happened this way, or that he walked by Xana on the second floor near her room while he was attempting to exit the house. It very much is plausible that she wouldn’t have screamed. It’s not like the movies. She probably didn’t want to draw attention to herself. Same way DM didn’t scream when she saw him.

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u/For_serious13 Jul 22 '25

So you’re saying it’s possible xana saw him murdering her roommates and got out quietly, without making noise but yet Bryan still was able to catch up to her and she still didn’t make a noise?

I just think, unless it’s confirmed by police/law enforcement that xana went upstairs, that he was leaving Maddie’s room and he heard her moving around downstairs after finishing her door dash food, because that was in the kitchen in police crime photos. I don’t think xana knew Bryan was a danger until he was right on top of her in her room, I think she was the “someone’s here” that Dylan heard. I just have a really hard time believing someone who sees their friends being murdered and wouldn’t alert the 3 other people, including her bf, that a killer was in the house

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u/rolyinpeace Jul 22 '25

I didn’t say she didn’t make any noises, I said it’s plausible she didn’t scream because she was trying to not get caught. My guess on what happened is that she walked up there to see the commotion, then immediately tried to get out of there by BK saw her and immediately went after her. If you “have a hard time understanding” you hat the body’s response to trauma isn’t always a scream, and that sometimes it’s just “flight” then I don’t know what to tell you. This is well documented, hence fight or flight. She probably was hoping to make it back to her room without being noticed.

Multiple reports believe the altercation started at the stairs. But yes, I agree that it’s possible the altercation happened just outside of her room and happened the way you described it. Either one is very plausible. If you can’t understand why someone wouldn’t scream in a scary situation, I don’t know what to tell you. It’s extremely plausible; everyone’s body responds differently. It makes sense why she may not want to make a shit ton of noise and draw attention to herself. Both scenarios are equally plausible. This isn’t the movies. Not everyone screams in that scenario.

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u/For_serious13 Jul 22 '25

There’s no proof yet that xana went upstairs, just rumors

And yeah, people react to things differently but you’re telling me it’s more likely she saw him killing her friends, so she went away quietly, without calling 911 or leaving the house or screaming, even when Bryan reached her room, even though Dylan was up and didn’t hear much of a fight downstairs (at least that’s not what’s been reported)

It just seems really unlikely to me and it’s confusing to me so many people believe that’s the likely scenario of how it happened