Idaho murders photos put police on damage control as families fume over accidental release
WARNING: Graphic Content
Local authorities are speaking out following the accidental release of graphic crime scene photographs from the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students earlier this week.
"Following adjudication of the criminal case, the Idaho State Police received a large volume of public records requests seeking the photographs," a spokesperson for the department said in a statement, according to the New York Post.
"In making the redactions, the Idaho State Police also chose to follow Judge [Megan] Marshall’s permanent injunction, which required the City of Moscow to redact areas of the photographs depicting ‘any portion of the bodies of the decedents or the blood immediately surrounding them,’" the statement continued.
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"After questions were raised, the records were temporarily removed for further review to ensure the appropriate balance between privacy concerns and public transparency was struck."
The explanation comes after a trove of images showing the interior of the off-campus Moscow home where undergraduate students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, according to family members.
In a statement, the family of Goncalves condemned the release of the images, while asking the public to exercise discretion when deciding whether to view the previously unseen evidence.
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"Please be kind & as difficult as it is, place yourself outside of yourself & consume the content as if it were your loved one," the Goncalves family said in a statement. "Your daughter, your sister, your son or brother. Murder isn’t entertainment & crime scene photos aren’t content."
The families of the four victims previously asked the court to prevent further release of the images, according to court filings.
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A motion for a temporary restraining order was filed Aug. 12, which was subsequently granted by Judge Megan Marshall three days later. Court records indicate a permanent injunction barring further release of certain materials was issued Oct. 1.
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Attorneys for the city of Moscow previously told the court that while officials may personally oppose releasing the images, they are bound by Idaho’s public records law, which typically only allows narrow privacy exemptions.
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Public records involving redacted body-camera video and photos showing portions of the interior crime scene of the home have already been released, following Bryan Kohberger’s guilty plea in the quadruple murders.
In July 2025, Kohberger admitted to four counts of first-degree murder as part of a plea agreement that spared him the death penalty.
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Kohberger was subsequently sentenced to four consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He remains in custody at the Idaho Maximum Security Prison.
The Idaho State Police did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.