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The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare is on Netflix.
On November 13, 2022, the Moscow Police Department (MPD) in Idaho received a 911 call reporting that two students were lying “unconscious” inside their off-campus home. The dispatcher handles the call with what sounds like a routine, matter-of-fact tone, as if this were simply another case of college students passing out after a night of drinking. Instead, responding officers uncover a gruesome crime scene: four students had been brutally stabbed to death.
‘The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare’, is a three-part documentary directed by Skye Borgman (‘Evil Influencer‘, ‘Abducted in Plain Sight‘, and ‘My Father, the BTK Killer’) revisits the shocking student killings which shook the small college town. The students were identified as Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle.
Extensive bodycam footage from the responding officers is among the documentary’s most effective storytelling tools. While the footage never shows the victims or the crime scene itself, it captures the officers’ audible disbelief as they process the homicides, alongside anxious students gathering outside the house. Together, the raw visuals transport viewers back to that frightening morning with immediacy.
With four young victims, police initially struggled to establish a motive, and there were no credible suspects in sight. Their investigation was further complicated by rampant rumors, wild theories, and a constant stream of misinformation spreading across social media. The Idaho Murders recounts the case chronologically through interviews with victims’ family members, friends who were living in Moscow at the time of the killings, investigating officers, and forensic experts, illustrating how local police, with assistance from the FBI, eventually identified a suspect.
The first episode opens with the original 911 call, immediately highlighting one of the case’s most puzzling details: the Idaho murders occurred around 4 a.m., yet the two surviving roommates didn’t contact authorities until roughly eight hours later. This, despite them confirming they were awake when a suspicious intruder entered their residence late in the night. The documentary never interviews either roommate, instead relying on investigators to say they were dazed, confused, or simply didn’t know how to react.
Further reading on the case suggests the roommates initially believed their housemates were merely intoxicated, only realizing something was seriously wrong later that morning. Had one of the survivors appeared on camera to explain those events in their own words, it would’ve gone a long way toward answering one of the case’s biggest questions. Instead, the series acknowledges the suspicious eight-hour gap without ever offering a clear, first-hand explanation.
What makes the Idaho Murders haunting is how ordinary and joyful the victims’ final hours appeared, with ample photos and videos chronicling their last day. They spent the night celebrating with friends, attending parties, and sharing late-night meals, leaving little to suggest why anyone would violently kill them just a few hours later. If the first two episodes of the documentary were a fictional film, I would’ve expected it to end as an unsolved mystery, leaving viewers to draw their own conclusions.
There are already countless documentaries, podcasts, and articles covering the Idaho murders, so if you’re a dedicated true-crime fan who’s followed the case closely, this three-part series may not reveal much you don’t already know. For everyone else, however, it’s a well-constructed account of the investigation, its impact on the local community, and the painstaking work that ultimately led the police to nab a suspect.
As for the motive, don’t expect any definitive answers. The documentary lays out the available evidence and lets viewers decide what to make of the interviews and the perpetrator’s behavioral patterns.
You can stream The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare on Netflix.
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