NEED TO KNOW
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The food delivery Xana Kernodle ordered from DoorDash on the night she was murdered is among a new batch of crime scene photos released by Idaho State Police
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Investigators believe that Kernodle heard Kohberger upstairs while eating her food, and encountered him in the bedroom of roommate Madison Mogen
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Kernodle is thought to have then fled, at which point Kohberger followed her downstairs, forgetting to retrieve his knife sheath
New crime scene photos show the half-eaten final meal of Xana Kernodle.
The photos of the DoorDash delivery that the 20-year-old University of Idaho student collected just minutes before she was murdered by Bryan Kohberger are among the more than 350 images released by Idaho State Police and obtained by PEOPLE.
These new images suggest Kernodle was eating her food in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, when she realized someone was inside the house.
Idaho State Police
Xana Kernodle’s DoorDash delivery
Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson has said in interviews that investigators believe Kernodle likely took her DoorDash delivery to the kitchen after collecting it from the front door of the house.
Then, while eating her food from Jack-in-the-Box, she heard a commotion of some sort above her on the third floor.
When Kernodle went upstairs to see what was happening, investigators believe that she likely came upon Kohberger in her roommate’s bedroom.
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Investigators believe that Kernodle then turned and fled, forcing Kohberger to follow after her down the stairs and leave behind his knife sheath. They believe this is when Kohberger could be overheard by surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen saying, “It’s okay, I’m here to help you,” according to court documents.
Kohberger eventually caught up with Kernodle just as she reached the doorway of her bedroom. Blood spatter at the scene suggests it was there that he began attacking her.
The one mystery that remains, however, is when Kohberger gained entry to the home, and where Kernodle was at that time.
Records show that Kernodle’s delivery was placed outside the front door of the home at 3:59 a.m. by a DoorDash driver, while surveillance footage shows that Kohberger parked his car in a small lot overlooking the home at 4:06 a.m.
Investigators also know that Kernodle was on her phone looking at TikTok until 4:12 a.m.
It is around that time when Mortensen told authorities she heard a person say that someone was in the home, followed by footsteps running up or down the stairs between the third and second floors.
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, were murdered in Mogen’s bedroom on the third floor, while Kernodle was stabbed over 50 times after Kohberger caught up with her that night.
He also murdered her sleeping boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, whose injuries would have left him unable to render help to Kernodle.
Idaho State Police
Kernodle’s delivery from Jack-in-the Box
At 4:17 a.m., a surveillance camera located approximately 50 feet from the Moscow home picked up the sounds of whimpering followed by a loud thud.
And at 4:20 a.m., Kohberger can be seen racing out of the neighborhood in his car at a high rate of speed.
The new images do not show any of the victims or their bedrooms, rather they show the Jack-in-the-Box bag on a kitchen table cluttered with dirty dishes, an open jug of orange juice and stacks of red Solo cups.
On the front of the bag is a large sticker that reads: “Order prepared for: Xana.”
There were discarded Jack-in-the-Box food wrappers on the table as well as in the bag, and a half-eaten order of french fries on the opposite counter of the kitchen that Kernodle was likely eating when she went upstairs to check on her roommates.
Read the original article on People
