Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen “endured a high degree of pain and/or suffering prior to their deaths as a result of the injuries inflicted, a forensic pathologist planned to tell jurors during testimony at Bryan Kohberger’s murder trial.
Dr. Veena Singh was set to testify as an expert for the prosecution at trial because she conducted the autopsies of all four victims in her role as the medical examiner for Spokane County, Wash., according to a newly unsealed discovery disclosure obtained by PEOPLE.
In all four cases, Singh determined the manner of death to be homicide.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(722x278:724x280):format(webp)/bryan-kohberger-family-sentencing-072425-d6fcd1c12f21438bb6ab417c8d293def.jpg)
Bryan Kohberger.
Kyle Green-Pool/Getty
Singh also planned to testify that Ethan Chapin “experienced a high degree of pain and/or suffering prior to his death as a result of the injuries inflicted but to a lesser degree than the other decedents.”
Autopsy reports stated that three of the victims — Goncalves, Mogen and Chapin — were killed as they lay in bed, suffering fatal injuries before they were even able to get to their feet, PEOPLE previously reported.
Kernodle was not asleep at the time of the attack and fought a brutal battle against her killer as he stabbed her 67 times.
She suffered so many injuries that her autopsy report is four pages longer than any of the other victims’ reports
In the end, Singh did not have to provide testimony because Kohberger struck a deal with prosecutors, pleading guilty to four counts of murder in order to avoid being sentenced to death.
At that plea hearing, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson stated for the first time that Kohberger had not intended to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 all of his victims on Nov. 13, 2022, but did enter their residence in the small town of Moscow “with the intent to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁.”
Thompson then became emotional and had to fight back tears as he continued, saying: “We will not represent that he intended to commit all of the murders that he did that night, but we know that that is what resulted.”
The prosecutor then finished his remarks by saying that even if Kohberger’s actions were not planned, he did 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 his four victims “intentionally, willfully, deliberately, with premeditation and with malice aforethought.”
Kohberger is now serving four life sentences in an Idaho prison without the possibility of parole.
