Overview
- A defense expert, Dr. Brent Tarvey, wrote that Kaylee Goncalves sustained injuries from two different weapons and two forms of force, noting blunt-force head trauma and at least 24 stab wounds to the head, face, and neck, with the medical examiner unable to fix an exact count.
- Prosecutors replied that one person can use multiple weapons and types of force and did not challenge the two-weapon description in the filing.
- Tarvey’s broader analysis, drawn from autopsy findings, argued at least two attackers, pointing to conclusions that Ethan Chapin never left the bed and that he and Xana Kernodle appeared to have been attacked at roughly the same time.
- He also cited signs consistent with cleanup—diluted blood traces and no bloody footwear patterns—and the lack of victim blood or DNA in Bryan Kohberger’s vehicle; the State countered that quick washing, removal of coverings, and forensic detection limits could account for those observations.
- These details surfaced in portions of filings unsealed this week, while other defense materials remain sealed, and the criminal case is closed after Kohberger’s July 2025 guilty pleas and life sentences.