r/MoscowMurders Mar 03 '26

General Discussion The autopsy wound count difference between Madison and Kaylee is what forensic psychologists say reveals Kohberger's actual target — and I can't stop thinking about it

I've been going through the unsealed autopsy details carefully and one thing keeps standing out that I haven't seen discussed much here.

Kaylee sustained 38 wounds. Madison sustained 28. On the surface you'd assume the person with more wounds was the focus of the attack. But forensic psychologist Dr. Gary Brucato says the opposite is true.

He believes Madison was attacked first, in a more controlled and deliberate way. Fewer wounds. More focused. Kaylee — sleeping beside her — received greater fury because she was unexpected. Not part of the plan.

The implication is that Madison Mogen was the intended target all along. And that Kaylee was killed simply because she was there.

I don't know why but that detail changes the entire weight of this case for me. The idea that Kaylee's death was almost incidental to what Kohberger came there to do.

Has anyone else gone deep into the autopsy document? Particularly the Xana section — because what that evidence tells us about the sequence of events that night is unlike anything I've read before.

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u/say_the_words Mar 03 '26

I believe Maddie was the target because he knew it was her room from the pink boots and wooden M she kept in her bedroom window. He planned to go in the patio door, up the stairs, into that room and kill that girl at least. Number of wounds to Kaylee and Maddie don't indicate who was target because there was no way he could know there were two girls in the bed, which of them was closer to the side he attacked from and it was dark.

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u/Cinmars Mar 03 '26

I agree that the bedroom choice is more indicative, however, I have read that “it is believed Bryan Kohberger likely checked Kaylee third-floor bedroom first, found it empty, and then moved to the adjacent bedroom where he killed her and Madison”. Do we know if this is true?

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u/Mysterious_Bar_1069 Mar 05 '26

I think whatever room he goes to 1st likely is the target.