What Happened to Murphy the Dog in Netflix’s ‘The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare’

Netflix’s true crime series ‘The Idaho Murders College Nightmare’ has reopened public interest in the 2022 killings of four University of Idaho students, and one detail keeps pulling viewers back to their search bars. The three-part series sheds light on the lives of victims Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, while detailing the investigation that led to Bryan Kohberger, who was convicted and sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without parole.

Amid the investigative detail and courtroom fallout, audiences have zeroed in on a smaller, quieter thread. Many viewers have been left asking what happened to Murphy, Kaylee Goncalves’ goldendoodle featured in the series, and where the dog is today.

The Idaho Murders College Nightmare and Murphy’s Brief Screen Time

Netflix’s true crime documentary, released on July 29, revisits the case that gripped the nation in 2022 and addresses many lingering questions viewers might have about the murders of Goncalves, Kernodle, Mogen, and Chapin, as well as what happened to Kohberger, who was convicted and sentenced to four consecutive life sentences. Murphy appears only briefly in the footage, but that glimpse was enough to send viewers looking for answers the series itself never provides.

One of the more striking moments in the documentary comes from actual bodycam footage rather than narration or reenactment, showing an officer leading Murphy outside the home while mentioning that another officer would arrive to take the dog to the pound. That single scene is what sent viewers searching for answers, since the documentary itself never follows up on where Murphy went afterward.

The docuseries noted that Murphy was living with the students at their home and was found unharmed after all four victims were discovered dead. For a documentary built around such loss, Murphy being led calmly out of the house offered viewers a small, strange moment of relief amid the horror.

Where Murphy the Goldendoodle Was During the Attack

Murphy is a goldendoodle, a cross between a golden retriever and a poodle, adopted in early 2022 by Kaylee Goncalves and her long-term boyfriend at the time, Jack DuCoeur. Although the couple later broke up after five years together, they remained close friends and shared custody of the dog.

In the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, University of Idaho students Goncalves, Kernodle, Mogen, and Chapin were stabbed to death by Kohberger in a shared home in the small town of Moscow. Terrified by distressing noises in the house and unable to reach their friends by phone, roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke hid together in a first floor room and survived the attack.

It remains unclear exactly where in the house Murphy was when the murders took place, but police did confirm he was not in the same room as the crime scenes. A police statement at the time noted that officers did not find any evidence on the dog and there was no indication the animal had entered the crime scene.

Speculation about the dog’s behavior has circulated for years, but investigators have never tied it to the case in any formal way. Some true crime observers speculated that the perpetrator may have tried to gain the dog’s trust or familiarize him with his scent beforehand, though law enforcement never established any public evidence connecting Murphy’s behavior to Kohberger.

Kaylee Goncalves’ Dog Since the Idaho Student Murders

It was later reported that the dog was handed over to animal services and then released to a responsible person, with Kaylee Goncalves’ ex arriving at the Humane Society, where Murphy had been taken, to bring him home. It is believed the dog has lived with DuCoeur ever since, and he has continued posting pictures of himself with the goldendoodle.

DuCoeur launched an Instagram account for the dog in January, which has since gained a large following, and the Goncalves family has used their own Facebook page to update fans on Murphy’s life, saying he is living his best life and gets to go on many adventures with his owner. The dog has effectively become a small, ongoing point of connection for people who followed the case as it unfolded.

An Instagram page dedicated to Murphy remains active today, continuing to share updates on the goldendoodle. For a case defined by grief and a lengthy prosecution, the continued presence of Murphy has given some corner of the fandom something gentler to hold onto.

Bryan Kohberger Investigation and the Documentary’s Reception

The docuseries arrives after Kohberger’s conviction and sentencing, giving viewers a structured account of how investigators built their case against him. The affidavit released during the investigation revealed that investigators believed Kohberger may have stalked the student home in the run up to the killings, with cellphone data placing him around the property multiple times beforehand.

Investigators also believed Kohberger turned his cellphone off around the time of the murders in an apparent attempt to avoid detection. That level of forensic detail sits alongside the more human, domestic details the series includes, like Murphy’s brief appearance, which is part of why the documentary has resonated with a wide audience beyond hardcore true crime followers.

The gap between what the series shows and what it explains has become part of the conversation around it. That footage is brief, almost incidental to the main investigative thread, yet it has become one of the most searched moments from the entire series.

Murphy’s story, in the end, is a small thread in a much larger and darker case, but it is one that has clearly stayed with people who watched ‘The Idaho Murders College Nightmare’ unfold. What did you make of the choice to show Murphy without following up on his fate, and does knowing where he ended up change how you look back on that bodycam scene.