Posted on 11/18/2022 6:00:16 AM PST by Red Badger
Autopsies performed on four University of Idaho students who were found dead inside a rental house near campus showed that all four were stabbed to death, the Latah County coroner said Thursday.
The killings have shaken Moscow, an Idaho Panhandle college town of 25,000 residents that last saw a homicide about five years ago, according to Coroner Cathy Mabbutt.
“It’s pretty tough,” Mabbutt said.
The autopsies were performed in nearby Spokane County in Washington state, and the bodies were subsequently released to the victims’ families.
Here is a look at what is known about the killings, and what remains a mystery:
IS THERE A SUSPECT?
Officers have not identified a suspect or found a blade that was used to stab the students, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Wednesday. But the Idaho Statesman reported this week that police are searching for a military-style knife in connection with the killings. Scott Jutte, general manager of Moscow Building Supply, told the newspaper that officers have visited the store more than once to ask whether it sold anyone Ka-Bar-brand knives. Ka-Bar, of Olean, New York, manufactures military-grade blades that were originally designed for use by American troops in World War II, the Statesman said.
WHO ARE THE VICTIMS?
All four were University of Idaho students and members of fraternities and sororities: seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The women were roommates. The bodies were found around noon Sunday.
DID THE KILLER OR KILLERS KNOW THE VICTIMS?
It’s unclear. Police have said evidence found at the scene leads them to believe that the students were targeted, though they haven’t given details. While a targeted attack is often an indication that the killer and victim knew each other on some level, police have also said they have no idea who committed these crimes, so it could have been a stranger. Investigators do say nothing appears to have been stolen from the victims or the home.
DID THE STUDENTS RAISE SECURITY CONCERNS BEFOREHAND?
Police have not said whether any of them reported unusual activity or otherwise expressed safety concerns before the attack. The University of Idaho did not respond to questions about whether the school had been alerted to any concerns or complaints from the students.
IS THERE ANY THREAT TO THE COMMUNITY?
After initially saying there was no ongoing danger, police walked that back on Wednesday. “We cannot say that there is no threat to the community,” Fry said. “We still believe it’s a targeted attack. But the reality is there still is a person out there who committed four very horrible, horrible crimes.”
WHO ELSE WAS IN THE HOME?
Two other people were found in the sprawling house, unharmed. Fry declined to say whether they were able to provide an account of the killings, or to specify who called 911. When a reporter referred to the surviving roommates as witnesses, Fry clarified: “I don’t think I ever said they were witnesses. I said they were there.” There was no sign of forced entry at the home, according to the chief, and a door was found open by the first police officers to arrive.
WHEN WERE THE STUDENTS LAST SEEN ALIVE?
Chapin and Kernodle were at a party on campus Saturday night, and Mogen and Goncalves were at a downtown bar and arrived home sometime after 1:45 a.m. Sunday, Fry said. Mogen and Goncalves were seen in a Twitch livestream getting food from a local truck.
WHAT’S HAPPENING ON CAMPUS?
University of Idaho president Scott Green said the school will remain open the rest of the week because some students have found comfort there among faculty and classmates. But the school is also giving excused absences to anyone who feels more comfortable leaving early ahead of next week’s Thanksgiving holiday.
I haven’t followed very closely, but it sounds like Barney Fife is in charge…
I don’t think it’s random.
They knew or encountered the killer on some level, even if it was just before the crime. Could have been they were trying to score some drugs but had no idea how and reached out to the wrong person.
Could be one of the girls rebuffed some psycho, and he got pissed this dude was hanging with 3 girls including the target.
Personally, I think it was even less incidental then that. It wasn’t some serial killer passing through town. At least one of them knew the killer before the crime happened.
Seems so.
They have called in the FBI, so Gomer Pyle is helping..................
I would have had my child come home in a New York minute!
My 2 cents………does this not have the markings of a member of a cartel killing…..very violent and painful…….
Illegals have infiltrated in most all, if not all states.
Idaho is not immune
Of course, Florida had Danny Rollin in ‘90 and Ted Buddy
I wonder how gun and ammo sales are doing in Moscow.
This is beginning to look just like the Ted Bundy & Danny Rolling murders in Florida at FSU and UF.............
Now the elite team from Criminal Minds are on the case. Maybe they should have brought the clowns from the foiled Mara largo invasion.
Doesn’t have to be Barney Fife.
The police probably know more than they are saying. If one of the victims knew the killer, and they have evidence of that, or even suspicions, they are looking into them.
You don’t want to spook the killer. If you get a good lead, you need to try to gather some evidence first, then bring them in for an interrogation.
That had occurred to me as well...........................
Don’t they have white men to harass?…
The Idaho FBI office is probably pretty boring...................
Just heard Mark Fuhrman on FOX NEWS say 1 of the girls reported being stalked 2 months ago
I find it hard to understand how four people could be stabbed to death without at least one escaping the house while the others were being attacked.
I always assumed everyone in Idaho has a gun and stockpiles.
This is based on nothing by me.
Though I knew a fellow Airman that lived in Sandpoint, and he said many on the outskirts didn’t care for government.
No clue if true. This was in 2001.
> The Idaho FBI office is probably pretty boring................... <
I don’t know about that. A guy I know works for some hush-hush federal agency. Years ago he told me that Idaho was number one on the list for home-grown militia units. Pennsylvania was number two, by the way.
If the women were raped, authorities know the number of suspects
There is so little information, I’m inclined to ask “Where was Hunter?”
> I find it hard to understand how four people could be stabbed to death without at least one escaping the house while the others were being attacked. <
In 1966 Richard Speck murdered eight student nurses, one at a time. None of them put up any resistance or tried to escape. I suppose they were all paralyzed with fear.
It was a most terrible and sad thing. No one in the world deserved the death penalty more than Speck did. And he got the death penalty. But the Supreme Court reversed it. Speck died in prison. So there’s that.
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