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.
cops love to congratulate each other....when they dont do that, it means they are clueless as to what happened and hate admitting it....
No this is the main University of Idaho campus.
The Washington State is eight miles away across the border into WA.
I have friends/ lumber business associates that live and work in the Idaho town. One lives walking distance from this house. It is in a region they call the Palouse in north central Idaho/WA. It is a huge area for the production of winter wheat. It is an upper plateau area north of Lewiston, ID and south of the Spokane/Coeur d’Alene, ID area.
Just saying……
What demographic would that be?
I meant Washington State University is eight miles west into WA.
The Idaho FBI office is probably pretty boring............
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I wouldn’t be so sure about that. They’re busy investigation every white guy who owns camouflage as an anti-gov insurrectionist.
The news this morning said the two unharmed girls were in a different part of the house with the door to their room locked because the noise upstairs suggested partying and they didn’t want to participate.
I saw a tru-detective show once that showed the police/FBI have ‘knife experts’ that can look at a wound(s) and tell from the manner of cuts, length, serrations etc what type of knife or “edged weapon” in this case, was used.
My first thought was a military surplus bayonet................
Xana Kernodle?
Didn’t Idaho recently make the news for “transphobic “ activity ?
This part is very strange:
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.”
Yes........................
Dad of one if the victims said his daughter had defensive wounds. She fought back.
Not sure what they mean by “sprawling” either, perhaps it had additions added over the years? At least one news account said the students were renting the house. It’s common for students to rent a large house and share rent. As an undergrad, I rented an apartment in a huge Victorian house on the edge of the campus that had been cut up into apartments. Other nearby houses were not cut up, just shared by a group of students. In grad school, I shared a charming Arts and Crafts house near campus with three other women.
Nothing has been said about what the two unharmed students were doing. There have been indications those two students had rooms in the basement. If true, they may have slept through the attack? And slept late after a night of partying? Who knows? So little information has been made available.
It appears at least one victim fought back:
Based on what little we know, it all sounds quite strange. But that could well be because we know so little.
I’ve got several K-Bar knives. They’re all over 50 years old.
The cops were going around asking about recent purchases of such knives at hardware stores. Journalists interviewed the hardware store folks. The cops probably guessed the type of knife from the nature of the wounds.
I read a report last night that said the neighbors said the house was a “party house” with people coming and going all the time - the doors were never locked.
This story gets curiouser and curiouser.
If my daughter were there, I’d pull her home immediately until this is solved. School should be shut down if a killer is still walking around.
My understanding is its a college rental property and a well known party house.
Front door has a number coded lock and there’s a sliding patio door in the back.
It is interesting. It’s likely they were all drunk and on drugs, maybe even passed out when killed. That would explain why the other 2 kids in the house didnt hear anything.
Thank you for the details.
Your fellow airman was telling the truth. And not just on the outskirts, either.
Idaho is a heavily armed state, but probably not so much among young college students.
Randy Weaver’s house at Ruby Ridge was not far from Sandpoint.
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