DailyExpertNews
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It’s been more than two weeks since the stabbing of four students in an off-campus home, and with no suspect or arrest, “people are more or less sketched out” as they return to campus from Thanksgiving break, a student said Monday.
“It definitely feels a little different,” says college student Hayden Rich. “It’s a bit of a different vibe. Seems like a bit of a sad environment. It’s a bit quiet.”
With a killer on the loose, it’s unclear how many students will actually return to Moscow, Idaho, for the last two weeks of classes before winter break.
Student Ava Forsyth said her roommate stays home because she doesn’t feel safe. Forsyth said she feels “quite” safe, but “not so much” at night, when she uses a free on-campus walking security service.
University of Idaho president Scott Green acknowledged last week that some students would not return until a suspect is taken into custody.
“As such, faculty have been asked to prepare in-person teaching and remote learning options so that each student can choose their mode of engagement for the final two weeks of the semester,” he wrote in a statement.
Rich said he decided to come back for the many tests he has this week. Student Lexi Way told DailyExpertNews she feels safe with heightened campus security and “tends to learn better in the classroom.”
The university has scheduled a vigil for Wednesday to remember the victims.
Dozens of local, state and federal investigators are still trying to determine who carried out the brutal attack. Investigators have yet to identify a suspect or find a weapon — believed to be a fixed-blade knife — and have sifted through more than 1,000 tips and conducted at least 150 interviews.
The Four Students – Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 – were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home in Moscow on Nov. 13. The murders have alarmed the campus community and the city of about 25,000, which has not seen a murder since 2015.
Police said they believe the killings were “targeted” and “isolated” but have released no evidence to support that analysis. They also initially said there was no threat to the public, but later backtracked on that assurance.
“We can’t say there isn’t a threat to the community,” police chief James Fry said days after the killings.
The authorities do not rule out that more than one person is involved in the stabbing.
Meanwhile, a former college student told DailyExpertNews’s Paula Reid on Sunday that she’s raised more than $19,000 to buy and distribute personal alarms to students as a way to increase campus security.
“It was utterly overwhelming in the best way possible,” said former student, Kelly Uhlorn. “Something that started out so very, very small has just exploded and it’s great to see the community coming together like this.”
So far, using the evidence gathered at the scene and the wealth of tips and interviews, investigators have been able to piece together a rough timeline and map of the group’s final hours.
On the night of the murders, Goncalves and Mogen were at a sports bar and Chapin and Kernodle were seen at a fraternity party.
Investigators believe all four victims had returned to the home by 2 a.m. on the night of the stabbing. Two surviving roommates had also gone out that night in Moscow, police said, returning to the home at 1 a.m.
Police previously said Goncalves and Mogen had returned home at 1:45 a.m., but they updated the timeline Friday, saying digital evidence showed the pair returned at 1:56 a.m. after visiting a food truck and being driven home by a ” private party”. ”
The next morning, two surviving roommates “called friends to the residence because they believed one of the victims had passed out on the second floor and was not waking up,” police said in a press release. Someone called 911 from the house at 11:58 from the phones of one of the surviving roommates.
“The call reported an unconscious person,” Moscow Police Chief Roger Lanier said Wednesday. “During that conversation, the coordinator spoke to several people who were on site.”
When the police arrived, they found two victims on the second floor and two victims on the third floor. There was no breakage or damage, police said.
Investigators do not believe the two surviving housemates were involved in the death.
A coroner determined that the four victims had each been stabbed multiple times and were likely asleep when the attacks began. According to the Latah County coroner, some of the students had gunshot wounds.
At least 113 physical pieces of evidence were collected, about 4,000 crime scene photos were taken, and several 3D scans of the home were made, according to police. Detectives also collected the contents of three dumpsters on the street in case they had any evidence.
In an effort to locate the weapon, investigators contacted local businesses to determine if a fixed-blade knife had been purchased.
More than 260 digital submissions, which may include photos and videos, have been submitted by the public to an FBI tip form, Moscow police said in a release Friday. The department is asking for tips or video footage of the places the victims went that night, even if there is no detectable movement or content in them.
Detectives are also seeking additional tips and surveillance video of unusual behavior on the night of Nov. 12 into the early hours of Nov. 13, while Kaylee and Madison were in downtown Moscow and while Ethan and Xana were at the Sigma Chi home. the release said. said.
In addition, Idaho Governor Brad Little has pledged up to $1 million in state emergency funds to support the ongoing investigation, state police said.
As weeks pass without a named suspect or significant advances in the case, a flurry of rumors has sprung up about the murders. Moscow police addressed the matter in a press release on Friday, attempting to quash some of the rumours.
“There is speculation, unsubstantiated, that fuels the fears of the community and spreads false facts. We recommend referring to official releases for accurate information and updated progress,” the release read.
Several people have been provisionally ruled out as suspects, police said, including:
- The two surviving roommates.
- Other people in the house when 911 was called.
- The person who drove Goncalves and Mogen home.
- A man seen in surveillance video of a food truck frequented by Goncalves and Mogen.
- A man Goncalves and Mogen called “numerous times” in the hours before their deaths.
Police also said reports that the victims were bound or gagged are false and stressed that the identity of the 911 caller has not been released.
