4 weeks after University of Idaho stabbings, here’s what we know about investigation

Moscow police asked the public for help last week regarding the killing of four University of Idaho students when it sought information about a white Hyundai Elantra. It was a rare glimpse into the investigation.

Many details of the case still remain a mystery as police aim to keep information confidential to maintain the integrity of the investigation. They have yet to name a suspect or find the weapon used in the attacks that took the lives of U of I seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.

Here’s what we know about the investigation and what happened the weekend of Nov. 12-13.

What are the latest developments?

Moscow police asked for the public’s help on Dec. 7 in locating a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra, but they do not know the license plate. Police said that the vehicle was in the vicinity of the King Road residence in which the students were killed and wish to speak to the driver of the vehicle, as well as any passengers.

A white Hyundai Elantra was spotted on body cam footage of a police officer responding to a separate alcohol-related incident on the night of the attacks, but Moscow Police Chief James Fry said Thursday that it’s not the vehicle they are looking for.

Neighbors of the residence on King Road told Idaho Statesman reporters that the Saturday night/early Sunday morning leading up to the four students’ deaths was unusually quiet. One neighbor told the Statesman that oftentimes she’d have to sleep wearing earplugs because of nearby parties, but on the night of the killings it was calm.

She said she woke up at around 2 a.m. because of her dog and stayed awake until around 5 a.m., but did not hear anything unusual.

The university held its winter commencement Saturday, for which the Moscow Police Department said it had plans with Idaho State Police to provide additional security throughout the city and on the college campus.

What happened on that weekend?

Shortly before noon Pacific time on Sunday, Nov. 13, Moscow police officers responded to a 911 call about an unconscious person in a house near the U of I campus. They walked in to find the four victims’ bodies. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt reported that the students had been stabbed to death with a large, fixed-blade knife in the early morning hours.

The coroner’s report did not include times of death, and police told the Statesman last week that they have yet to settle on and release a time frame for the attack.

Autopsies confirmed that all four students died from multiple stab wounds and were all likely asleep when the attacks started. Some victims showed defensive wounds, however, the coroner said. None of the victims showed signs of sexual assault, she added.

There also wa no sign of forced entry at the household, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a press conference on Nov. 16. Police are still trying to determine the actual entry point of the home, a spokesperson told the Statesman last week.

Steve Goncalves revealed at a memorial vigil on Nov. 30 that his daughter and Mogen died together. The two victims had been close friends since sixth grade.

“They went to high school together,” he said in a speech at the University of Idaho’s Kibbie Dome. “Then they started looking at colleges. They came here together. They eventually get into the same apartment together. And in the end, they died together, in the same room, in the same bed.”

The three female victims — Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves — lived at the King Road home with at least two other roommates, both of whom survived. Letters from those two roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, were read at a memorial in Post Falls on Dec. 2.

Chapin was staying the night with Kernodle, whom he was dating, according to family.

Where did the 911 call come from?

Police revealed that the 911 call was made from inside the house on one of the surviving roommates’ cellphones. They summoned friends to the house because they believed one of the victims on the second floor had passed out and was not waking up. Multiple people there talked with the 911 dispatcher before officers arrived, the Moscow Police Department said.

The two surviving roommates had been out around town that night, but not together. Police have said both were home by about 1 a.m. and “did not wake up until later that morning.”

Police said they are aware of a sixth person listed on the lease in the six-bedroom home, but that person was not present on the night of the stabbings and police “do not believe this person has any involvement.” That person moved out of the home prior to the start of the school year, police said.

Mortensen and Funke had bedrooms on the first floor, police said. The victims were found on the second and third floors — two on each. Police have not specified which victims were where.

What do we know about the shelter-in-place order the day of the killings?

U of I told people to “stay away from the area and shelter in place” at 2:07 p.m. Pacific time on Nov. 13 as the police department investigated a homicide. Nearly 90 minutes later, the university tweeted that the shelter-in-place order was lifted, but called for Moscow residents to “remain vigilant.”

According to the U of I website, a shelter-in-place order can be issued by the University Office of Public Safety and Security in response to a hazardous spill, hostile intruder or weather emergency. An order is sent out using the Vandal Alert system. It requires students, faculty and visitors to take refuge in an interior room with no or few windows.

You can sign up for the Vandal Alert System online to receive future alerts.

Do police know why this happened?

Police have given little information about a possible motive for the killings, but have repeatedly said they believe it to be a “targeted attack.” They have declined to provide further information about that.

“To be honest, you’re going to have to trust us on that at this point because we’re not going to release why we think that,” Moscow Police Capt. Roger Lanier said two weeks ago.

At another press conference, Fry declined to say whether they think the attack was carried out by a single person or multiple people, and could not say whether one of the victims was explicitly targeted.

Police asked for the public’s help on Dec. 7 in locating a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra, although they do not know the vehicle’s license plate. Police said that the vehicle was in the vicinity of the King Road residence in which the students were killed and wish to speak to the driver of the vehicle, as well as any passengers.

What were the victims doing before the attack?

Kernodle and Chapin were at a party at the Sigma Chi fraternity house — less than a 600-foot walk from the house on King Road — and returned home at about 1:45 a.m. Sunday, police said.

Goncalves and Mogen spent the evening at the Corner Club bar before stopping at a food truck parked downtown on the way home. They used a “private party” for a ride home from the food truck, police said. Both women were home at around 1:56 a.m., police said.

Multiple calls were made from Goncalves’ and Mogen’s cellphones between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. to a male who did not answer. A sister of Goncalves, Alivea, said the calls were made to a her sister’s ex-boyfriend. Alivea said her sister was known for frequently making late-night phone calls, according to The New York Times.

A nearby neighbor told the Statesman that it was unusually quiet on the night of the killings. The neighbor, referred to as Anna C., said she would oftentimes wear earplugs to bed because of nearby parties from the local college students.

But on the night of the killings she woke up at 2 a.m. because her dog began heaving. Anna told the Statesman that she couldn’t fall back asleep until about 5 a.m., but noticed the unusual peacefulness and that she did not hear anything overnight that seemed concerning.

Have police cleared anyone?

Detectives have said they do not believe that the two surviving roommates, the sixth roommate on the lease, or any individuals summoned to the household on the morning of the deaths were involved.

Police don’t think 911 caller, roommates were killers in U of Idaho student stabbings

The police also cleared a male singled out in surveillance footage of the Grub Truck food truck, the driver who took Goncalves and Mogen home early that morning, and the male who Goncalves and Mogen called several times in the early morning hours Sunday.

The Latah County Sheriff’s Office and Moscow police have addressed numerous rumors and questions surrounding the homicides. This includes a reported incident involving a dog attacked with a knife elsewhere in Moscow that the sheriff’s office said was unrelated.

Moscow police also said that the Moscow stabbings are not tied to a 1999 double stabbing in Pullman, Washington, or a 2021 double stabbing in Salem, Oregon.

On Nov. 23, Lanier first acknowledged that police had been unable to validate reports that Goncalves had a stalker. Police later elaborated on what could have led to the reports.

“In mid-October, two males were seen inside a local business; they parted ways, and one male appeared to follow Kaylee inside the business and as she exited to walk toward her car,” they said in a press release. “The male turned away, and it did not appear he made any contact with her.”

Police also said a February 2022 death in Moscow was not related to the quadruple homicide investigation. Police said the Latah County Coroner’s Office ruled that death an overdose. The coroner’s office and the Moscow Police Department each denied public records requests from the Statesman for more information in that case, citing an unwarranted invasion of privacy.

Reports that a red Mustang on South Deakin Street was being processed as part of the investigation were not true; the vehicle “is not connected to this incident,” police have said.

Moscow police also said in a press release that an incident at Taylor Avenue and Band Field in the early hours of Nov. 13 was unrelated. The incident was an alcohol-related offense and was addressed by an on-scene officer, according to law enforcement.

What is the school doing?

U of I President Scott Green told students in a memo ahead of Thanksgiving break that the school would “remain flexible” through the end of the semester. University faculty were asked to prepare both in-person and remote learning options so students who did not wish to return to Moscow until the spring semester could finish their fall courses online.

Drop-in counseling for students through the Counseling and Testing Center will remain throughout the semester. Students can also make an appointment at (208) 885-6716. The phone line provides 24-hour-a-day access to counselors.

The university’s Safe Walk program will be available throughout the semester. The service allows students, faculty and guests to call (208) 885-7233 and have a campus security officer meet them anywhere on campus and walk them to their destination.

U of I held a candlelight vigil on Nov. 30 inside the university’s Kibbie Dome. More than 1,000 people attended. The families of Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves attended the vigil.

During U of I’s winter commencement on Dec. 10, Moscow police worked with Idaho State Police to ensure additional security throughout the city and at the college campus. Police reminded the public to “stay vigilant, travel in groups, and communicate with family and friends as you travel” in a news release as an influx of guests arrived in Moscow for the event.

Reporter Kevin Fixler contributed.