Idaho police cite ‘complex case’ in U of I killings, acknowledge public frustration

It’s been five days since four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in an off-campus home, but authorities released a few additional details that answered some lingering questions Friday evening.

In a Facebook post, the Moscow Police Department said detectives do not believe that two roommates who survived were involved in the crime.

Police also said they do not suspect a man seen outside a food truck with two of the victims in a Twitch feed, a video that had been circulating online and in news reports, and refuted unsubstantiated online posts that the victims were “tied and gagged.”

The victims were Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. They were found dead in a home just behind new Greek row in the 1100 block of King Road. The three female victims lived there with at least two other women.

Chapin was dating Kernodle and was staying at the house that night.

As information slowly trickles in from the multiple local, state and federal agencies handling the case, so do rumors, misinformation and speculation. Idaho State Police spokesperson Aaron Snell told the Idaho Statesman by phone Friday afternoon that authorities do not plan to address specific rumors consistently, but if something specifically contradicts information they have released, they will speak up.

“We understand that there is frustration out there,” Snell said. “However, this is a complex case, and it is going to take time.”

“We won’t address individual rumors, speculations, those types of things,” Snell added. “But we will attempt to the best of our ability to provide accurate information and in a timely fashion — with a caveat, though, that sometimes there’s not going to be information that we can provide.”

Authorities still have no suspect or motive behind the homicides. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt has said the four victims were killed with “a large knife,” and the one-page autopsy report ruled the cause of death as “homicide — murder.”

Police seized the contents of three dumpsters along King Road for evidence, according to the Friday news release. The victims were likely asleep when first attacked, the coroner said in the release, and some of them had defensive wounds. Each student was stabbed multiple times, with no indication of sexual assault, according to the release.

Early Friday afternoon, the Moscow Police Department released a map and timeline of the whereabouts of Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle and Chapin on Saturday evening and early Sunday before the attack.

Throughout the night the students had interactions with several people in the tight-knit college town. Kernodle and Chapin were at a fraternity party at Sigma Chi, while Mogen and Goncalves spent the evening at the Corner Club, a local college bar, and then grabbed food at Grub Truck.

The childhood best friends, Mogen and Goncalves, used a “private party for a ride home from Grub Truck,” according to an updated release.

Snell confirmed that police have attempted to identify and contact any individuals who may have information about the case. In Friday’s news release, police said they conducted 38 interviews and received nearly 500 tips, which are still being “processed, investigated and cleared.”

Police still have not released details on the 911 call made Sunday at around noon, and Snell declined to identify the person who called.

Snell also said that once someone has been cleared by police and is not a suspect, the public likely will be informed.

“I think that’s only fair for those individuals and for the community, so that way they have an idea,” Snell told the Statesman.

The Moscow Police Department is leading the investigation but is being assisted by the Latah County Sheriff’s Office, Idaho State Police and the FBI. Over 120 law enforcement personnel are working on the case.

Snell also said there was a dog in the home, and the dog is “healthy and fine.” It’s unclear to whom the dog belonged.