Officials Say U of Idaho Stabbing Victims Were Likely Asleep When Killed

Police offered new information on the evening of Nov. 18 about the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students in Moscow, Idaho.

Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found stabbed to death inside a home near the school's campus on Sunday, Nov. 13. The three women were roommates and Chapin was "only visiting," police clarified in the latest statement.

In the Nov. 18 statement, Moscow PD added that the Latah County Coroner "stated that the four victims were likely asleep, some had defensive wounds, and each was stabbed multiple times."

Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt previously told NBC News that the victims had been stabbed several times and said it was likely the four had bled out in the home.

The latest statement from police also offered a more concrete timeline for the last hours of the four victims. Police said that Goncalves and Mogen went out that evening at about 10 p.m. to a local bar called The Corner Club at 202 N. Main Street, in downtown Moscow, and left about 1:30 a.m. They were seen on video at a local food truck and then took an Uber from downtown to their residence at 1:45 a.m.

In the release, police added that Chapin and Kernodle, who were dating, went to a party at the Sigma Chi house on the University of Idaho Campus. They are believed to have also gotten back to their house at 1:45 a.m.

Mabbutt, the coroner, told NBC News on Nov. 17, she believed the four were killed "early in the morning, sometime after 2 a.m., but still during the night."

In the update on Nov. 18, police said the 911 call to report the bodies didn't come in until 11:58 a.m. Police reiterated that two other roommates had been home at the time of the four slayings but add that "detectives do not believe the two surviving roommates or the male in the Grub Truck surveillance video are involved in this crime."

Police reiterated on Nov. 18 that they did not have any suspects and were still looking for whoever was responsible for the deaths of the four friends.

They added that investigators had gotten "more than 500" tips in the case already and they had searched three local dumpsters for clues.

On Nov. 17, Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson told TODAY that it “certainly is possible” there could be more than one suspect in the case.

“The fact of the matter is whoever’s responsible for these murders is still at large,” he said. “The investigators do not know who that person is.”

This article was originally published on TODAY.com