University of Idaho to demolish the house where students were killed. Here’s the plan

The house where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in November is set to be demolished, the university announced Friday morning.

The homeowner offered to give the property to U of I, which the university accepted. The Latah County Assessor’s Office most recently assessed the home at $343,848.

Although no timeline is set for the demolition, university spokesperson Jodi Walker told the Idaho Statesman that the school plans to have the house knocked down by the end of the spring semester.

“We’re just working through the processes that it takes to do such a thing,” Walker said. “But from the university standpoint, and in talking with the families, the sooner, the better.”

Walker said the university is working with students and other community members to devise a plan for the property’s future development to honor the four students who were killed: seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, each 21, junior Xana Kernodle, 20, and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20.

Suspect Bryan Kohberger, a former graduate student of Washington State University in neighboring Pullman, Washington, faces four first-degree murder charges and is awaiting trial.

U of I has yet to form a solid plan for what will be built in place of the house, Walker said, but university students will be involved in the brainstorming and construction process.

Inside the crime scene: Documents reveal info on house where U of I students were killed

U of I also announced that early planning is underway to create a memorial for the four students. The memorial will be the focal piece of a garden planned to be a place of remembrance. The university has yet to identify a location for the memorial but has confirmed that it would be on campus grounds in Moscow.

“We have brought together a group of people, a planning committee, that involves students, and we will have a class next semester where certain art and architecture students design what the garden may look like, and they design what the memorial may look like,” Walker said.

Scholarships in honor of the four victims are also being established for future U of I students. Scholarships have already been set up for Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin, and the university is working with the Goncalves family to set up a scholarship in Kaylee’s name.

The scholarship amounts haven’t been set yet, Walker said, but they will be funded by the Vandals Supporting Vandals fund.