University of Idaho stabbings: Students return to campus after break with no arrests yet in quadruple murders

CNN
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It’s been more than two weeks since the stabbing deaths of four students at an off-campus home, and with no suspects and no arrests, “people are kind of sketched” when he returns to campus after Thanksgiving break, a reporter said. student on Monday.

“It definitely feels a little different,” student Hayden Rich said. “It’s kind of a different environment. It looks like some kind of sad scenario. It’s a bit quiet.”

With a killer on the loose, it’s unclear how many students will return to Moscow, Idaho, for the last two weeks of school before winter break.

Student Ava Forsyth said her roommate is staying home because she doesn’t feel safe. Forsyth said she feels “moderately” safe, but “not as much” at night, when she takes advantage of the free security service to walk around campus.

University of Idaho President Scott Green acknowledged last week that some students did not want to return until a suspect is in custody.

“As such, the faculty has been asked to prepare in-person teaching and remote learning options so that each student can choose their method of engagement during the last two weeks of the semester,” he wrote in a statement.

Rich said he’s decided to come back for the many tests he has this week. Student Lexi Way told CNN that she feels safe with the increased security on campus and “tends to learn better in class.”

The university has scheduled a vigil for Wednesday to remember the victims.

Dozens of local, state and federal investigators are still working 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 analyzed more than 1,000 leads 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 on November 13 in an off-campus house in Moscow. The killings have unsettled the campus community and the town of about 25,000, which had 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 retracted that claim.

“We can’t say there’s no threat to the community,” Police Chief James Fry said days after the killings.

Authorities said they have not ruled out the possibility that more than one person may be involved in the stabbings.

Meanwhile, a former student told CNN’s Paula Reid on Sunday that she raised more than $19,000 to purchase and distribute personal alarms to students as a way to increase security on campus.

“It’s been completely overwhelming in the best way possible,” said former student, Kelly Uhlorn. “Something that started very, very small has just exploded and it’s amazing to see the community come together like this.”

So far, using evidence collected at the scene and the trove of clues 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 frat party.

Investigators believe all four victims had returned to the home at 2 am the night of the stabbings. Two surviving roommates had also been out in Moscow that night, police said, returning to the house at 1 a.m.

Police previously said Goncalves and Mogen returned to the home at 1:45 a.m., but updated the timeline Friday and said digital evidence showed the couple returned at 1:56 a.m. after visiting a truck food and being driven home by a “private party.” ”

The next morning, two surviving roommates “called friends at the residence because they believed one of the victims on the second floor had passed out and was not waking up,” police said in a statement. Someone called 911 from the house at 11:58 using the phone of one of the surviving roommates.

“The call reported an unconscious person,” Moscow police Capt. Roger Lanier said Wednesday. “During that call, the dispatcher spoke to several people who were on the scene.”

When the police arrived, they found two victims on the second floor and two victims on the third floor. There were no signs of forced entry or damage, police said.

Investigators do not believe the two surviving roommates were involved in the deaths.

A coroner determined that all four victims were stabbed multiple times and were likely asleep when the attacks began. Some of the students had defensive wounds, according to the Latah County coroner.

At least 113 pieces of physical evidence were collected, around 4,000 crime scene photographs 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 could include photos and videos, have been submitted by the public to an FBI tip form, the Moscow Police Department said in a statement on Friday. The department asks for leads or videos of the places the victims went that night, even if there is no perceptible movement or content on them.

“Detectives are also seeking additional tips and surveillance video of any unusual behavior on the night of November 12 through the early morning of November 13 while Kaylee and Madison were in downtown Moscow and while Ethan and Xana were at the home of Sigma Chi,” the statement said. he said.

In addition, Idaho Gov. Brad Little has committed up to $1 million in state emergency funds to aid the ongoing investigation, state police said.

As weeks go by without an identified suspect or significant progress in the case, a flurry of rumors has surfaced about the murders. Moscow police addressed the issue in a press release on Friday and tried to quash some of the rumours.

“There is speculation, without factual support, stoking community fears and spreading false facts. We encourage referencing official releases for accurate information and up-to-date progress,” the statement read.

Several people have been ruled out as suspects for now, the police department said, including:

Police also said reports that the victims were bound or gagged are inaccurate and stressed that the identity of the 911 caller has not been released.