The city of Moscow, Idaho is reeling from a quadruple homicide in a house full of college students.
University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in an off-campus rented house on November 13. Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle were roommates; adding to the strangeness of the blitz is the fact that two other housemates were home and unharmed.
According to Moscow police, a cell phone belonging to one of the survivors was used to call 911 when the bodies were found around noon on November 13. Police declined to say who made the call, citing the ongoing investigation. A reporter who called the surviving housemates witnesses was corrected by Moscow Police Chief James Fry at a news conference on Wednesday. “I don’t think I ever said they were witnesses,” Fry said. “I said they were there.”
There are few details in the case that rocked college town. Moscow sees little violent crime; his last murder was reported about five years ago.
The four victims were enjoying their Saturday before horror struck. At one point during the day, Goncalves posted photos on Instagram of his roommates and Chapin. “Lucky girl to be surrounded by these people everyday,” she wrote.
Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, 21-year-old roommates in Moscow, Idaho, were stabbed to death on November 13.
Screenshot via GoFundMeLater that evening, Chapin and Kernodle attended a party at Sigma Chi, while Mogen and Goncalves visited a bar in downtown Moscow before grabbing food from a truck. a livestream posted by the food truck shows the couple smiling and commanding. Mogen and Goncalves then called a “private party driver” to drive home. On Saturday, police said they did not believe the driver was involved in the murders.
It appears that the four students had returned around 2 a.m. At least two of them, Mogen and Goncalves, repeatedly called a man when they got home.
“Detectives are aware of multiple phone calls from victims Madison and Kaylee to a male,” Moscow police said Saturday in a statement. “This information is part of the ongoing investigation.”
Police say the killings may have been “targeted” and there were no signs of a break-in. Nothing was removed from the house that would indicate theft, and there were no signs of sexual assault. Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said at least some of the victims were likely asleep in their beds when they were attacked, although some had defensive wounds that indicate they fought back. The victims were discovered on the second and third floors of the three-story, six-bedroom home.
Officers are investigating a quadruple homicide at a rental home south of the University of Idaho campus on November 13.
Zach Wilkinson/APThe Idaho Statesman reported that detectives visited local hardware stores to ask about the Ka-Bar brand and other “fixed blade” style knives.
What we know about the four victims
Madison Mogen, 21, from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho: Mogen was a senior and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She majored in marketing at the College of Business and Economics.
Kaylee Goncalves21, from Rathdrum, Idaho: Goncalves was a senior in the College of Letters, Arts, and Social Sciences, and was a member of Alpha Phi sorority.
“(Maddie and Kaylee) did everything right,” Goncalves’ sister Autumn posted on Instagram. “They went out together, they closed their doors. they were smart and they were fighters and it happened AGAIN.
A picture and names of four University of Idaho students who were killed at a residence hall near campus are displayed during a moment of silence Nov. 16 before a basketball game between Idaho and Cal State Bakersfield in Moscow, Idaho.
Ted S. Warren/APXana Kernodle, 20, from Post Falls, Idaho: Kernodle was a marketing student at the College of Business and Economics. Like Mogen, she was a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
“You rarely meet someone like Xana,” said her sister Jazzmin Kernodle CNN. “She was so positive, funny and loved by everyone who met her. She was so lighthearted and always uplifted a room.
Ethan Chapin, 20, from Mount Vernon, Wash.: Chapin was a freshman majoring in recreation, sports, and tourism management. He belonged to the Sigma Chi fraternity where he and Kernodle attended a party the night they were killed. According to the family, Chapin was part of a group of triplets. All three went to the University of Idaho.
In this photo provided by Stacy Chapin, triplets Ethan, Maizie and Hunter Chapin pose in front of a field of tulips in La Conner, Washington, in April 2021.
PAThe police are looking for new leads
The Moscow Police Department is looking for surveillance footage or photos around the victims’ area of residence at 1122 King Road. Anyone with information is asked to email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us or call the tipline at 208-883-7180. A press conference will be held by Moscow police at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
After initially saying there was no permanent danger, police backtracked on Wednesday. “We can’t say there’s no threat to the community,” Fry said. “We still believe this is a targeted attack. But the reality is that there is still one person who has committed four very horrific crimes.”
A police dog searches an apartment complex south of campus where four deceased University of Idaho students were found.
Zach Wilkinson/APThe Associated Press contributed to this report.