A county coroner told a cable news program that the four University of Idaho students who were found dead in a rental home close to school were likely asleep when they were attacked and were stabbed to death in their beds.
According to Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt, each victim had numerous stab wounds from a “quite hefty knife,” as reported by NewsNation on Thursday.
According to Mabbutt, who spoke to NewsNation, “it has to be somebody really enraged” to stab four people to death. The coroner reported that the victims had been stabbed in the chest and upper torso.
The Associated Press attempted to call Mabbutt on Friday but was transferred to an Idaho State Police spokesperson who did not immediately respond to messages.
The coroner’s conclusion that the victims were probably asleep and that some of the victims had defensive wounds were corroborated by the Moscow Police Department in an evening statement. The police added that there were no indications of a sexual assault.
The four kids were stabbed to death, according to the autopsy reports revealed on Thursday, according to Mabbutt and the police.
The police have not located a suspect or a weapon.
Read More: What Is Known About The Murders Of Idaho Students As The Community Awaits Updates
Moscow, a community of 25,000 people in the Idaho Panhandle, has been rocked by the killings; there hasn’t been a homicide there in approximately five years. About 80 miles (130 kilometers) south of Spokane, Washington, sits the green college town.
All four victims, seniors Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; junior Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho; and first-year Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington, were members of fraternities and sororities. The women shared a room. The remains were discovered on Sunday at about midday.
The Moscow Police Department provided a chronology and a map detailing the general sequence of events leading up to the killings on Friday. It requested any tips or leads from the general population.
The map indicated that between 8 and 9 p.m. on Saturday, Chapin, and Kernodle were spotted in the Sigma Chi fraternity house. According to the police, it’s thought the two got back to their house at about 1:45 a.m. on Sunday.
4 University of Idaho students who were found dead on Sunday were murdered with a "pretty large knife" while they were sleeping in their beds, coroner says
— BNO News Live (@BNODesk) November 18, 2022
In the meantime, Goncalves and Mogen spent Saturday night from 10 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. at the Corner Club, a well-known club in the heart of Moscow. After there, they went to a food truck on Main Street and took a ride-hailing service back to the house by 1:45 a.m.
Goncalves and Mogen can be seen ordering at the window, using their phones to take pictures, and speaking with pals in a stretch of around 10 minutes of surveillance footage from the food truck.
Detectives, according to the police, do not think the man in the video was a part of the crime, they stated on Friday.
Although they haven’t provided any details, police have stated that evidence at the location leads them to believe the students were the target. Nothing seems to have been taken from the victims or the house, according to the investigators. Police also denied online rumors that the victims were restrained and muzzled.
Three dumpsters on the same road as the house had their contents confiscated by detectives for possible evidence. According to the police, they have also been calling nearby businesses to find out if a fixed-blade knife has lately been acquired.
Police later changed their position on Wednesday after initially asserting that there was no present danger. Moscow Police Chief James Fry stated, “We cannot say that there is no threat to the community. “We continue to think it was a targeted strike. However, the truth is that someone who committed four absolutely horrific acts is still at large.
According to the statement, the two people who were discovered unharmed in the large house and were identified by the police as roommates on Friday are not thought to be connected to the crime.
Fry declined to specify who called 911 or whether the roommates were able to give an account of the killings. The first responding cops saw an open door and found no evidence of forced entry, according to the chief.
Police said that detectives have conducted 38 interviews with people who may have information about the murders and are currently looking into nearly 500 tips. The Latah County Sheriff’s Office, the FBI, and the Idaho State Police are supporting the investigation.
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