A coroner has determined that four University of Idaho students who were discovered dead in their rented home over a week ago were stabbed in their beds.
Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt stated that the three young women and a young man were likely sleeping when they were attacked on Sunday, November 13th.
She stated that they were stabbed many times with a “very hefty knife.”
The police in the college town of Moscow has issued a warning that the killer may still represent a threat in the absence of any arrests.
More than twenty-five investigators are assisting the FBI and Idaho State Police in the investigation.
Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho; and Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho, were identified as the victims.
Mr. Kernodle’s boyfriend was Ethan Chapin, age 20, from Mount Vernon, Washington.
On Sunday afternoon, following a call to emergency services, the victims’ bodies were located. Two further inhabitants of the residence were found unhurt.
“We cannot say there is no threat to the community,” said James Fry, chief of police in Moscow.
“We continue to believe this is a targeted assault. But the reality is that there is still a guy out there who perpetrated four heinous acts.”
In an interview with the cable news network NewsNation, the coroner stated, “Someone must have been enraged to stab four people to death.”
According to the Associated Press, the Moscow Police Department stated that several of the victims had defensive wounds and that there were no indications of sexual assault.
According to CBS News, it did not appear that anything was taken from the victims or their homes, and there was no trace of forced entry.
The first officers to arrive on the site discovered an unlocked door.
The contents of neighboring trash cans are being checked, and area businesses are being called to determine if they recently sold a fixed-blade knife.
All four victims went out for the night on Saturday – the couple to a party and the other two women to a local bar – but were back by 1:45 a.m. (09:45 GMT) on Sunday, according to the police, who have asked the public for assistance in their inquiry.
CCTV footage from a food truck on Moscow’s Main Street shows Ms. Goncalves and Ms. Mogen snapping selfies and conversing on their phones before hailing a cab home.
Moscow, a 25,000-person town in the Panhandle about 80 miles (130km) south of Spokane, Washington, has not witnessed a homicide in the previous five years.
Among the tributes to the victims was a note from the restaurant where Ms. Mogen and Ms. Kernodle had worked as waitresses, and where Ms. Mogen was “the face behind” its social media.
It is with a shattered heart and profound regret that I inform you that two of our own have passed away,” the eatery wrote on Facebook. Xana and Maddie… brought so much happiness to our business and to everyone they met.
On November 30, the university will hold a candlelight vigil for the four victims.
