According to Officials, 4 Idaho College Students Were Presumably Asleep When They Were Fatally Stabbed

MOSCOW, Idaho — According to officials, some of the four college students who were tragically stabbed last weekend died in their sleep and had defensive wounds. According to a statement from the Moscow Police Department and examinations performed by the Latah County coroner by Thursday, each victim had numerous stab wounds. The killings of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, on Sunday were not sexual assaults, the police claimed.

According to the agency, no suspect in the stabbings has been named. The department reported that two housemates who were present when the four students were killed as well as a person visible in a late-night food truck video that captured two of the victims before they were found dead were cleared as potential suspects.

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The four friends—three of whom resided at the house where their deaths were discovered—were not tied up or restrained, contrary to reports, the department said. According to the press release, detectives confiscated the contents of three nearby dumpsters to look for potential evidence and got in touch with adjacent businesses to see if a knife had just been bought.

The news came two days after Moscow Police Chief James Fry informed reporters that the four students were killed “early” on Sunday morning when their roommates—whom authorities have not named—were at home. It wasn’t until 11:58 a.m. that someone called 911 to report an “unconscious person” at the house, according to investigators. Who called emergency services remains unknown. The city attorney declined on Friday to make the call’s audio available, citing the ongoing investigation by the police.

Chapin and Kernodle, who were dating, were last seen at the Sigma Chi home, where Chapin was a member of the fraternity, according to a statement released by the department earlier on Friday. At 1:45 a.m., they arrived home. According to the department, Mogen and Goncalves were at the Corner Club, a nearby bar, from 10:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m. They received a transportation service before being captured on the food truck video ten minutes later.

According to the department, they got home at the same time as Chapin and Kernodle. The area around the house, which is less than a mile from campus and is taped off as a crime scene, was quiet on Friday.

A few police officers gathered in the entrance driveway to observe. A group of forensic investigators could be spotted at one time looking around the home. Many of the neighboring student residences have mostly moved out of fear or to give officials room to look for further information. For the university’s Thanksgiving break, many others departed the city.

One local has requested tolerance. The 24-year-old Renee Weiss, who lives across the street from the scene of the killings, advised the public to refrain from interfering with the investigation’s progress. “The neighborhood must lend a hand. It will take considerably longer if no one witnessed what happened or can piece together what transpired, according to Weiss, a non-student. Weiss agreed that the probe would take some time, but she too wants answers.

This isn’t an episode of ‘Criminal Minds,’ “She spoke. “It won’t be finished in an hour.” I’d prefer it take longer knowing they got the proper guy than just throwing something together and getting someone wrongly detained, she continued. The wait for information has been frustrating for the parents of one of the murdered children.

The mother of Kaylee Goncalves stated in an interview with NBC’s “Nightly News” on Friday that her husband has daily conversations with law enforcement about the inquiry and consistently receives the same reaction. He simply says, “Nothing, sweetie,” every day, a sobbing Kristi Goncalves recalled. “I feel like nothing,” He responds, “Nothing. Just nothing, I mean.

According to a press release from the Moscow Police Department, 35 members of the Idaho State Police and 22 FBI investigators are working with more than two dozen local patrol officers and detectives to look into the matter. The department reported that 38 persons were interviewed after over 500 tips were called in. To maintain the integrity of this case, we’re working as quickly and thoroughly as we can, Fry said “Evening News.