Idaho police probe potential tie to Salem Oregon stabbing – follow live

Authorities in Moscow, where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death last week, have warned the public against rumours online.

“We know that people want answers, we want answers, too,” Idaho State Police Colonel Kedrick Wills said.

“Please be patient as we work through this investigation. We owe this to these young kids. To these young adults. We owe it to them. And we’re absolutely dedicated to mak[ing] sure that that happens.”

On Sunday, police Captain Roger Lanier denied reports that the victims had been found tied and gagged and said that any information circulating about the identity of the 911 caller was mere speculation.

The Independent’s Andrea Blanco has the story:

Almost everything that happened after 1.45am on 13 November inside the college home where four students were murdered still remains a mystery.

Compounded by changing stories from law enforcement and wild social media speculation that has seeped into the local rumour mill, investigators continue to piece together the events that led to the attack, The Independent’s Sheila Flynn reports.

Sheila reports: “As the investigation entered its ninth day on Monday, residents remained nervous and had no idea what to think in the 25,000-person town that borders Washington State.”

“The University of Idaho is Moscow’s largest employer. The town is nestled among rolling hills and farms in Latah County, known for its production of wheat and other grains. The Welcome to Moscow sign sits just yards away from the Welcome to Idaho sign.”

Follow Sheila’s coverage:

Moscow police have said that reports of a skinned dog are not related to the murders of four University of Idaho students on an off-campus housing site on 13 November.

“Detectives are aware of a Latah County Sheriff’s Office incident of the report of a skinned dog and have determined it is unrelated to this incident,” a Moscow Police Department spokesperson told The Independent.

The clarification this week came after reports said that an elderly couple’s Mini Australian shepherd dog was “filleted” just three miles away from where the students were murdered.

Neighbours of the four University of Idaho students killed in Idaho said the victims often hosted parties in their rental home.

Jeremy Reagan, a third-year law student who lives near the scene of the murders that shocked the university town of Moscow last week, told Fox News that the victims would often host self-contained gatherings and added that people went in and out of the house “pretty frequently.”

“There were parties that were kind of loud,” Mr Reagan said.

“As I would take my dog in and out to go to the bathroom [and] I would see people in the windows almost every night, probably four or five nights a week … it was kind of a party house but then again this whole neighbourhood is a party neighbourhood.”

The Independent has more:

Local police still have not named a suspect or located the murder weapon, despite assistance from the Idaho State Police and federal officials.

“You’re going to have to trust on that at this point because we are not going to release why we think that,” Moscow Police Department captain Roger Lanier said during a press conference on Wednesday.

Officials defended their work on the investigation, telling the public it took time to process the crime scene, an off-campus rental home shared by victims Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, and Xana Kernodle, where the fourth victim, Ethan Chapin, was visiting.

Mr Lanier said that his department was prioritising a thorough investigation over speed.

The Independent’s Josh Marcus has the story:

Joseph Scott Morgan, a distinguished scholar of forensics at Jacksonville State University, told Fox News that it is likely the perpetrator is a predator who did not know the victims personally.

“From a blood evidence standpoint, this is a profoundly bloody scene,” Mr Morgan added.

“It’s going to be a very complicated case when you go through blood evidence, when you go to do DNA typing. It’s a major challenge.”

Mr Morgan said that he believed this is the type of case that is solved by “the public’s participation and tips,” because the DNA evidence collected at the scene could be from somebody who is not on a law enforcement database.

No arrests have been made in the investigation and authorities have released very few details about the murders.

Jeffrey Kornodle called the tragedy his “worst nightmare.”

“How can you protect your kid? You keep them at home and don’t let [them] go to college? They’re not gonna stay at home like that,” Mr Kornodle told The Independent last week.

“So, it’s really mind-boggling. It’s just completely unthinkable and it’s the worst nightmare.”

Following a press conference on Wednesday marked by a lack of notable developments, the Reddit subchannels MoscowMurders and IdahoMurders have amassed more than 43,000 members who discuss the case on a daily basis.

In the forums, people from across the country are weighing in on the investigation into the slayings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen inside their off-campus rental home in Moscow.

Some posts contain information that is entirely speculative and has already been debunked by authorities, while other users have posted reminded that police are doing their jobs and the case is “not a 60-minute CSI crime show.”

The Independent’s Andrea Blanco:

It could have been anyone, in any US college town, on any Saturday night, The Independent’s Sheila Flynn writes.

That’s how typical the murdered students’ behaviour was in Moscow, Idaho.

Instead, housemates Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were brutally stabbed to death.

Could clues to the Idaho killings lie in victims’ ordinary evenings?

Sheila reports from on the ground in Idaho:

Myra Juetten told The Independent on Thursday that finding out who killed her son Travis Juetten in a brutal stabbing attack in his home in Silverton, Oregon – and also catching the killer of the slain students in Idaho – would be “the best Christmas present ever”.

Back on 13 August 2021, Travis, 26, and his wife Jamilyn Juetten, 24, were woken at around 3am when a masked assailant broke into their home, entered their bedroom and stabbed them both multiple times with a knife.

This week, similarities were drawn between the knife attack on the young couple and the 13 November stabbing murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, 400 miles away in Moscow.

The Independent’s Rachel Sharp has the story: