Episode 02: University of Idaho Murders-Part 1
On a cold November night in a small college town in Idaho, a monster sneaks into an off-campus house full of college students. Four University of Idaho students are savagely murdered that night and the two surviving roommates, victims’ families, and the surrounding communities are rocked to the core, as their lives are forever changed. Join us for Part 1 of this 2 Episode series.
Photo by Andrew Lang on Unsplash
“Shortly before noon Pacific time Sunday, Moscow police officers responded to a call about an unconscious person near the University of Idaho campus. They walked into a house to find four dead bodies. Authorities have released little information about the event. Here’s what we know so far. WHAT HAPPENED? Police received a phone call saying an individual was unconscious at a house in the 1100 block of King Road in Moscow. At 11:58 a.m. Pacific, officers arrived on the scene. They found four people dead inside. Moscow mayor Art Bettge told the Statesman in a phone interview that the crime happened between 3 and 4 a.m. Sunday, Pacific time. Police originally said the students were found in a Moscow house that had been converted into apartments. Property management company Team Idaho Real Estate & Property Management told the Idaho Statesman that was not the case. The company said the entire home was being rented under a 12-month lease that began June 5. All four people who died were students at the University of Idaho. Three were from Idaho. Police and the university identified the deceased as Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. (Note: Some of the identifying details were not consistent between the police and university news releases. This story uses the university’s spellings and hometowns.) Chapin was a freshman and a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity majoring in recreation, sport and tourism management. Kernodle, a junior majoring in marketing, was also part of the university’s Greek life as a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Mogen and Goncalves were both seniors, majoring in marketing and general studies, respectively. Moscow police said they were investigating the four deaths as a homicide. The University of Idaho referred to all the deceased as “victims.” Although the Moscow Police Department had yet to determine a cause of death, the department said in a news release Tuesday that investigators believe an “edged weapon such as a knife” was used despite police not locating a weapon at the scene. Investigators also believe, based on preliminary information, that the event was an “isolated, targeted attack.” Ethan Chapin’s mother, Stacey Chapin, told the Statesman that the four students were stabbed. She rebutted speculation about the case, including a New York Times report that quoted a Moscow official calling it a “crime of passion.” Moscow police Capt. Anthony Dahlinger reaffirmed on Monday that all four people are considered victims and none of them was believed responsible for the deaths.”
Source: “What we know about the 4 deaths at the University of Idaho as police investigate” by Sally Krutzig and Shaun Goodwin (Idaho Statesman) 2022
Episode Sources:
https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/northwest/idaho/article268735027.html
https://www.ci.moscow.id.us/234/Police
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pI3z23y2028
https://cdapress.com/news/2022/nov/25/maddie-may-mogen/
https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2022/nov/30/xana-kernodle-20-bonner-county-daily-bee/
https://www.legacy.com/funeral-homes/obituaries/name/ethan-chapin-obituary?pid=203219140&v=batesville&view=guestbook
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/cdapress/name/kaylee-goncalves-obituary?id=38334601
https://www.youtube.com/@GrizzlyTrueCrime