Nov. 19 (UPI) — Four University of Idaho college students who were fatally stabbed last week were most killed while they were sleeping, investigators say.
Citing an examination of the bodies by the Latah County, Idaho, coroner, police in Moscow, Idaho, said Friday the four victims were likely asleep, some had defensive wounds, and each was stabbed multiple times.
There was no sign of sexual assault, police said in a posted update, adding that no suspect has yet been identified in the stabbings.
The victims have been identified by the university as students Ethan Chapin, a 20-year-old freshman from Mount Vernon, Wash.; Xana Kernodle, a 20-year-old junior from Post Falls, Idaho; Madison Mogen, a 21-year-old senior from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; and Kaylee Goncalves, a 21-year-old senior from Rathdrum, Idaho.
Authorities have said that the four were killed at an off-campus King Road residence early Sunday. Police found the bodies that afternoon after responding to a 911 call concerning “an unconscious individual” at the residence.
On Wednesday, Idaho Police Chief James Fry revealed that there were two other roommates at the residence when the murders occurred — they have since been cleared as potential suspects.
Police said that victims Chapin and Kernodle, who were dating, were last seen at a fraternity house, returning home at 1:45 a.m. on Sunday, while Mogen and Goncalves were at a local bar shortly before returning to the scene of their deaths.
Moscow police said considerable law enforcement resources have been mobilized in the investigation, including more than two dozen local patrol officers and detectives, 22 FBI investigators and 35 Idaho State Police troopers.
