ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Moscow # 13

[SkyBoomer]

I think another thing that is rare is that everyone in the house that night is pictured in a photo probably just 12 hours before 4 of them were killed. I could see the 5 roommates being in a photo but the fact that Ethan was in the photo too is kind of eerie. And yes, I do realize he was Xana’s boyfriend so they likely spent a lot of time together, but still. And while I don’t know if this is the first time the 6 have taken a photo together, I do believe (based on my reviews of involved social media accounts) that it was the first time one was posted on SM of just the 6.

I’m older than dirt, but it’s not unusual for college couples to factually cohabitate full-time at one partner’s place while officially having separate homes. My roommate freshman year never even moved her stuff (aside from her bedding) into our dorm room and lived with her boyfriend off campus from day one.

When her folks were coming to visit, she packed a bag, spent the night and made her side of the room look “lived-in”.

 

[EncyclopediaBrownJr]

Maybe something fell. Like a bookshelf or something

Who is this person, unfamiliar with the area, who’d come in and magically solve the case before 20 FBI agents, 4 local detectives, and 25 Idaho state police detective?

I don't know, somebody who's on the same level as Joe Kenda???

 

[tokyorose]

A targeted attack doesn't mean one specific person was targeted or that the victims were even known to the killer 5 minutes before he decided to target them. It could just mean how they were killed - in bed and asleep. Maybe they were posed afterwards or there was bizarre scribbling in blood on the wall. That indicates targeting as well.

My opinion.

You are correct, my opinion is that this is not what happened in this case.

 

[TooMuchGun]

Same could be said about going upstairs.. if you have murdered your targets on floor 2... why go upstairs and kill 2 more? more time in the house=more risk, that is factual. Makes me think even if 1 was target, that all 4 needed to be killed to protect the identity of the killer. So I would want to know who did the 4 know, that the other 2 did not. MOO but this was not a random serial killer who just didn't know that 2 more girls were downstairs. MOO

well that's why its makes sense he makes entry to the sliding door in K's room on the 3rd floor. Where the killer enters changes my thoughts completely.

 

[Ghostwheel]

This is so wrong by ethical standards. “Hey, all males, consent to a controversial polygraph and give us your DNA. We have no probable cause and no warrant. It’s completely voluntary, but if you don’t consent lots of people may think that you are suspicious.” Just no!

Anyone ever hear of police widely doing this?

I recall the case of Jessica Ridgeway where they (I believe) went door to door requesting male DNA. The killer actually gave his, and that wasn't how he was found as it turned out.

My point being that yes this is done, no you don't have to give it and yes it does make you look suspicious. If an investigator cares enough, they will follow the person who did not give DNA and get it with something discarded by the individual (once you throw or give something away, it no longer is yours). Even if it ended up they could not use the collected sample for arrest, if it matched the crime scene they'd know they had their person and would find another reason to arrest and get DNA again.

If more people said no, it wouldn't look weird to say no. But people get verbally bullied sometimes and sometimes people think they need to clear themselves and sometimes people think that their being cleared narrows the suspect pool. JMO.

 

[Dexter12]

I think the reason they determined there was no link is because they already have a suspect in mind but are waiting for forensic evidence to confirm. MOO

 

[EM152]

If the dog was let out, it would eventually come back and start barking outside causing lots of noise to other neighbors, I would think.

I'm the owner of a professional, full-service pet care business for over 15 years. Fortunately, I've never had a customer's dog get out of the house while in my care or away from me on a walk. But I have heard customer's tell me about such instances with their dogs. My general observation is it's totally dependent on the dog, it's training, and response to commands whether it runs off in a flash or if it runs around the property and then comes back to their home/owner. Dogs can travel very quickly if they are on the run, but most will stay in close proximity to where they 'lost' their owner. Hard to say what Murphy might have done if let out of the house without a leash.

I know I have a number of times seen what I could tell was a 'dog on the go' and stopped my car to try and secure the dog. Sometimes successful, sometimes not. If I have not been able to find the owners I have taken the dog to the local Vet that know my business to have it scanned for a micro-chip. If no success, and no idea who the owner is, I call our local animal control officer, and if that is not an option then the police to come and secure the dog.

If Murphy did get out and was wandering around late at night, wee hours of the morning, perhaps someone saw him, was able to secure him and called the police to come get him. Or did the person find Murphy, see the owners phone number and address on his dog tags, tried to call the phone number and left a message for the owner to call them regarding Murphy, and took Murphy home with them to wait for the owner to call them. And maybe waited Sunday morning for a call from the owner, and finally late Sunday morning after no call from the dogs owner drove over to the address on collar tags (if it's on the tags), knocked on the ground floor door. Knocked and knocked and one of the downstairs surviving roommates heard the knock, went to the door to see who was there, and found Murphy with this person. They go upstairs to find Kaylee, the owner of Murphy, and then who knows what they encountered and what transpired at that point.

Total speculation on my part but not inconceivable.

 

[DizzyB]

They might be looking for footage, but it is very unlikely that they would have been able to identify any POI this quickly based on security-camera footage. Most security footage is good for getting an approximate height and build for a perp, and that's about it. Most of the time you can't even tell the ethnicity of the person. You might be able to identify somebody who walked right up to a doorbell camera on a well-lit porch, but even in that situation the identification would take time.

I was riffing off of Snell’s statement about what wasn’t there being just as important. Like if someone said they were out walking their dog at a certain time, along a certain route, which should be on camera. If it isn’t there on camera that night, that person just lied to the cops. Maybe something like that.

 

[AngTxGal]

Off the top of my head, the MacDonald murders in NC in 1970, but I’m sure there have been a few since then.

McDonald was convicted, the blurb I just read said he hurt himself and killed his wife and two little girls at Ft Bragg, NC. It was family annihilation, claimed was attacked.
I should have on the list not family annihilator- actually that is kind common- and the rest of us are not in danger.
JMO

 

[annpats]

Oh lord, they changed it back to the dog being found at night instead of morning like their last press release. That dog…

I'm only half-joking when I say I think LE need to do a press conference just about the dog, so we can be clear as to all the details and facts.

 

[tokyorose]

well that's why its makes sense he makes entry to the sliding door in K's room on the 3rd floor. Where the killer enters changes my thoughts completely.

I do not believe that the suspect entered through the 3rd floor balcony...MOO

 

[tara83]

Have they said for sure no link to the case of the couple stabbed?I haven't seen that.

 

[SkyBoomer]

A targeted attack doesn't mean one specific person was targeted or that the victims were even known to the killer 5 minutes before he decided to target them. It could just mean how they were killed - in bed and asleep. Maybe they were posed afterwards or there was bizarre scribbling in blood on the wall. That indicates targeting as well.

My opinion.

It could also mean the killer targeted the house for whatever reason (wooded back area, ease of breaking in).

 

[positive]

Salt grains.

 

[tokyorose]

I'm only half-joking when I say I think LE need to do a press conference just about the dog, so we can be clear as to all the details and facts.

LE is in the business of hunting a killer and only releasing information that will help them do that. They don't need us to be clear about anything. MOO

 

[SkyBoomer]

My post was removed because the quoted post got removed so reposting:

I was curious about the neighbourhood and the surrounding houses and wanted to know what peoples experience was living there, so I looked up reviews from people currently renting these apartments.

One or two of these caught my eye.

Unsure if I am able to post here if someone can please clarify?

Report your own post and ask a mod if it’s allowed. I know I’d be interested is reading them!

 

[TooMuchGun]

The 2nd floor window on the hill side is at what would feel like ground level. In the picture there are investigators looking into that window, it is the normal height it would be if they were inside the house. In the pic there are about 4-5 investigators, three or so are women in navy clothing.
I can’t find it, sorry
JMO

that room I believe is unoccupied and it sits under Ms room.

 

[Ozoner]

Most likely K & M, though LE has not verified that. But we know their rooms were on the 3rd floor based on pictures and family interviews. We don’t know 100% if they were definitively in their personal rooms but I tend to lean that they were. MOO

Thanks. I think it's reasonable to assume that K & M were in their rooms. That confirms to me that the target was almost certainly K or M (if LE is correct that there was one target).

the reason I believe floor 2 was the target is because why kill E and X? Why risk going into a room with 2 people. Why not just go upstairs?

There are two possible reasons, which I've already mentioned.

1) The perp might not have known who was in each room. The room that E & X were in might have been the first room he tried. Assuming that they stirred before he discovered that neither was is target, he would have killed them before continuing his search.

2) E & X may have awakened while the perp was upstairs killing K & M. They might have interrupted him while he was fleeing the scene. Even if they didn't leave their room, he might have felt compelled to kill them in order to buy more time if he realized that they had been alerted by the attack on K & M.

IMO, it is extremely unlikely that the perp would have ascended the staircase to the third floor if the target was E or X. He would have just killed the two of them and then fled.

 

[rescuemom]

Great post.

LE continues to state that they found Murphy on the night of the incident. IMO, If LE found Murphy in the early morning or late afternoon, LE would update this.

just a thought...if LE found the dog on the night of the incident, that could mean that the dog may have been left out much earlier than was first believed and before murders and was wandering around thus generating a report of a stray dog. Said stray dog may have been picked up and taken to animal control to be processed. Chip or no chip. If the dog was chipped the owner(s)..KG and/or bf J... did they both own the dog or both listed as contacts?? It would take some time for the news and location of the murders to be connected to a stray dog incident. The responsible person, contacted the next day could be Ks bf J but info of that just kept out of the news, not necessary to know who. When KG and MM made the many calls to J neither would know where the dog was yet.

My point is that the killer may have been in house earlier than first thought. If either of the 2 survivors were the target, arriving around 1am, the killer would have done the deed and left. If E or X were the target, they arriving home next, the killer would have done the deed and left, leaving 4 victims. MM and KG got home around 2am and started calling J and killer did not move on them until after the phone calls and they had settled in for the night. All speculation and JMO.

 

[hopewell]

You are correct, my opinion is that this is not what happened in this case.

You are certainly as right or as wrong as all of us here, and I value your insights as equal to anyone's.

I just don't see a point in targeting one or two kids, killing them in their sleep, and then going either up or downstairs to kill the other two folks in their sleep. Indeed, if only one or two were the targets, and no one purportedly woke up to challenge the killer on the 'unoffending' floor (because they were asleep too, according to coroner), then there would be no point to going into those other rooms to kill the other victims. That's why I feel they all were targets. And I think that is a reasonable deduction.

My opinion.