ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Moscow # 30

[lucidium]

I'm sorry if this has been mentioned. I'm new to this site and didn't quite know how to navigate it when I started reading about the murders 3 weeks ago so I may have missed some of the posts while learning my way around here.
Has anyone mentioned the killer could have been wearing coveralls over his clothes and cut-resistant gloves?

People have mentioned it many, many, times. There is no reason to think that he was wearing those things though. I can't recall a single crime where a perp wore either.*

* I'm not saying it has never happened, only that it's incredibly rare.

 

[lucidium]

With all due respect, there are plenty of 2011-2013 trucks and SUV's that are cheaper than the Elantra that's the same age as the one the police are looking for

You are speaking as if all men are alike. I am a male who would much rather drive an Elantra than any truck or SUV. I prefer small, agile cars.

 

[Elley Mae]

Knife wounds sound like a lot of rage.

 

[Which_pancake]

BBM
So many modern cars look so similar due to federal regulations. Every part of a vehicle has to adhere to its own regulations.

Maybe LE has tip(s) or better video/photos of said car. We may never know

IMO, LE must have something very convincing. In many cases, they will describe a car they are looking for more vaguely, like 'late model light colored sedan'. The fact that they have specified make/model/year tells me they have solid information, whatever it may be.

 

[lucidium]

PD gave specific locations of where they were interested and that 1 square mile was south of Taylor and most all of it south of the house

My guess is people assumed PD was onto something to have those limits, this footage was not in that area of interest so most would think it wasn’t related

Problem is the 1 square mile south of the house to hwy 95 is residential, so that to me meant Ring cameras looking for foot traffic and not likely a driver, but local
If considering a driver you would ask for gas stations in whole of Moscow- how many can their be?

JMO

Below is the full MPD request for video. They're asking for (1) all video from the bounded area between 3am-6am, and (2) "video of any unusual behavior" from the evening of 11/12 to early 11/13. Seems like most people have missed the second part.

---

12-13-22-Moscow-Homocide-Update
Detectives are seeking all outside surveillance video taken from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. on Sunday, November
13th, from businesses and residences within the geographical area listed below. Detectives request all
available videos – whether there appears to be motion and content or not.

• West Taylor Ave (north boundary)
• West Palouse River Dr (south boundary)
• Highway 95 south to the 2700 block of Highway 95 S (east boundary)
• Arboretum & Botanical Garden (west boundary)

Detectives are also seeking additional tips and surveillance video of any unusual behavior on the night of
November 12th into the early hours of November 13th while Kaylee and Madison were in downtown
Moscow and while Ethan and Xana were at the Sigma Chi house. Anyone who observed unusual
behavior near these areas or has video surveillance is asked to submit their tips.

 

[lucidium]

I’m not so sure it’s a Hyundai Elantra. To me it looks like a Dodge Dart.

It would be helpful if you explained why you believe this.

ETA: Never mind. I see you did in a later post.

 

[drmrgrl]

Okay--call me offically concerned now about how the Moscow Police/LE is handing this case. It took a MONTH to obtain the survelliance tape from the gas station?! The fact that it was a result of the very astute employee (thank God!) contacting them, not the other way around also is rather unbelieveable! They are damn lucky that the tape hasn't been recorded over, wondering if the employee pulled the tape/DVR out to keep that from happening. Frequently tapes that aren't acquired within 24 hours have already been recorded over. Extremely glad that the tape was intact and she was able to point out the car--this could be potentially a really big clue. I know that there is a mountain of evidence to go through/a ton of work to do, but this failure to get the tape from that station is REALLY kind of inexcusable!

LE may have gotten wind of the tape much earlier. They only recently released the tape to the media IMO

 

[Hexe]

The sharpness of a knife is mostly irrelevant when stabbing 4 people to death. It's not quite the same as chopping onions.

Not exactly correct. It's easier to stab through the flesh with a sharp knife, than with a dull one and the sharp knife requires less force.

 

[wary]

Funny, I just double checked: I am indeed a male and I once drove an Elantra.

What even is this conjecture?

I have no idea!

There must be stats on male/female Elantra purchasers. Somehow, I have a hunch that it’s not 0%/100%.

Then, we consider the people who may not be in a position to buy the car that perfectly expresses the image they want to project. A 2011-13 Elantra is less expensive than many other choices.

Then, specially in an area where many are college students, a ten year old car might well be a hand me down.

It could be a car that was borrowed, with or without permission.

Just as a data point, for the first six years of my driving career, I drove a car that wasn’t what I’d have deliberately chosen. And a couple of decades later in life, for another six years I drove a vehicle that I never under any circumstances would have chosen for myself, of a color that I would never have considered, either.

 

[LadyBelle]

I have a question and Google couldn't help me so maybe someone here can. I know LE can take a cell phone number and check it against near-by cell towers for pings, but can you go to the cell tower and get all records of pings regardless of the number/carrier? Everything I read said it started with the carrier. A reverse search would be tedious, but may provide something that stands out at that time. Thanks in advance.

I'll try to answer this. In order to get all pings from a tower, you must request records from each carrier that is using that tower. From there, you could theoretically do reverse searches but not sure how feasible it would be.
Hope that helps.

 

[GDawg89]

To me, begs the question- even though they asked everyone with a camera or phone at that time to bring video to police- didn’t they go around to get it from any grocery store, convenience store, gas station, especially near a highway? We‘Re not talking about Miami- it’s a small town. Not that many places to go ask for video before it’s recorded over! I don’t understand how a month later they’re just getting video. I do understand that they didn’t announce about the white car until recently, but I’m talking about just getting all recordings from all those kinds of establishments at that time of the morning from all of them to sit and go through them. Look to see was anyone speeding off Or any cars out at that time. Between 3-5 am, not many cars out. I can’t believe if that was not done

"Speculative Theory" I mentioned in an earlier thread weeks ago, if perp crossed paths/then followed her from Coeur D'Alene the day or two prior, all stops she may have made en route to Moscow, Range Rover has a trip record, CCTV cameras need to be investigated if in fact crossed path with perp from out of town on a stop to get gas/food/bathroom. Process maybe of connecting the dots. Not knowing the actual white Elantra direction and possible circuitous driving per CCTV may indicate perp not familiar with the roads. AMOO..

 

[MountainDad]

So.... A month out and the suspect is a 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra. Damn smart cars

 

[alaskanblue]

IDK. if this killer was a planner, that would be a stupid move. All that DNA waiting to be found. If I were safe in my car, I'd just keep driving to WA and change clothes there or when I got home. I wouldn't dump DNA-laden clothing anywhere. I'd get somewhere and destroy it. jmo

I agree--not too bright to dump extremely bloody/soaked DNA laden clothes anywhere in Moscow and I imagine they'd bury them or burn them many miles from any town.

 

[lucidium]

Not exactly correct. It's easier to stab through the flesh with a sharp knife, than with a dull one and the sharp knife requires less force.

I agree and never claimed otherwise. It's all relative though, and in my opinion it is not difficult to pierce flesh with a dull knife.

 

[jbennett]

Wow, sure does look like it. View attachment 387353

Tailights are different, IMO

 

[Vlphilip]

It would be helpful if you explained why you believe this.

ETA: Never mind. I see you did in a later post.

Also worth noting is that the car has a hatch back look but it’s more of a stubby trunk like the Dart had.

 

[alaskanblue]

IMO I would’ve thought there would be certain businesses LE would obtain security footage from as a matter of common practice in a case like this. I would think petrol/gas stations and banks would fit this category… high likelihood of having working security cameras running 24/7. A quick search of petrol stations in Moscow gave me a total of 8 (give or take 1 or 2 not listed). Even if the town has a dozen petrol stations, that doesn’t seem like too many for LE to be able to gather and sift through? It’s not like it’s an area or city with 50+ petrol stations they would need footage from, it’s approximately 8. Seems like that would be one of the first, basic checks to do, especially given they have a potentially suspicious car in the area of the crime… they KNOW someone either involved or a potential witness was driving around the town! Why did they wait for that type of information to be brought to them?

Yes, I commented on this too, I think anyone with any common sense knows how important CCTV camera footage is to get ASAP after the crime. Good for you scoping out how many gas stations are in the Moscow area, of course I'd think they'd go to ANY business in a likely escape area as well.

 

[Aquarian]

The white Elantra being talked about on SM is interesting because when you look at 1127 King RD from a distance on Google maps you can see it parked in the front. But now when you zoom into the house it changes to a completely different year that google maps took an image of the house.

Funny, I remember seeing another view awhile back of that garage with a small white car and then when the whole car thing came about I wanted to go back and take another look. That’s when google was blocking the views with erasure looking marks to the street view etc. Suspicious to me, wonder if there’s significance in this? Previous tenant?

 

[Crystal clear truth]

I just don't see the LE being at any fault for the surveillance video delay. Measuring from the crime scene to the gas station in question, there are 100's of other businesses closer to the crime scene than this specific location. In addition, most of those other businesses are closer to route 95, which seems to carry more traffic for people going in, and out, of Moscow. I don't fault anyone on wanting to focus on prioritizing all of those locations over this gas station, and there just doesn't exist the manpower to get every piece of footage from an area with so many businesses in a dense location.

Good for the person at this gas station for taking the time to review the footage on their own and help out. That's what a good citizen does, and, instead of the people criticizing and saying, "Why didn't LE visit us earlier," maybe they should look at what the people did at this gas station and follow their example. They wouldn't even have to review it! Common sense would tell someone to hit save on those nights, and then send it over to the tip line.

I have cameras on my home, and I review things frequently when there are crimes even remotely close to my area. You just never know. A lesson to all to be proactive and helpful, because investigators can't be everywhere all at once.

I would have hoped and I hope in future that it will be SOP to send a simple letter to all businesses at least surrounding major arteries in and out of town to maintain footage. Is early and I can't come up with the right wording - but a simple letter wouldn't be too hard to send out

 

[jbennett]

I wonder if any of the businesses in the strip mall to the east of the gas station are open during the time the car was seen in the vicinity of the gas station.