ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Moscow # 37

[3FrenchHens]

It's improbable and it does complicate things (having multiple people involved in the killings). ALL MOO.

However, this is a highly unusual crime. Since most of this thread has been speculation about various combinations of motive and opportunity, I thought I'd SPECULATE and chime in about scenarios I haven't seen discussed much.

What it someone had a secret? Let's say the secret involved something illegal or highly disreputable or simply very private? What if one of the four victims learned this secret and the secret-keeper believes they told their friend group and that they're being gossiped about? What if they are being gossiped about? This person could be a frat boy (more on that below) or a sorority sister. This person could have a loyal defender (who is also, for lack of a better word, crazy aggressive and aggro). We have spoken of Neighbor Wars, because we all know that occasionally neighbors kill each other (or even more than one person) over petty things (petty to us). But there can be other kinds of social networks that result in violence - rare, of course, but I believe we'll eventually learn that this rare crime does have reasons behind it (from the killer or killers' points of view).

What if someone had a longterm drug problem? (NOT the victims - the perpetrator). What if the drugs included various combinations of meth (common enough in a college community) and some of the hallucinogens that college students are so into these days? What if a person spent a lot of their waking time fantasizing about violence and killing? They go on the internet and learn about weaponry, how to kill. The meth makes them feel invincible and indeed, meth can temporarily improve certain aspects of performance (like speed), but its ability to give artificial grandiosity and purpose to a user is well known. In the ER, when a person comes in under the influence of meth, almost no one can immediately tell the difference between their mental states, and a manic person - or a schizophrenic person. Psychoses can look very much alike. I haven't done research in an ER in over a decade, but when I did, of the possibilities here in the Los Angeles area, it was almost always meth causing the psychosis (not mental illness - but that did occur as well). And it was common. I was also working in jails at the same time, and we saw a lot of people go straight from a violent situation in their neighborhoods to jail - under the influence of meth. Knife waving, cutting self and others, stabbings (including of police officers), attempted stabbings (often aimed at police), etc. Most were on meth. Some were just mentally ill or drunk. Drunk + meth is a terrible combo.

Third scenario: Frat Boys. Sorry to say, but frat boys do occasionally commit crimes (often under the influence of alcohol or drugs). Some of the crimes are minor (hazing) and some are major (hazing again - because surely even frat boys know that they can kill someone with alcohol, asphyxiation (sitting on chests), or...soy sauce.

Okay, so the soy sauce didn't actually end in a death, but it came close:

Soy Sauce Overdose Nearly Killed University of Virginia Student

A young man at a frat party ingested a quart of soy sauce on a dare and began having seizures when his friends rushed him to the ER.

www.universityherald.com

Here's a link to one of the worst fraternity based crime stories:

What We Know About the 37 Frat Guys Facing Charges for the Hazing Death of a 19-Year-Old

Five men will face murder charges over a 2013 incident where a college freshman was beaten up while walking blindfolded across a frozen yard in the Pennsylvania mountains.

www.vice.com

And another:

Penn State fraternity hazing scandal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The degree of cover-up that can happen in a frat is actually mind-boggling.

(There are way more examples over the past century - but the past decade is enough to peruse if you get interested in frat crime - there's always the Cannibal Face Eating Frat Boy who, of course, was on drugs).

-------
Having written all that, I am not any closer to a real scenario, except that I do believe this could be either an individual or more than one individual. If more than one individual, my money is on it being related to Greek life/frats/sororities. Both sororities involved in this story were on probation for hazing. Sigma Chi was in good standing, but there had been general hazing issues on campus over the past 7-8 years.

I believe that everything from crazed psycho killer to "personal reasons" killer should still be on the table. And while it seems very odd to me that there would be more than one killer or that the killer had some kind of car or back-up at the scene, I can't discount that either.

My hope is that the killer is not a loner, as they will be very hard to find. If no one knows them well, no one knows they had a certain type knife, no one ever knows that person's whereabouts and they don't always carry a cell phone, it's very depressing. But LE seems optimistic and I still believe they've had a short list of possibilities since Day 1 and that they're still working those leads. I'm guessing the siblings of EC would know quite a bit about EC's situation. If K was the actual target, unfortunately her BFF died with her. A rando who had studied the neighborhood and zeroed in on this house, on that night, is going to be very hard to find.

MOO

IMOO, all In My Opinion Only
Greek-life is a factor. If not related to the crime, then related to its investigation, somehow. All four victims were members of greek-life at one time.

Please read this article; explains the dynamics of the fraternity system and challenges for universities and fraternity members themselves when there are potential lawsuits. It is a lengthy article and worth it. It also discusses student deaths at this same university, a few pages in.
This was written eight years ago, The Atlantic 2014, and the situation has likely evolved since then: Why Don’t Colleges Get Rid of Their Bad Fraternities? - The Atlantic

Greek-life is a subculture, with estimated 10%+ population across US/Canada. The subcultures generally have similar social structure, hierarchy, reputations, and abundant secrecy.

Fraternities and sororities - Wikipedia

“Individual fraternities and sororities vary in organization and purpose, but most share five common elements: 1. Secrecy"
“ … estimated that more than 10 percent of all college students are members of a Greek-letter society.” “ …there are more than 5,500 chapters on 800 campuses throughout the United States and Canada.”

Social Fraternities and Sororities - History, Characteristics of Fraternities and Sororities, Reforms and Renewal - College, Fraternity, Greek, and Campuses - StateUniversity.com
US News says “US Department of Education lists nearly 4,000 …” How Many Universities Are in the U.S. and Why That Number Is Changing (usnews.com)

This is not a negative opinion or criticism of any organization or greek system. BBM Just sharing information about the intricacy of the case with the greek-system layer.

All In My Opinion. MOO. JMO

 

[IspyWithMyBigEye]

This has been a question of much discussion in my household. Two of us are college professors. Most classes at U of Idaho were being held in the real world. I noticed that K's name was not on the list of graduates at the recent graduation, so she must have had coursework to complete. In fact, I find it hard to believe she didn't have at least 9-12 units, given that she was graduating a semester early and had done an internship (rather than stay in Moscow and do coursework) during the summer. Maybe there were more online classes during the summer.

K arrives in Moscow around mid-August (August 11?) and the party at 1122 King Road is Sept 1. She is on body cam in August for a noise complaint (at 1122 King Road). Her mother says she came home about 10 days before Nov 12, so let's say around Nov 2. It doesn't sound like she was planning to come back again until graduation. It's possible she found shorter courses (accelerated courses) to finish her units, but units are units, and that would be an unusual way to finish out a degree (accelerated courses are usually lower division courses, for what I hope are obvious reasons).

Why did she leave early? Getting a paid internship during the summer is quite an accomplishment, and may have signaled a career change for her (University president announced her major as General Studies when he gave his press release regarding the tragedy). How did she find the internship? She had over 50,000 followers at the time of her death (and almost 60,000 now). That's a lot of social contacts. We know nothing about her online interactions with this growing group of people - nor do we know what aspects of her content on instagram drew that many followers. Was she networking nationwide?

Her lease must have been up in December, so why did she leave early? AND break up with her longterm boyfriend at around the same time? The break-up is said to have occurred about 10 days before she went back home (so let's say Oct 24ish).

This is a lot of change for even a young person. It's possible she had only lower division requirements to complete (say, an English course) and got permission from a prof to work from home (students ask for that all the time - but generally, they have to have a good reason, such as illness).

Anyway, at what point did she register for fully online classes, if she did (I'm finding plenty of GE classes that were fully online). Why would a student pay for rent if they didn't have to? She apparently intended to occupy (and party at) 1122 King Road for her last semester. What changed her mind?

I'm not disrespecting her goals of having fun during her last semester at university, I'm just curious about what changed during the semester, given that she signed a lease, apparently had classes on campus (why else be there?) and then changed midstream. She apparently gave no clues to her parents, other than excitement about wanting the next phase of her life to begin (which might be precisely what motivated her to move away from Moscow). Was she really going to backpack Europe by herself?

I can’t find the multi quote on here, but in answer to your question:

“Why did Kylee still at rent even though she didn’t have to”

She did have to pay rent as she was on a year long lease.

 

[Tillyjames]

According to her parents, she had moved back home about 10 days before her death.

She came back to Moscow (according to her parents) for a party at her (former) sorority on Friday night, I believe, and to show her best friend, Maddie, her new-to-her car (a 2016 Range Rover, IIRC).

It's just strange that she started out in mid-August as a campus-based student, with a lease, but decided to leave. It just keeps popping up in my mind that perhaps she was scared. Of something. I know from being the parent of two daughters that, at that age, they want to handle everything themselves without telling parents all the details.

Good to see you here, Gitana! Hope life is treating you well.

Or maybe after the break up she was having a hard time and wanted to be home, MOO (really just a possible scenario) I do agree it’s a bit strange she was home at that time so close to end of school year

 

[indicolite22]

I agree with this analysis; and further, as I have stated before, I don't think the car in the video was an Elantra, I think it was a Nissan Sentra. If so, the cops are stumbling down the wrong alley.

It may be that this is only solved with DNA....if it is ever solved.

A parked white car can be seen in the body camera footage, but police told Fox News Digital the vehicle is a Chevy Cavalier, not the Hyundai Elantra they are trying to track down.

Idaho murders: Police release bodycam video from night of killings

Idaho officials released body camera footage Thursday of a police stop recorded around the same time four college students were stabbed to death and near the crime scene.

www.foxnews.com

IIRC, body cam footage came from there different officers. In one video a car is seen driving by on Taylor Road at 2:58 that could be the one also caught on camera located on Linda Lane.

 

[10ofRods]

Revenge kills are typically committed with a more private (re: solo) opportunity to kill the object of hate. Likewise, even if this was a 'spur of the moment and rage-based' revenge kill, and the perp just couldn't wait for a private opportunity, there would almost certainly be evidence everywhere. Furthermore, any real connection to the victims, even if tangential, would've likely been identified by now.

People who murder under a state of psychosis - drug induced or no - and/or heavy intoxication do so messily and are generally caught pretty quickly.

Not saying a frat boy can't mass murder, but to me it is unlikely that it was a frat boy in this case simply because if there was a mere tangential connection to either/all of the victims or the car, he would almost certainly be behind bars by now.

My opinion.

I believe a connection between one or more POI's and the house has been established, just to give an opinion. I believe that's one reason the BAU is still on the scene.

They are dealing with a dangerous killer who may also be a drug user, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. I think they have a suicide-by-cop scenario as one of the pages in the playbook.

Not all messy killers are caught quickly. David Berkowitz (sp?) comes to mind. Richard Ramirez comes to mind. There are lots of others - this killer is in that small category of non-ordinary crime committers, IMO. And really, Richard Allen was really careless (gets his picture taken, talks to LE, admits being near the bridge at the time of the Delphi murders - they even wrote up a warrant and were working on an arrest affidavit when someone lost the file). 5 years for that ridiculously careless person to be caught (still had the jacket, still had the gun).

I think they need a strong case BEFORE the arrest, because of the way the legal system works. LE and the DA need to feel they have an entire case, not just part of one. I believe they think this person is very unlikely to commit another mass murder. They know who he is or have narrowed it down to 1-2 people, but they do not know exactly where these people are. They are going to the homes of the various parties (students) who know bits of what happened or have heard things, and documenting that and finding more questions to ask certain people who are on the "believed not to be a suspect" list, but who know things.

None of this is unusual. I think it's actually the more common situation (that LE waits to make an arrest in a complicated case). They need to prepare an arrest affidavit - they can't just go grab someone unless that person is observed committing another crime.

It's also possible LE has only a vague group of possible POI's. I just tend to be more optimistic and am often gravely disappointed.

At the very least, they should wait the months it takes for DNA analysis, IMO.

Oh, and I think LE and BAU regard this killer as a real threat to LE when they do go in to capture him (like Joe De Angelo) First they may need to secretly get his DNA from a public setting, just as in that case. Then, they need to be aware that he might be armed with more than a knife this time, and may not want to be taken alive. They want neither a suicide or more homicide.

 

[SoHelpMeGod]

Can someone help me with a potential motive for multiple murderers to kill these four, yet leave two potential witnesses alive?
<snipped for focus>

It isn't a motive, but I think the killer could have perhaps intended to kill all 6 but possibly stopped short because:
1) The headlights from the white Elantra were inadvertently shining on some part of the house and the killer decided to stop and exit before getting to the remaining 2 (I'm assuming the Elantra was that close to the house, but we really don't know as LE has not said so).
2) The knife blade tip broke during the stabbing of the 4th victim so they had to stop.

Alternatively, if the killer was not part of the inner or expanded social circle and were just watching/obsessing about the house from the back, they may not have been thinking about the 2 bedrooms on the 1st floor at all.

I'm just guessing like everyone else, so MOO only....

 

[North_Idaho_Nony]

That reason can be pretty foggy and hard to understand for a normal person. Like, someone hated the victims for who they were - young, attractive, socially active people.

That house has a perfect location for stalking. No street lights around, a slope overgrown with trees and bushes behind it... I can easily imagine someone sitting there, watching these brightly lit windows and people inside, and fantasising. Either about fulfilling his sick fantasies, or about revenge... Or punishment.

<modsnip>

This is perhaps the one scenario where I can see more than one assailant involved, at least from a planning standpoint. MOO

It’s not my top theory, but it’s on my list above things like a professional hit, drug cartel, etc. MOO

 

[schooling]

It isn't a motive, but I think the killer could have perhaps intended to kill all 6 but possibly stopped short because:
1) The headlights from the white Elantra were inadvertently shining on some part of the house and the killer decided to stop and exit before getting to the remaining 2 (I'm assuming the Elantra was that close to the house, but we really don't know as LE has not said so).
2) The knife blade tip broke during the stabbing of the 4th victim so they had to stop.

Alternatively, if the killer was not part of the inner or expanded social circle and were just watching/obsessing about the house from the back, they may not have been thinking about the 2 bedrooms on the 1st floor at all.

I'm just guessing like everyone else, so MOO only....

Are you going off an assumption that the Elantra was merely a witness? Was there something specifically said that led you down this path? Honestly curious.

I always assumed that the Elantra was more likely to be directly involved than not. And they probably have a string of videos across multiple cameras that puts it in the time and location AND may have some erratic driving or behavior documented. And that’s what really got their attention. We can probably also assume that there were many Elantras at one point (not literally, mean more other cars) that they were quickly able to clear or identify owners.

I also believe that they probably have the Elantra traveling North (on the 25 I believe) along the Washington border and probably lost it at some point - hence the involvement of Washington LE and the notice to the Canadian border.

 

[Sister Golden Hair]

@Marie A: you are to Elantra as I am to Murphy

 

[wary]

I agree with this analysis; and further, as I have stated before, I don't think the car in the video was an Elantra, I think it was a Nissan Sentra. If so, the cops are stumbling down the wrong alley.

It may be that this is only solved with DNA....if it is ever solved.

I believe that we have no particular reason to think that the ‘car in the video’ is the car that LE is looking for?

MOO

 

[Helechawagirl]

I'm trying to figure out how many of those things apply to me.

A car obsessively cleaned. Check
A comment that seemed off. Check
Unexpected absence from work. Check
A phone left unattended in someone’s room. Check
A change in demeanor before and after. Check
Following case updates. Check
Buying bleach. Check
Browsing history. Check (Seriously, I shudder to think what anyone would surmise viewing my browsing history from researching the things discussed in this forum.)

Yikes!

Um do you drive a white Elantra by any chance? (Asking for a friend…)

 

[CityKid]

It's improbable and it does complicate things (having multiple people involved in the killings). ALL MOO.

However, this is a highly unusual crime. Since most of this thread has been speculation about various combinations of motive and opportunity, I thought I'd SPECULATE and chime in about scenarios I haven't seen discussed much.

What it someone had a secret? Let's say the secret involved something illegal or highly disreputable or simply very private? What if one of the four victims learned this secret and the secret-keeper believes they told their friend group and that they're being gossiped about? What if they are being gossiped about? This person could be a frat boy (more on that below) or a sorority sister. This person could have a loyal defender (who is also, for lack of a better word, crazy aggressive and aggro). We have spoken of Neighbor Wars, because we all know that occasionally neighbors kill each other (or even more than one person) over petty things (petty to us). But there can be other kinds of social networks that result in violence - rare, of course, but I believe we'll eventually learn that this rare crime does have reasons behind it (from the killer or killers' points of view).

What if someone had a longterm drug problem? (NOT the victims - the perpetrator). What if the drugs included various combinations of meth (common enough in a college community) and some of the hallucinogens that college students are so into these days? What if a person spent a lot of their waking time fantasizing about violence and killing? They go on the internet and learn about weaponry, how to kill. The meth makes them feel invincible and indeed, meth can temporarily improve certain aspects of performance (like speed), but its ability to give artificial grandiosity and purpose to a user is well known. In the ER, when a person comes in under the influence of meth, almost no one can immediately tell the difference between their mental states, and a manic person - or a schizophrenic person. Psychoses can look very much alike. I haven't done research in an ER in over a decade, but when I did, of the possibilities here in the Los Angeles area, it was almost always meth causing the psychosis (not mental illness - but that did occur as well). And it was common. I was also working in jails at the same time, and we saw a lot of people go straight from a violent situation in their neighborhoods to jail - under the influence of meth. Knife waving, cutting self and others, stabbings (including of police officers), attempted stabbings (often aimed at police), etc. Most were on meth. Some were just mentally ill or drunk. Drunk + meth is a terrible combo.

Third scenario: Frat Boys. Sorry to say, but frat boys do occasionally commit crimes (often under the influence of alcohol or drugs). Some of the crimes are minor (hazing) and some are major (hazing again - because surely even frat boys know that they can kill someone with alcohol, asphyxiation (sitting on chests), or...soy sauce.

Okay, so the soy sauce didn't actually end in a death, but it came close:

Soy Sauce Overdose Nearly Killed University of Virginia Student

A young man at a frat party ingested a quart of soy sauce on a dare and began having seizures when his friends rushed him to the ER.

www.universityherald.com

Here's a link to one of the worst fraternity based crime stories:

What We Know About the 37 Frat Guys Facing Charges for the Hazing Death of a 19-Year-Old

Five men will face murder charges over a 2013 incident where a college freshman was beaten up while walking blindfolded across a frozen yard in the Pennsylvania mountains.

www.vice.com

And another:

Penn State fraternity hazing scandal - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The degree of cover-up that can happen in a frat is actually mind-boggling.

(There are way more examples over the past century - but the past decade is enough to peruse if you get interested in frat crime - there's always the Cannibal Face Eating Frat Boy who, of course, was on drugs).

-------
Having written all that, I am not any closer to a real scenario, except that I do believe this could be either an individual or more than one individual. If more than one individual, my money is on it being related to Greek life/frats/sororities. Both sororities involved in this story were on probation for hazing. Sigma Chi was in good standing, but there had been general hazing issues on campus over the past 7-8 years.

I believe that everything from crazed psycho killer to "personal reasons" killer should still be on the table. And while it seems very odd to me that there would be more than one killer or that the killer had some kind of car or back-up at the scene, I can't discount that either.

My hope is that the killer is not a loner, as they will be very hard to find. If no one knows them well, no one knows they had a certain type knife, no one ever knows that person's whereabouts and they don't always carry a cell phone, it's very depressing. But LE seems optimistic and I still believe they've had a short list of possibilities since Day 1 and that they're still working those leads. I'm guessing the siblings of EC would know quite a bit about EC's situation. If K was the actual target, unfortunately her BFF died with her. A rando who had studied the neighborhood and zeroed in on this house, on that night, is going to be very hard to find.

MOO

You've hit on my key beliefs about this (frat boys; drugs; something secret and possibly illegal; possibly more than one killer). My scenario varies as I hear new facts, but I feel pretty confident this will reveal some ugly truths about non-psycho killers living ordinary lives...until they don't. I hope when campus life resumes, the families will see arrest(s), even though it can't stop their pain.

 

[gizmobtj]

I’ve been taught that a PD is a personality disorder such as a psychopath, which is untreatable. Whereas people suffering from mental health disorders such as Schizophrenia can be treated (though not cured) and it’s they who are usually harmless and have more chance of being hurt themselves.

Someone with a PD (psychopath) has no empathy and can kill easily. Nearly all mass murderers are psychopaths, that’s established.

Don't believe what you hear.

There are many personality disorders that are highly treatable. Dialetic Behavioral Therapy has been highly effective with borderline, histrionic and other disorders (https://scholar.google.com/scholar_...Bfm2x64YcJ6mphakC-J3dlDBeliq0hg&oi=scholarr); co-dependent programs and CBT treatments for Dependent Personality Disorder (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3138327/); CBT for Avoidant Personality Disorder (Ibid); psychpdynamic therapy for Obessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13651500802570972?journalCode=ijpc20) and so on.

Not to go down a rabbit hole, but psychopaths can be treated too, not by building empathy but by using fear. I don't have access to the journal articles here, so let's call this my opinion-- but I believe that at the Paxtuent Institution for the criminally insane in Maryland, when predators with ASPD were dominated by other more effective predators, those who were dominated reverted to socially appropriate behaviors. Survival in the laws of the jungle.

 

[gitana1]

According to her parents, she had moved back home about 10 days before her death.

She came back to Moscow (according to her parents) for a party at her (former) sorority on Friday night, I believe, and to show her best friend, Maddie, her new-to-her car (a 2016 Range Rover, IIRC).

It's just strange that she started out in mid-August as a campus-based student, with a lease, but decided to leave. It just keeps popping up in my mind that perhaps she was scared. Of something. I know from being the parent of two daughters that, at that age, they want to handle everything themselves without telling parents all the details.

Good to see you here, Gitana! Hope life is treating you well.

Wow. That’s news to me.

 

[Sister Golden Hair]

Are you going off an assumption that the Elantra was merely a witness? Was there something specifically said that led you down this path? Honestly curious.

I always assumed that the Elantra was more likely to be directly involved than not. And they probably have a string of videos across multiple cameras that puts it in the time and location AND may have some erratic driving or behavior documented. And that’s what really got their attention. We can probably also assume that there were many Elantras at one point (not literally, mean more other cars) that they were quickly able to clear or identify owners.

I also believe that they probably have the Elantra traveling North (on the 25 I believe) along the Washington border and probably lost it at some point - hence the involvement of Washington LE and the notice to the Canadian border.

I agree re the identification of the Elantra across multiple videos, and yes they could have gone 25. IF they kept the HE (perhaps changed license plates or colors), then taking the road less traveled could work for them IMO. BUT if they dumped the HE, then bouncing over to Pullman, up to Spokane and then going to CA would have benefited them in a number of ways IMO. Pullman was super busy with family weekend. IMO it would have made sense to get lost in that crowd November 12, 2022 | Events | Washington State University
plus there are the added benefits of WA enhanced expectation of privacy I've previously shared.


Quoted and bolded by me. everything here is JMI IMO IMI, but not wild speculation, just an application of the few facts we know filtered through my own opinion after evaluation of the known facts. Known facts include: police map, map of Moscow, four people killed in two bedrooms (potentially - this from SG not LE), killings done with a knife, two roommates and a dog left alive, layout/floorplan of house, and time/location of killings.

 

[10ofRods]

I'm not sure HG's identity has been revealed, but that video was on the walk from Corner Club to the food truck.

His identity has not been in MSM AFAIK, and certainly isn't in the LE updates.

He has spoken publicly. He uses his own name, etc. IMO he has acquitted himself admirably and doesn't need to have his name in the newspapers.

IMO.

 

[di anna]

There has really been no mention of the term "bullying" on this forum. However in our society it is extremely common. Elementary, middle, and high schools have a very high morbidity rate as well as universities. Violence is often a result of "bullying". Could be that this person has been excluded either intentionally or unintentionally by groups of people and has developed rage and planned a retaliation. Food for thought.... current research by the CDC and private universities have a plethora of evidence based research on the correlation of "bullying" and violence. "Bullying" is also common in the the workplace.

 

[Data Sleuth]

I believe that we have no particular reason to think that the ‘car in the video’ is the car that LE is looking for?

MOO

Regarding the white car captured on camera near the gas station.
iirc-The police never released any photos or comments saying it was an Elantra or a vehicle they were looking for.
The gas station worker reviewed video and found the video of a white car, thought it may be of interest to LE and notified them.
They came to view/ download files and took them review, they gave no info to the media or public.
The gas station employee released the still image that she took from a video screen, she gave an interview to a media source.
Link:Idaho murders: Cops take hours of video from gas station after clerk spots white car on night of stabbings

 

[CSIDreamer]

His identity has not been in MSM AFAIK, and certainly isn't in the LE updates.

He has spoken publicly. He uses his own name, etc. IMO he has acquitted himself admirably and doesn't need to have his name in the newspapers.

IMO.

If he's spoken publicly, then there must be a link somewhere. I haven't seen it yet, can you link?

 

[javi]

I think just because of the unique design of the house, it has to be considered. This would not be an easy house to maneuver around it if you were not familiar with it. There are TWO drop-downs--one, going from the kitchen into the living room. The other, going from the living room to the third floor stairs. Even with a flashlight or headlamp, it would be very easy to stumble or fall if you were not aware they were there. Especially the one going into the living room from the kitchen because you have to go to the right through the short foyer then to the left. You would not be able to see that step-down easily.

I don't think it has ever been positively determined if Ethan was in the hallway or his bedroom. But if the killer had fallen, that certainly may have been what could have made him come out of his bedroom to investigate.