ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Moscow # 9

[NatKingCola]

IMO, there's a chance the dog knew the killer. That could be why the dog didn't bark, attack or run off.

I think that is a reasonable possibility. I also think potentially it was crated (a keen commenter said that, not me lol), or terribly even hiding someplace as a result of any potential trauma witnessed, yet unharmed? I want to know more about that, but also don't kinda. Seems like it might jump into the arms of any 911 callers immediately, who seem to have been familiar and safe faces? Unless potentially crated, terrified, or locked in a room. Pure speculation. MOO.

 

[Diddian]

Oh that is not good, it stinks like two females tried to report something creepy and were blown off by male Cops.
Not good at all under these circumstances!
Do you have a source?

IMO

It was not clearly stated, but it occurs to me the "unfounded" likely related to the neighbor's claim to have seen a male (say, Male "B") chasing after the two females after they screamed upon encountering another male (say, Male "A") in the passenger seat of their car. The report says LE interviewed Male "B" and he told them he approached the females to help them after hearing their screams and was not in fact "chasing them" as the neighbor had interpreted.

ETA: So, I think the "unfounded" was not referring to the females' initial report about a male who they discovered sitting in their vehicle as the females approached it.

 

[RetiredEE]

Why is that strange? The coroner is the official in charge and responsible.

IIRC, the coroner was making statements and taking interviews before the M.E. had the bodies for autopsy. Bit of a train wreck, as I recall. Moo.

 

[diggndeeperstill]

“Autopsies were conducted on November 17th and the Latah County Coroner confirmed the identity of the four murdered individuals and their cause and manner of death as homicide by stabbing. The coroner stated the four victims were likely asleep, some had defensive wounds, and each was stabbed multiple times. There was no sign of sexual assault.”

Why is this information following Autopsies credited to the coroner? The coroner did not do the autopsies, she is not an MD or an ME. Autopsies were completed by a forensic pathologist= who has not been named, and the autopsy reports have not been released.
Is it because the Coroner made a public statement?
Did the info released by the coroner come from the ME?

IMO

My understanding was the ME would present their findings to the Coroner who would then present to LE.

 

[isabella88]

I want to know more about that, but also don't kinda.

Totally with you there.

 

[AngTxGal]

I am fairly certain I saw an official statement that LE had ascertained that the dog was not skinned or fileted and attributed his death to coyotes.
Am I mistaken?

Not to my knowledge, there is a complete article regarding the little dog, its owners, with a full description of what happened to him- quite beyond the ability of animals without thumbs as per the article.
IMO

 

[BootBoneBellBall]

When, if ever, do autopsy reports get released to the public in these kinds of cases?

 

[diggndeeperstill]

Not to my knowledge, there is a complete article regarding the little dog, its owners, with a full description of what happened to him- quite beyond the ability of animals without thumbs as per the article.
IMO

1. Are reports of skinned dogs related to these murders?

Detectives are aware of a Latah County Sheriff’s Office incident of the report of a skinned dog and have determined it is unrelated to this incident. Contact Latah County Sheriff’s Office for further details.
Detectives are also aware of a Moscow Police incident of the report of deceased animals left on a resident’s property. This was determined to be wildlife activity and unrelated to the incident.

King Road Homicides | Moscow, ID

www.ci.moscow.id.us

 

[branmuffin]

I am fairly certain I saw an official statement that LE had ascertained that the dog was not skinned or fileted and attributed his death to coyotes.
Am I mistaken?

I think there has been some confusion between the incident with the skinned dog and a couple of dead coyotes left in front of a sorority or fraternity. I thought that some law enforcement statement the skinning had been done by a human and the coyote incident was wildlife motivated.

I personally think the skinned Aussie dog may have been done by a disgruntled neighbour if the dog was on the loose a lot and killed livestock like chickens or rabbits and the owner got fed up. Not condoning such a despicable thing to do but I see some sick individual making something out of the hide to give the grieving owner glimpses of it. Here's a link.

Cops rule out link between skinned pet dog and murdered University of Idaho students

A skinned pet dog found dead last month and the grisly murders of four University of Idaho students are not connected, local authorities clarified Monday.

nypost.com

 

[JSTANOVICE]

I just wonder If some of the statements released by L.E Are meant For The perp to Hear For reasons we don’t know yet, I’m sure It Happens in A lot of cases, We All know whoever Is responsible for this Is watching The news closely…

 

[Friday Fan]

Small animals that were left on homeowners porches were attributed to coyotes...The animals left on porches were not skinned.

 

[Zinn]

I wonder why they planned a presser for Wednesday. They announced it ahead of the Sunday press event.

My guess:

1) They waited too long to begin press conferences. As early as hours after the murders, rumors were flying about multiple stabbings of students in specific sororities and a specific fraternity and those rumors very quickly made it home to families of students. Many students and their families were confused by the suggestion that remaining students were not at increased risk combined with rumors of stabbings of multiple students and no word of a suspect in custody. Rumors filled the lack of information. Family members of victims began voicing displeasure. University was in turmoil and students, professors and families needed meaningful guidance from a trusted/official source. LE apologized for slow start in publicly sharing info and committed to regularly doing this moving forward.

2) Sharing the most up-to-date case information on Wednesday is the last chance to widely share before a long holiday weekend and can help students, professors and families think through their plans for resumption of classes after break.

JMO.

 

[isabella88]

Speaking of questions- what questions would you ask?

Were any of the bedroom doors locked?
Are you leaning toward one or multiple killers?
Can you elaborate on why and how you see this crime as targeted? Would that info help protect the public?
Was there a large collection of DNA and when will you get the results?

 

[LaborDayRN]

Sometimes I’m curious how much LE wants to downplay this incident?

I don't think LE has down played these murders at all! I think they've been pretty open as far as holding press conferences and giving the public as much info as they can without giving anything away that they need to hold close to the vest.
I think we need to remember that LE doesn't REALLY have to tell us anything.

 

[JaimeInLA]

This Would mean The killer Was already in the house before everyone got Home??

Yes, which I have always believed was the case.

If he enters after they are home, he risks waking them (and would have no way of knowing they are all asleep.)

But if he’s already inside, hiding and listening— he knows it’s “go time” when the house falls silent because it’s proof they are asleep.

 

[otto]

Maybe so. You’ve made a good point.
Not in reference to your suggestion but in general now, I am distracted and tired of so much repetition here and in the media.
And I am tieed of pondering the why and how of this arrogant monster with no clear information.
I keep thinking he killed quickly on two separate floors. We don’t know what he did to them besides a fatal blow to the upper torso. We don’t know how long he took to kill or mortally wound them but realistically it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes each, especially if they were asleep or barely awakened as the attacks began.. Although others speculate that he wildly slashed , I am not convinced of that.
He could have slipped in and out in under an hour. Or hung out eating their food, playing with the dog. Or washed up and admired himself in a mirror. Who knows what all the thrill or duty entailed.
I just saw a new report. The national average rate of solved murders for 2020, the most recent year available, is only 50%. A coin toss.
A lot needs to change in all dimensions and realms for a safer society.

He took his knife and left the door open. Sometimes, when the killer lives in town or nearby, he'll toss the knife before he gets home. Police searched nearby dumpsters and do not have the murder weapon. That suggests that he kept it and took it home, or he lives so far away that it's tossed far from nearby dumpsters.

I don't think he raided the fridge, although, if he didn't realize two people were sleeping downstairs he might have taken his time after the murders. Was it reported that nothing was stolen? If nothing was stolen, I think the culprit committed the murders, walked out the door, left it open (probably kitchen door), went home. He wasn't hungry and didn't care about the stuff.

The motive is the big question. Police say "targeted", which suggests at least one victim very likely had worse injuries than the other three. What else does targeted mean? From there, we know nothing - whether the motive is dogmatic difference in values, bad childhood, mental illness, too many bad movies?

 

[North_Idaho_Nony]

Is there evidence whatsoever they were in any way "butchered?"
I am not a hunter but was taught how to use a combat knife in the military. People think using knives lethally is either some choreographed nonsense out of west side story, or some charnal house thing with entrails and bodies cut into pieces.

In reality you are taught to use the knife with stealth and make one or two deep powerful wounds in thorax. That is going to, to a virtual certainty, silence and lethality wound anyone. If they are sleeping somewhat intoxicated and barely waking, the victim could try and block the strike, or grab the knife blade and get defensive wounds. It isn't butching, has nothing to do with hunting, and can be quite silent

We know the coroner described the lethal wounds as being in the chest/upper body, so your comment is that could be consistent with someone trained, yes?

 

[Mayboy1998]

In the press conference tomorrow I’m hoping to hear some kind of specific reason why they believe this is a targeted crime, was there something written? Did some roommates appear more badly wounded then others? And hopefully they can once and for all explain how they were found.

Also unrelated, anyone have any idea when the 9-1-1 call or BodyCam footage would be public info? I’m sure it will eventually just a question of when.

 

[JaimeInLA]

I've considered this as well. And had my own thoughts. However, PD news release now says, "On the morning of the incident, officers located a dog at the residence. The dog was unharmed and turned over to Animal Services and then released to a responsible party." That's a change, right? Not sure what to think about discrepancies or how that might change your speculation. MOO.

Whoa!! that’s a total change. It said evening last night. Hmmmmm now I have to rethink about everything.

 

[Diogenetic]

IIRC, the coroner was making statements and taking interviews before the M.E. had the bodies for autopsy. Bit of a train wreck, as I recall. Moo.

The coroner is generally the M.E.'s boss. What would be wrong with the coroner making statements. It is common enough for a coroners office to officially or through leaking to give out preliminary info. Likely time of death, preliminary cause of death, and other facts are given out in quite a few cases. I dont see any train wreck.
And why would the ME be giving out anything? When in many jurisdiction it is their job to report findings at any stage to coroner who then decides what to make public.
Perusing crime sections of local papers it is common as heck for their to be information as to certain facts put out before full autopsy results. lots of times taxology can take weeks and the main results are reported out long before tox can be finished.
We don't know if any and all of these officials are crime solving idiots or geniuses, since they are Lilly withholding a fair amount of info.
Just because the press is upset at not getting everything in an ongoing case doesn't mean anything is actually being bungled. In press speak "bungled" or handled wrong, means they press did not get every lead in real time on a silver platter.

That includes intentional release of some info in ways that help community understand their risk , or lack of risk (especially since everything point to this being likely a targeted rage killing), or serve to solve the case, or to address rumors that are harmful to innocent people