Idaho murders latest news: Moscow stabbings house to be cleaned by professional crew, police say

A store manager in Moscow, Idaho said last week that Kaylee Goncalves voiced fears about a potential stalker before she and three other students were killed.

He said that Goncalves and Mogen would always come together with two other girls. The last time the group was at the store, he said, he had asked them if they were travelling together in an attempt to stay safe.

“One of them more or less openly says, ‘Oh yeah, we’ve had one of our friends be stalked before so that is why we travel in a group like this,” the man said, adding that Mogen was who voiced the concerns while she motioned to Goncalves.

“You could tell they were all obviously trying to keep Kaylee safe and be there for her as good friends.”

Moscow Police said weeks ago that they had looked extensively at reports that Goncalves had a stalker, but were unable to link that line of investigation to the murders. The criminal probe entered its second month this week with the killer still at large.

On Tuesday, Moscow Police released an update where they acknowledged the legal battle between the professor and the internet sleuth and confirmed that the academic is not connected to the unsolved killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

“At this time in the investigation, detectives do not believe the female associate professor and chair of the history department at the University of Idaho suing a TikTok user for defamation is involved in this crime,” police said in an update on Tuesday.

“The Moscow Police Department will not provide a statement about the ongoing civil process.”

The statement comes after TikTok user Ashley Guillard made a series of videos in early December accusing Professor and history chair Rebecca Scofield of being involved in the murders – while also claiming to have solved several other high-profile murders in the past through tarot reading.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were killed between 3am and 4am on 13 November, Moscow Police have previously said.

The group had arrived home before 2am and were found dead by law enforcement around noon after a 911 call about an “unconscious person” was made from the phone of one of the surviving roommates nearly nine hours later.

Chapin and Kernodle’s bodies were found on the second floor while Mogen and Goncalves were found inside a room on the third floor. The two surviving roommates were on the first floor during the stabbings and are believed to have slept through it.

Earlier this month, a neighbour of the victims has come forward with information about the crime scene, telling Fox News Digital that they saw the victims’ front door, which opens to the first level of the house, wide open around 8.30am on the day of the attack.

The Moscow Police Department is working through thousands of email and phone tips, as well as more than 4,500 digital media submissions including surveillance camera footage.

Investigators are also still looking for any information about a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra that was seen near the rental home around the time the students were killed.

“Investigators believe the occupant(s) may have critical information to share regarding this case and have identified over 22,000 vehicles,” the department wrote in the news release.

“If you know of, or own, a vehicle matching this description, or know of anyone who may have been driving this specific vehicle on the days preceding or the day of the murders, please forward that information to the Tip Line.”

Cole Altenede lived in the six-bedroom, off-campus home on King Road, Moscow, during his junior year, before graduating from the college in 2022.

On 13 November, current tenants Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle and Kernodle’s boyfriend – who was staying with her for the night – were brutally stabbed to death inside the property.

Two other female roommates were home at the time and are believed to have slept through the violent attacks.

The surviving roommates were in rooms on the first floor of the home, while the victims were found on the second and third floors, according to Moscow Police. The two surviving roommates were both ruled out as suspects early on in the investigation.

In a video update on Thursday, Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry the cleaning process will take place before the house at 1122 King Road is returned to the property management company.

“Starting Friday morning we’re going to be bringing in a professional cleaning crew to go to the residence,” Mr Fry said.

“Part of the reason we’re doing that is because of the biohazards, as well as chemicals that were used during the investigation.”

The mother of a woman who survived a triple murder in Moscow back in 2015 has spoken out as the investigation into the quadruple murder of four Idaho students rumbles on.

Before the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, Moscow had not recorded a murder since 2015.

That murder involved a gunman going on a shooting rampage inside a local Arby’s restaurant.

Three victims were killed in the attack.

Angela Davidson told NewsNation that her daughter Sydney Jones worked at the restaurant and survived the shooting that day.

She said that Ms Jones hasn’t been the same since the murders as she said her heart goes out to the families and the two surviving roommates of the 13 November attack.

“I can’t imagine the family now. And the survivors, especially what they’re going through here, not knowing who did it, and possibly having that person still out there,” she said.

Of the two surviving roommates, she urged their families to “love them, listen to them, be there for them”.

“Seek out the professional help. They may say they don’t want it, but they need it. And they are going to process it in so many different ways,” she said.

“It’s nice to have a professional on your side and the support of a mental health professional to get through this time because it’s not a quick thing. There’s a forever scar. And it’s going to be there forever.”

More than six weeks on from the killings, no suspects have been identified.

However, investigators have ruled out several people as suspects in the murders.

• The two surviving housemates who were left unharmed and appear to have slept through the murders
• Other friends who were in the home when the 911 call was made alerting police to the murders
• Kaylee Goncalves’ former long-term boyfriend
• A man dubbed “hoodie guy” who was caught on footage with Madison Mogen and Goncalves at a food truck on the night of 12 November
• The person who gave them a ride from the food truck back to the home on King Road
• A sixth person listed on the lease of the student home
• A University of Idaho professor baselessly accused of being involved in the murders by a TikToker

The mother of a woman who survived a triple murder in Moscow back in 2015 has spoken out as the investigation into the quadruple murder of four Idaho students rumbles on.

Before the 13 November murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, Moscow had not recorded a murder since 2015.

That murder involved a gunman going on a shooting rampage inside a local Arby’s restaurant.

Three victims were killed in the attack.

Angela Davidson told NewsNation that her daughter Sydney Jones worked at the restaurant and survived the shooting that day.

She said that Ms Jones hasn’t been the same since the murders as she said her heart goes out to the families and the two surviving roommates of the 13 November attack.

“I can’t imagine the family now. And the survivors, especially what they’re going through here, not knowing who did it, and possibly having that person still out there,” she said.

Of the two surviving roommates, she urged their families to “love them, listen to them, be there for them”.

“Seek out the professional help. They may say they don’t want it, but they need it. And they are going to process it in so many different ways,” she said.

“It’s nice to have a professional on your side and the support of a mental health professional to get through this time because it’s not a quick thing. There’s a forever scar. And it’s going to be there forever.”

In a sit-down interview with CBS affiliate KREM 2 News, Moscow Police Department James Fry said he wished he had held a press conference in the immediate aftermath of the quadruple murder in the college town.

“I take responsibility for information not getting out as soon as possible,” Mr Fry said. “At the beginning of this, you know, we are a small department so everybody was working on this, me included.”

“We realised pretty quickly that we needed to get information out, that’s why we called a [public information officer] team and they’ve helped us … I think we’re much better at that.”

The department has since opted to offer new press releases every other day, despite the lack of substantial updates.

Moscow Police requested the help of Idaho State Police and the FBI, but has seemingly remained the lead agency in the probe.

Authorities have maintained that the department “does have a lot of information” that is not being released in order to protect the integrity of the investigation.