A renowned forensic pathologist and former medical examiner told Fox News Digital that toxicology reports on four slain University of Idaho students could contain potential leads into the cold case.
“From toxicology, you can learn a lot about where the deceased were in the hours before they died, what medications they were taking, if any, their state of mind,” said Dr. Michael Baden. “Did they take drugs that could have put them to sleep and not wake up during the encounter?”
Baden’s comments came in response to remarks by Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt in an exclusive interview last week with Fox News Digital dismissing the evidence, which had not yet returned from the lab, as irrelevant to the college murders.
The Moscow Police Department declined to comment on Friday whether the toxicology reports are still pending.
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A combination of photos from the Latah County Coroner, left, and the four students who were stabbed to death on November 13 in a rental home near the University of Idaho campus.
(Courtesy of Cathy Mabbutt/Instagram)
It’s been over a month since Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were stabbed to death in their rental home near campus on November 13 between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m.
Mabbutt said the students were ambushed in their sleep with a large knife.
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Moscow police, working with the FBI and Idaho State Police, have yet to name a suspect or recover the fixed-blade knife they believe was used in the shocking murders.
A view of the house in Moscow, Idaho, on December 4, 2022, where a quadruple homicide took place on November 13.
(Hunter Richards for Fox News Digital)
Baden noted that Mabbutt, whose handling of the case has been criticized, is a coroner and not a doctor. Mabbutt, a lawyer with her own law firm in the city, used to work as a nurse and was elected coroner in 2006.
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Their primary role is to determine the cause and manner of death based on autopsy reports issued by a pathologist with the Spokane Office of the Medical Examiner.
Frequent Fox News contributor Dr. Michael Baden weighs in on the unsolved murder of four University of Idaho students.
(Fox News)
Baden said toxicology probably won’t have anything to do with cause or manner of death (stabbing homicide), but could offer other insights.
“These days there are literally hundreds of drugs being sought in toxicology that are new and different because all the drugs like fentanyl and methamphetamine come from different sources,” he said. “Certain drugs are used in Washington versus Idaho, and this could offer clues as to where they were or who they were with before they died.”
Steven Goncalves, his wife Kristi Goncalves, and their murdered daughter, Kaylee Goncalves.
(Ted Warren via AP/Instagram)
Urine, blood and stomach contents are often tested as part of a toxicology report, Baden added. “Maybe one of the victims was injected with the food,” she said. “This would be an important test.”
Baden described the system of using coroners in parts of the US as an archaic relic of British colonial rule.
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Retired Los Angeles Police Detective. Mark Fuhrman agreed with Mabbutt’s conclusion.
“They were attacked with a knife and basically bled to death. Toxicology wouldn’t affect that no matter what they ingested,” Fuhrman said. “I’d bet there’s alcohol in the systems of all four victims… What conclusions can you draw from that?”
Victims of the November 13 massacre at the University of Idaho.
(Instagram @xanakernodle / @maddiemogen / @kayleegoncalves)
Fuhrman criticized Mabbutt for sharing details of the autopsy with the families of the victims.
“She should stop talking,” Fuhrman added. “She has never done an autopsy. She doesn’t understand the value of the autopsy information to the police. She shouldn’t have talked to anyone about the injuries to any of the victims.”
Kaylee Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, told Fox News Digital that he was upset that Mabbutt shared grisly details of Kaylee’s injuries with his underage daughter.
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Mabbutt also shared with him details of the other victims’ injuries, which he felt were inappropriate. Mabbutt declined to comment.
Police are asking the public to call in leads to the 208-883-7180, E-mail tipline@ci.moscow.id.us or send digital media here.
