MOSCOW, Idaho — Police in Moscow, Idaho, say they don’t believe a local college professor was involved in the murders of four students after the educator sued a cyber detective alleging she was connected to the gruesome unsolved crime.
The Moscow Police Department issued a news release Tuesday, 44 days since four University of Idaho students were found fatally stabbed inside an off-campus home, acknowledging investigators’ belief that the professor, whose name has not been disclosed by Fox News Digital, they were not involved in the murders.
“At this point in the investigation, detectives do not believe that the associate professor and chair of the University of Idaho history department who sued a TikTok user for defamation is involved in this offence,” the press release stated.
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Flowers at a makeshift memorial at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, on Monday, November 21, 2022, for four of its students who were killed on November 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The woman, an associate professor at the University of Idaho, sued a TikTok creator on Wednesday after she was accused of involvement in the November quadruple homicides.
The professor cited in the lawsuit several videos uploaded to TikTok in which the woman tried to link her to the crime.
Wendy J. Olson, the professor’s attorney, called the alleged cyber detective’s statements “false, clear and simple.” She said her client sent the TikTok creator two cease and desist letters, but she “continues to make false statements, knowing they are false.”
Victims of the November 13 massacre at the University of Idaho
(Instagram @xanakernodle/@maddiemogen/@kayleegoncalves)
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“What’s even worse is that these false statements create safety concerns for the professor and her family,” Olson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “They also further compound the trauma that families of victims are experiencing and undermine law enforcement efforts to find those responsible in order to provide answers to families and the public.”
Olson described the lawsuit as “necessary to protect [the professor’s] safety and reputation.
A memorial at the University of Idaho on November 17, 2022, for the four students who were killed in Moscow, Idaho on November 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The TikTok creator responded to the lawsuit in subsequent TikTok videos in which she said, “I’m not going to stop.”
“Now, I have information on what she says is her alibi. I’m going to dig into that as well,” he said in a video posted Friday.
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He then released a different video two days later in which he wrote: “I have physical evidence against [the professor] That validates everything I’ve said about her, but I can’t talk about it right now because it has to wait for court.”
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the women’s two other roommates, in Goncalves’ latest Instagram post, shared the day before the murders.
(@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, 20, were discovered fatally stabbed to death inside the three-story King Road residence just before noon on November 13. Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogen lived at the address. , which sits just a block from the University of Idaho campus and within sight of a few frat houses.
Authorities have said they believe the victims were asleep when they were attacked between 3 and 4 am inside the home at 1122 King Road. Each victim suffered multiple stab wounds and some showed signs of trying to fight back.
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The house where four University of Idaho students were murdered on November 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital/File)
The attack was carried out on the second and third floors. Two other roommates were downstairs in the home and were uninjured, police said.
Moscow police officers responded around 11:58 a.m. to a report of an “unconscious person” at the address, but several people had gathered at the crime scene when police arrived, authorities said.
The 911 call “originated from inside the residence” and came from the cell phones of one of the surviving roommates, police said. Multiple people allegedly spoke to the dispatcher before officers arrived.
Police revealed on December 7 that they had collected information through tips and leads about a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra that “was in the immediate area of the King Street residence during the early morning of November 13.” They added that they believe the people inside the vehicle might have “critical information” related to the case.
Investigators are now “sorting through” information on approximately 22,000 Hyundai Elantras matching the description of the one seen near the crime scene at the time of the murders. It was white and its model year was between 2011 and 2013, police said.
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Police are analyzing 113 pieces of physical evidence and around 4,000 photos from the scene. They had received an estimated 10,000 tips and leads as of last week.
State Police forensic personnel search a rental home in Moscow, Idaho, for clues on November 21, 2022. Four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in the home on November 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The Moscow Police Department encourages the public to submit any images or information that they believe might be important or useful to their investigation. They can do so by calling 208-883-7180, submitting suggestions via tipline@ci.moscow.id.us, and submitting digital media here.
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The authorities also created a dedicated web page related to the King Road attack.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
