MOSCOW, Idaho – EXCLUSIVE: Police initially called the shocking stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students at their off-campus home an “isolated and targeted” attack, but have kept most details under wraps as they continue to search for their suspect.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found dead in a house a few meters from campus, hours after police said someone attacked them while they slept on November 13. All three women lived there and Chapin was visiting his girlfriend, Kernodle.
Police have remained silent on details of the crime scene to protect the integrity of their ongoing investigation. However, on Friday, investigators clarified some of their reasoning in an interview with Fox News Digital.
“When the boss said that [the slayings were targeted]Y [investigators] I still believe that now, it does not appear that there was a forced entry into the residence,” said Aaron Snell, director of communications for the Idaho State Police. “There were survivors of this. And also, based on internal evidence at the scene, that has led detectives to believe and continue to believe that this was a managed event.”
IDAHO MURDERS: DETECTIVES, FBI RETURN TO CAMPUS SCENE, COLLECT EVIDENCE AND MEET WITH PROSECUTOR
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the two other roommates of the women in Kaylee Goncalves’ latest Instagram post, shared the day before the murders.
(@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
He declined to discuss what evidence was recovered within the scene or to identify who and how many of the victims specifically the killer was targeting.
In a televised interview, Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, reportedly told CNN that he had been told there was only one target among the four victims. Separately, he told Fox News last week that the shooter had been “careless” and left behind a large amount of evidence.
“Family members, what they say is up to them,” Snell said. “The information we try to disclose is to the best of our ability, vetted, accurate and correct, and also to protect the integrity of the investigation.”
IDAHO MURDERS: POLICE WATCH ‘STALKER AFFAIR’ AS INVESTIGATION ENTERS DAY 12 WITHOUT A SUSPECT
Police vehicles at the scene of the quadruple murder in Idaho.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
He declined to discuss crime scene details, but said he had no qualms about the families speaking.
“It’s totally understandable that he wants to comment, and that’s up to him,” Snell said. “It’s okay.”
Whatever the killer’s intention in entering, the unknown suspect(s) did not leave until after hacking to death four youths.
IDAHO MURDERS: FOX NEWS’ TED WILLIAMS PUSHES AGAINST ‘PEEPING TOM’ THEORY, ‘MORE PERSONAL’
The house where four University of Idaho students were murdered on November 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Chapin was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity, majoring in recreation, sports and tourism administration, the University of Idaho said. Kernodle and Mogen were both members of the Pi Beta Phi sorority and marketing students. Goncalves, a general studies student, belonged to Alpha Phi.
Two of the victims slept on the second floor and two on the third, but police have not confirmed who was found where, or whether the bedroom doors were locked after the killings.
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO STUDENTS KILLED: A TIMELINE OF EVENTS
The Moscow Police Department, Idaho.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“We haven’t released any of that information,” Snell said. “We think it’s relevant to the investigation. There are a lot of questions around that, and we recognize that, and we want to provide that information when we can, but at this point in the investigation, we can’t.”
Multiple 911 callers alerted authorities around noon on November 13, with officers initially arriving in response to a report of an unconscious person. They found four victims dead inside.
The Latah County coroner later said all four were victims of stabbing homicide, and that their injuries were likely inflicted in their sleep.
Madison Mogen owned a pair of pink cowboy boots that still hangs in the window of her rental house near the University of Idaho campus.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital/Instagram)
Authorities and the property manager have not confirmed who owned the bedrooms. Mogen’s boots were visible in the upper level window along with a pink letter “M”, suggesting that she occupied the third floor.
Goncalves’s family told Fox News last week that she and Mogen were very close, like sisters.
WATCH: Parents of Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves speak out
“Maddie was at our oldest daughter’s wedding,” Kristi Goncavles said. “She said, ‘All my sisters are my bridesmaids,’ and Maddie was one of those bridesmaids, and it was all of Alivea’s sisters, including Maddie.”
Two roommates, who were sleeping downstairs, were not attacked. There was also no pet dog in the house.
WITH IDAHO MURDERS UNSOLVED AND LENGTH OF INVESTIGATION ‘INCORRECT’, STUDENTS CAN DISTANCE LEARNING
John Kelly, a crime profiler and psychotherapist with experience interviewing serial killers, said that due to a lack of publicly available details, it is “up in the air” as to whether the shooter was a random stalker or someone familiar with the insides of home.
But one thing is clear, he said. “Really, he really is a savage, with no concern or empathy or anything like that,” he told Fox News Digital.
Police and the FBI, who worked through Thanksgiving trying to find answers in the murder mystery, are asking anyone with information, no matter how small, about the case to come forward.
“We’re looking at it from all angles,” Snell said. “Our concept is that if we start to get pigeonholed into a specific idea, we may miss out on other advice in other parts of this research.”
FBI investigators and police return to the Idaho crime scene on November 25, days after four students were brutally stabbed in their sleep.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital.)
IDAHO MURDERS: PROSECUTOR SEEN AT POLICE HEADQUARTERS ON THANKSGIVING AS SEARCH INTENSIFIES FOR CAMPUS KILLER
So far, he said, investigators have received more than 1,000 tips on the case and are working on them.
“If anyone has information, we are interested,” he added. “We believe that what is on a potential surveillance tape is just as important as what might not be on it, in helping us get a clearer picture.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
They are also looking into whether Goncalves may have had a stalker, a suggestion they have so far been unable to corroborate.
Anyone with information about a harasser, or about the case in general, should call the tip line at 208-883-7180 or by email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
