Early in the morning on November 13 four college students were tragically murdered in their home. This heartbreaking quadruple homicide has yet to be solved. 

According to the New York Post, police are still urgently investigating this case and have received more 1,000 tips, 103 pieces of evidence, and conducted almost 100 interviews. The public and media do not know how close authorities are to making an arrest. 

These slaughters occurred in an off-campus house at the University of Idaho in Moscow. This town has not seen a murder in 7 years. The house had three floors and was often used for parties. The front door and the back sliding door had a code to get in, but since so many people come and go from the house, the code was widely known.

The victims were Kaylee Gonclaves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernolde, and Ethan Chapin.  They were young and had their whole lifes in front of them; Gonclaves and Mogen were 21, while Chapin and Kernolde were only 20. There are two other roommates who were left unharmed.

The Timeline of the Homicides

On the night of the murder, Gonclaves and Mogen were at a local bar, Corner Club, until around 1:30 am and then stopped at a late night food truck on the way home. To the left is a picture of them ordering at the food truck.

They were seen socializing with their friends throughout the night. They had no idea how their night would end. A private party driver brought them home just before 2 am. This driver has been ruled out as a suspect.

When they returned home they both made numerous calls to Gonclaves’ recently ex-boyfriend from 2:26 am and 2:52 am. He was asleep so he did not answer and he has also been ruled out as a suspect. Gonclaves’ family are behind him completely and truly believe they would have gotten back together and eventually married. 

The girls seemingly went to bed around 3 am. The police have not stated if they slept in the same bed that night or if they slept on the second or third floor. However, some sources have said they were on the third floor. Gonclaves’ father also shared that the girls died in the same bed. 

Kernolde and Chapin were at a fraternity party near their house from around 8-9 pm. They returned home around 1:45 am. Where they were during the hours between leaving the frat and coming home is unknown. It should be less than a 5 minute walk back to their house from the fraternity, so where they were in those almost 5 hours could be very important in this case.

The couple, Kernold and Chapin, have been dating since spring. Kernolde lived there and Chapin was staying over with his girlfriend. It is assumed that they were in the same bed and once again police have not said which floor, but some sources believe it was the second floor. 

The two surviving roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, arrived home around 1 am the morning of the murders. Their bedrooms resided on the first floor. They seemingly slept through the attacks. 

The murderer is said to have entered the house between 3-4 am. 

The 911 call was made at around noon on Sunday. The call was made from one of the surviving roommates’ phones, but not by one of the roommates. 

The police answered this call for an unconscious person and found four brutally stabbed college students. The roommates and friend(s) who were at the scene have been cleared as suspects. 

The specifics of the 911 call have not been verified by authorities. It has been verified that the call was for an unconscious person. Many people believe the victim first found was Chapin. Some sources say that the two surviving roommates woke up around 11 am and called a friend, or friends, over to the house with concern that one of their roommates was unconscious. Other sources say that the roommates found the friends and ran out of the house in absolute panic and hysteria. One of the roommates had already dialed 911 but passed out before they could talk to authorities, then a watching neighbor took the phone and called for the fainted roommate.  

Obviously, a lot of this case is being speculated in the media. The police have given very minimal information. Family and friends have shared some additional information. 

Who Would Do This and Why?

The police have said this attack was targeted. It is not clear which one or ones of the roommates it was targeted at. They have referred to it as a crime of passion. The police refuse to share why they believe this and oftentimes they contradict themselves by saying they do not know for sure if it was targeted. However, Gonclaves’ father recently came out and shared that his daughter’s injuries were sufficiently worse than the other victims. This could mean she was the target. 

Gonclaves had previously claimed she had a stalker, but when police looked into it they did not find any signs that she was being stalked. However, recently her father has come out and said that she did have a stalker. 

As previously stated, the other roommates were left untouched and unharmed. It is unknown why they were left unharmed, but there are many theories. The girls could have locked their bedroom doors so their roommates would know to leave them alone. The killer or killers also may have been unaware of the first floor because of the layout of the house.

Police have said that the roommates didn’t hear anything. They were used to parties in their house and also the noise of their other roommates, so their bodies could be conditioned to sleep through loud noises, especially if they had been drinking. The layout of the house also could prevent noise from carrying to the bottom floor.    

The dog that Gonclaves shared with her ex-boyfriend was at the residence that night. The dog seemingly did not bark. This could be because the dog knew the person or the dog was just so used to people he did not know coming over to the house. The police recently came out and said that the dog was not found near the crime scene and did not have any evidence on him. 

It is believed that the murderer was a young man and knew at least one of the victims. It is a very risky crime for someone who did not know them and had not been previously stalking them. It is said to be a crime of passion. They still have yet to rule out the possibility of multiple killers. 

The murder weapon is believed to be a fix blade knife, but the weapon has not been found. 

According to Idaho States Man, the killer or killers supposedly entered the house through the back sliding door, or back window, from 3-4 AM. The coroner reported that the victims were most likely asleep at the start of these attacks, some fought back. Which victims with defensive wounds were left unanswered, but Zana’s father shared that it was his daughter. There were no signs of sexual assault. 

There was an old parking lot right behind the house that gave a clear view into the third floor. Many believe the killer or killers were hiding out here, watching and waiting to make their move. 

The police have given very minimal information and have not released a lot of reasoning behind the evidence they have shared with the public. Hopefully the police have more information that will lead them to find the monster who committed these murders. 

The police have been contradicting themselves so it is unsure what is really true in this case. The timeline has been proven, but the motive is either not known or has not been shared with the public. Media and the public also have a tendency to spread false rumors and theories. 

As much as the public is invested in this crime scene, everyone truly just hopes that these families can receive some answers.