Gruesome new details revealed about final moments of US college students (2024)

Four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in bed were “likely” sleeping during the attack, a coroner has revealed.

Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were murdered at their off-campus home on King Road on Sunday, but the mystery of ‘why’ still remains.

Following autopsies, Latah County Coroner, Cathy Mabbutt, confirmed horrific new details about the murder, as the killer remains on the loose, and the “large knife” suspected to be the murder weapon is yet to be recovered by police.

According to Idaho News, the coroner described Sunday’s slaughter as “personal”.

“It has to be somebody that’s pretty angry in order to stab four people to death,” Mabbutt told NewsNation on Thursday about the mystery murderer.

“It was late at night or early in the morning so it seems likely that maybe they were sleeping,” she continued.

Mabbutt said stab wounds on the hands of at least one victim appear to have been sustained from self-defence, adding that it was unknown which student was attacked first.

Kernodle’s father said he believes the autopsy results show that she fought her killer to the end.

“Bruises, torn by the knife. She’s a tough kid. Whatever she wanted to do, she could do it,” Jeffrey Kernodle said.

The coroner told KXLY that there were no signs of sexual assault during the bloody rampage, however, each victim was stabbed more than once.

Reports show there was a “fair amount of blood” at the scene.

In her 16 years on the job, Mabbutt says she has never handled such a horrific case where four college students were killed in one spot.

Local police have also described the crime scene as the “worst they’ve ever seen.”

Here’s what we know so far

Days after the deaths, there is no suspect or murder weapon, and police have been tight-lipped on what they know.

Still, they have provided some information on the killings, and a preliminary timeline reveals some of their final hours as well as the investigative response.

The victims

The killings of the four university students has elicited shock and sadness on campus, in the college city of Moscow, Idaho, and beyond.

The victims were Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, who became fast friends in primary school; Ethan Chapin, a triplet from Washington state known for his love of sports and his sense of humour; and Xana Kernodle, a marketing major whose family recalled her positive and light-hearted personality.

Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle lived together at the home, according to Ellie McKnight, their neighbour and a friend of Chapin’s at the University of Idaho.

Kernodle and Chapin had been dating for around one year.

The timeline

Hoping for tips from the community, investigators on Friday released a map and timeline of the victims’ movements last weekend.

The map shows the four students spent most of the night separated in pairs.

Chapin and Kernodle attended a party at the young man’s Sigma Chi fraternity house from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. local time Saturday.

Goncalves and Mogen were at the Corner Club sports bar between 10 p.m. and 1:30 a.m.

They picked up food at a food truck at 1:40 a.m. before heading home.

The four victims were back at the house by 1:45 a.m. Sunday.

Later Sunday morning, the four were killed inside their home, authorities said.

Police responded to the residence after receiving a 911 call around noon reporting that someone was unconscious.

When police arrived at the home, they walked into a grisly, bloody crime scene.

The victims were found on the second and third floors of the home, Idaho State Police Communications Director Aaron Snell told CNN Friday.

“It was a pretty traumatic scene to find four dead college students in a residence,” coroner Mabbutt told KXLY earlier this week.

All four were pronounced dead at noon, and police have not revealed who made the 911 call.

Surviving roommates

Two other roommates were inside the home at the time of deaths – neither was injured nor held hostage, according to university president Scott Green.

Investigators are speaking with the two surviving roommates, Snell told ABC.

“Potentially they are witnesses, potentially they are victims,” Snell said in an interview with ABC’s Kayna Whitworth.

“Potentially they’re the key to this whole thing.”

Police have said they don’t have a suspect.

Snell said no one has been “included or excluded as a person of interest and/or a suspect.”

Investigators hope the roommates will help them “figure out what occurred and why.”

“That’s their story to tell,” he said.

Police ask the community to stay vigilant

Police said Wednesday they could not definitively determine that the public was not a risk, backtracking an earlier statement that the attacks were targeted.

“We cannot say there’s no threat to the community,” Moscow Police Department Chief James Fry said Wednesday during a news conference.

“And as we have stated, please stay vigilant, report any suspicious activity and be aware of your surroundings at all times.”

Victims’ families speak out

As many details remain unclear, one of the victim’s parents revealed his child’s struggle with the attacker.

The father of Xana Kernodle said he spoke with his daughter midnight Sunday, just hours before she was attacked and killed.

Kernodle said Xana stayed in regular communication with her family.

“I think midnight was the last time we heard from her, and she was fine,” he said, adding that he doesn’t understand why his daughter and her roommates were killed in their own home.

“They were just hanging out at home. Xana was just hanging out at home with her boyfriend,” he said.

“They were smart, they were vigilant, they were careful and this all still happened,” Goncalves’ older sister, Alivea, said in a statement on behalf of the family to the Idaho Statesman.

Kernodle said the door of the home opened with a number code.

“So, they either knew that or they just kind of went around and found the slider [sliding door] open,” he told told KPHO/KTVK.

“No one is in custody and that means no one is safe,” Alivea said.

“Yes, we are all heartbroken. Yes, we are all grasping. But more strong than any of these feelings is anger. We are angry. You should be angry.”

- With CNN & NBC