Idaho police will keep details ‘from view’ to develop investigation into murders of Moscow students
Police have said they won’t release details on why they believe the University of Idaho students were targeted, in order to protect the ongoing investigation.
Authorities had previously said that the public would have to “trust them” on the notion that the killings of Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were targeted because no details behind the reasoning would be released.
Aaron Snell, with Idaho State Police, told Fox News Digital on Saturday that information about the targeted murders is being handled with caution so as to not jeopardise the investigation, which has entered its second week with no arrests or major developments.
“And so if we just provide information to the public, I just don’t think that that’s going to be a wise choice,” he said.
Although behavioural analysts are working on a profile, it will only be used to “refine” the investigation and will not be released to the public because it could “potentially put more fear, more suspicion on a wide variety of people,” he said.
Mr Snell also confirmed that authorities do not have a suspect at this time and said that keeping information “from view is going to be critical [in] trying to develop” the investigation in the future.
Moscow Police had previously said that it was not going to be further explained why investigators believed the attack was targeted.
“You’re going to have to trust on that at this point because we are not going to release why we think that,” Moscow Police Department captain Roger Lanier said during a press conference on Wednesday.
Mr Snell said that the Moscow Police Department, which had its last homicide before the 13 November slayings in 2015, had followed protocol and secured the crime scene correctly.
“I am confident that there wasn’t a compromise in the integrity of the investigation. We know that the Moscow Police Department arrived at scene,” Mr Snell told Fox. “They essentially saw what had occurred.”
“They locked it down and then additional resources came in. We have a lot of the best of the best, the best technology, the latest and greatest as far as training goes. So, indeed, I believe in the integrity of this investigation.”
The murders took place in the early morning hours of 13 November in the off-campus rental home shared by the victims.
Two victims were killed on the second floor and two on the third floor of the home. Two surviving roommates were sleeping on the first floor and were unharmed.
The horrific crime scene went unnoticed for several more hours, with police receiving a 911 call at 11.58am on Sunday, reporting an “unconscious individual” at the home.
Police arrived to find the four victims dead. The coroner has revealed that all four victims were stabbed multiple times with a large knife while in their beds.
There were no signs of sexual assault on any of the victims and the murder weapon – a fixed-blade knife – has not been recovered.
