ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Died in Apparent Homicide, Moscow, 13 Nov 2022

[JnRyan]

Does anyone else remember a similar case probably a decade or more ago? I remember it was a younger guy who stabbed and killed several other teens or young adults in the same house. I remember us all questioning how he could’ve done it without the others hearing or the victims retaliating but I can’t think of the names/circumstances.
Both cases make my blood run cold. MOO

Richard Speck and Ted Bundy.

Richard Speck - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Ted Bundy - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Both were something else. The "Mindhunter" Season 1, Episode 9 has a reenactment of the FBI profilers' interview of Speck. I don't know true to life it is, but John Douglas stated that Speck was an obviously violent man.

 

[Vandalalum]

The top of the concrete is where the floor is. It looks like the blood ran down from that floor. Imo

The house is built into a hillside. So the middle floor is level with the ground in the back.

 

[SuziQ]

I wondered how well insulated the home is and whether there is some rot of the sill plate that rests on the foundation. The house looks like it was built in the 1970s. If the home has traditional wood floors any type of moisture could leak through and drip down the side of the foundation.

I don't know how much snow Moscow gets but any accumulation of snow around the perimeter, including snow that slides off the roof, could contribute to a rotted sill plate.

I've seen older homes that have leaky roofs and rotted sill plates. Animals like squirrels get into the attic and store nuts in the walls. Wet walnuts look like dried blood when they leak through the walls. (I know this because my husband is in the renovation business)

The front door is right on the ground too. Not raised at all. The building doesn't look to be well built. Imo.

 

[technicallymissing]

Who would do such a thing, was the person on drugs? LE say that the victims were targeted, but all of them? What would the connection be?

If Ethan was found on the floor of the second level, did he hear a noise of someone entering the house, and go downstairs (from the third floor to the second floor) and get attacked there and then the suspect somehow was able to overpower the others on the third floor? Were all the bedrooms on the second and third floors?

Did all of them or some of them or one of them know the suspect?

He had to be covered with blood when he left, so did he jump into his car and take off, or walk somewhere leaving his direction in a trail of blood? What a devastating case.

Ethan's mom says in this interview that Ethan & Xana "were in the same room" (right around the 10 min mark)- taking that to mean he generally (obviously) shared her room when staying over since he was actually found on a separate floor from the other victims... It does sound like he either may have heard something and gone down pre-attack to check it out or tried to get out and seek help after the attack had begun.

 

[DatelineFan]

Yes. I always do, depending on the county, when I hear about a crime where a suspect is in custody but names have not been released yet. This is going to be JMO but yesterday I saw an arrest made 11/14/22 for a male individual on an FTA charge (failure to appear). No clue whether this could be related but I did find it very interesting. LE has been known to make arrests on charges unrelated to crime at first, then when suspect's name is made public they add new charges. However, this arrest is no longer up on Latah County arrest as of this morning, when I checked. Likely to be unrelated, but interesting nonetheless. MOO

Thank you. That is interesting

I watched the video of Ethan’s parents. They seem very loving and kind. Absolutely heartbreaking. My heart is with them. I cannot imagine their pain

 

[Marysmith]

Ethan's mom says in this interview that Ethan & Xana "were in the same room" (right around the 10 min mark)- taking that to mean he generally (obviously) shared her room when staying over since he was actually found on a separate floor from the other victims... It does sound like he either may have heard something and gone down pre-attack to check it out or tried to to get out and seek help after the attack had begun.

Omg… to this whole thing. I can’t imagine what the victims went through before they died.

 

[airportwoman]

Does anyone else remember a similar case probably a decade or more ago? I remember it was a younger guy who stabbed and killed several other teens or young adults in the same house. I remember us all questioning how he could’ve done it without the others hearing or the victims retaliating but I can’t think of the names/circumstances.
Both cases make my blood run cold. MOO

The case I'm thinking about was in Canada, and I saw it on IIRC the Oxygen Channel.

 

[SuziQ]

The house is built into a hillside. So the middle floor is level with the ground in the back.

That floor would still rest at the top of that concrete. Looks to be the first floor?

 

[uburoi1]

Perhaps they were drugged and the killer had time to attack each of them?

I think you're on the right track here, component-wise.

 

[salander01]

I wondered how well insulated the home is and whether there is some rot of the sill plate that rests on the foundation. The house looks like it was built in the 1970s. If the home has traditional wood floors any type of moisture could leak through and drip down the side of the foundation.

I don't know how much snow Moscow gets but any accumulation of snow around the perimeter, including snow that slides off the roof, could contribute to a rotted sill plate.

I've seen older homes that have leaky roofs and rotted sill plates. Animals like squirrels get into the attic and store nuts in the walls. Wet walnuts look like dried blood when they leak through the walls. (I know this because my husband is in the renovation business)

I live in a renovated home in Pullman that's been subsidized into apartments, I also work in Moscow in a residential building. A lot of these houses are older, and I believe some members have even pointed out living in homes near the area where this incident occurred. I've visited my friends' homes in Moscow where the building looks brand new on the outside, but the interior still has old-school heating vents and outdated tile/flooring. It's likely that this house was renovated in a similar fashion. The landlord calls in repairs after tenants move out when leases are up, but hardly ever installs new appliances or hardware. College students don't make much money, if any. Most of us are lucky to afford rent and have a roof over our heads (and sufficient heating for the cold winter months).

 

[acutename]

I wonder if there is some one known to these 4 who had a mental problem and was on or off meds.... so LE has a possible suspect. MSM has a lot of such stories:

Police Interrogate 16-Year-Old Who Murdered His ... - YouTube​

https://www.youtube.com › watch









1:05:14
WATCH: The full police interrogation of Michael Bever, a then 16-year-old who murdered his two parents and three siblings with his brother ...
YouTube · Law&Crime Network · Sep 7, 2022

Teen tells IMPD that older brother murdered 6 in family home​

https://fox59.com › news › indycrime › teen-tells-impd...




Jan 25, 2021 — The dead have been identified as the parents of the home, Kezzie and Raymond Childs, both 42, their 18-year-old son, Elijah, and 13-year-old ...

After teen kills parents, paralyzes brother, remaining siblings ...​

https://www.ocregister.com › after-teen-kills-parents-pa...




Sep 22, 2019 — Myles Sachs, is the brother of Ashton Sachs who shot and killed his parents and shot and paralyzed his then 8-year-old brother.

Broken Arrow killings - Wikipedia​

https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Broken_Arrow_killings




On July 22, 2015, five members of the Bever family were murdered in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. ... Two members of the family, 2-year-old Autumn and 13-year-old ...

20-year-old man charged with killing parents, younger sister ...​

https://ktla.com › nexstar-media-wire › nationworld › 2...




Jun 16, 2021 — A 20-year-old college student charged with killing his parents and younger sister in their family home in Iowa told police that a masked ...

Teen Reportedly Kills Parents and Brother in Argument Over ...​

https://www.newsweek.com › ... › Shooting › Police




Feb 12, 2022 — Police in Spain have arrested a 15-year-old male in connection with the deaths of his parents and his 10-year-old brother, whose dead bodies ...

Confession of boy who killed parents, siblings - People Daily​

https://www.pd.co.ke › News




Jan 10, 2021 — Warunge, 22, who has confessed to the killing of his parents, two siblings and a farmhand, had described his parents to police as “satanic ...

 

[technicallymissing]

I'm not convinced about the whole "blood dripping out of the walls" thing. It certainly could be blood, what with multiple sources discussing how violent the scene was, but I grew up in a wooded area much like Moscow and those drips also look an awful lot like sap/other plant matter to me. I notice lots of trees, pine especially, in the exterior shots of the house.

 

[Essbee]

But why would the activity stopping on all their phones suggest crime rather than they fell asleep? I'm actually wondering if maybe one of them texted someone or tried to call 911 or something and the call was logged with a timestamp, even if it didn't go through.

Maybe they were wearing an Apple Watch or a Garmin or Fitbit that collects heartbeat data. They would know if the heartbeat stopped at a certain point in time.

 

[saralsim]

Yes. I always do, depending on the county, when I hear about a crime where a suspect is in custody but names have not been released yet. This is going to be JMO but yesterday I saw an arrest made 11/14/22 for a male individual on an FTA charge (failure to appear). No clue whether this could be related but I did find it very interesting. LE has been known to make arrests on charges unrelated to crime at first, then when suspect's name is made public they add new charges. However, this arrest is no longer up on Latah County arrest as of this morning, when I checked. Likely to be unrelated, but interesting nonetheless. MOO

Where can you see arrests? I don't see anything more recent than 10/27 on the county jail roster...

 

[dtowndetective411]

since he was actually found on a separate floor from the other victims...

where did you hear he was found on a separate floor? I watched that video and saw on DailyMail he was found on second floor, but didn’t see any indication about the floors the others were found on.

 

[Snoopster]

Who would do such a thing, was the person on drugs? LE say that the victims were targeted, but all of them? What would the connection be?

If Ethan was found on the floor of the second level, did he hear a noise of someone entering the house, and go downstairs (from the third floor to the second floor) and get attacked there and then the suspect somehow was able to overpower the others on the third floor? Were all the bedrooms on the second and third floors?

Did all of them or some of them or one of them know the suspect?

He had to be covered with blood when he left, so did he jump into his car and take off, or walk somewhere leaving his direction in a trail of blood? What a devastating case.

I would really like to see a layout of the house. The entrance was on the bottom floor. The floor seems large enough to hold the laundry and at least one bedroom. Based on real estate photos I'm guessing that the kitchen was on the next floor. I have no idea what floor the living room was on, but based on the outside view of the house, the top floor was relatively small, so I'd be surprised if the LR wasn't on the bottom or middle floor.

We heard that the person calling 911 found an unconscious person. I'm guessing that the person was on the bottom floor or near the top of the stairs to the next floor.

If Ethan heard a noise and went to check it out...wouldn't his girlfriend have been on high alert? That would make it difficult for a knife-wielding attacker to gain the element of surprise.

 

[DatelineFan]

I feel pretty confident that the killer knew at least one of the victims intimately, but it also strikes me that early 20s is when some severe mental illnesses can surface, correct?

Edited because I can’t write tonight

I would really like to see a layout of the house. The entrance was on the bottom floor. The floor seems large enough to hold the laundry and at least one bedroom. Based on real estate photos I'm guessing that the kitchen was on the next floor. I have no idea what floor the living room was on, but based on the outside view of the house, the top floor was relatively small, so I'd be surprised if the LR wasn't on the bottom or middle floor.

We heard that the person calling 911 found an unconscious person. I'm guessing that the person was on the bottom floor or near the top of the stairs to the next floor.

If Ethan heard a noise and went to check it out...wouldn't his girlfriend have been on high alert? That would make it difficult for a knife-wielding attacker to gain the element of surprise.

there are two bedrooms and one bathroom on each floor

 

[Pipsissiway_Potts]

Ethan Chapin’s mother, Stacey Chapin, rebutted Bettge’s New York Times quote in an interview with the Idaho Statesman.
“They were stabbed. We got the call,” Chapin said. “I don’t want people to make assumptions about our kids. It wasn’t drugs and it was definitely not some passion thing between these kids. Someone entered the house.”
Questions Still Surround Alleged Murders

 

[technicallymissing]

Not sure how relevant this will be but for anyone else who was confused like I was- apparently the house was NOT converted into apartments as was originally reported. (Below from the Idaho Statesman)

Police originally said the students were found in a Moscow house that had been converted into apartments. Property management company Team Idaho Real Estate & Property Management told the Idaho Statesman that was not the case. The company said the entire home was being rented under a 12-month lease that began June 5.

That's significantly more square footage for the killer to have to deal with than 1/2 of the house set up as an apartment like I was imagining. Much less control over victims than there would have been in a smaller space.

 

[salander01]

is this interesting or am I reading too much into it?

@estherbowertv: Yes — sorry for that confusion. Crime scene and home under investigation is on Queen. Police were called to King Road during initial 911 call. It is the road right next to Queen.

Could the 911 call about an unconscious person be someone on Kings road ….and that led them somehow to the crime scene? Could the perp have been unconscious near their home? View attachment 380039

I think this article might help.
"[MPD] confirmed that none of the victims were the alleged attacker. He also confirmed that the unconscious person police initially responded to Sunday on King Road was one of the four victims."
My understanding is that when people make a 911, they can be traced by dispatch to a relatively specific location. It sounds like the residence at which this occurred is 1122 King Rd, which is very close to Queen Rd. It's likely that officers were told to respond to that general area.