ID - 4 University of Idaho Students Murdered - Moscow # 26

[pmondrian2020]

What if one of those owners does not any longer appear to have an Elantra at their house and is not willing to answer phone calls or come to the door when police knock? What then?

Registration info would show if they recently owned it. If it suddenly disappeared or the owner was uncooperative, LE would have a good lead on whom to investigate further. Especially, if they are in the Moscow, ID area.

 

[HopeValleyDevil]

Citation? I've not seen any LE statements claiming "it is the military knife."

You are not going to see a citation from police about what knife

There is a couple of media posts with source reference on the knife in the thread

 

[Aquarian]

A self-fulfilled fact. If folks believe something to be true, they accommodate it.

Well, idk. Having experienced numerous full moons in a hospital settings over the course of some thirty years I might beg to differ. But, I’m not here to do that per day, but some full moons in my experience do seem to put people off kilter more than others, I’ll say IMO.

 

[Moonsie]

Just playing devils advocate: If the killer kills K & M to taunt X, why not kill the other two roommates as well. If they weren’t killed because their doors were locked, then I think this is a good theory. But I can’t see a killer with that much rage towards X who is willing to kill her, her boyfriend and two good friends just stopping there if he can easily get all of X’s roommates.

MOO

Honestly? I don’t know. Killer had a rationale, didn’t know they were there, didn’t care, considered it part of the “thrill,” or some other b.s. reason that only made sense to him.

I personally don’t think the other roommates (or the dog, for that matter) factor in the fact pattern here. They very well may though.

It‘s just curious to me that X had defensive wounds. I think it means something.

moo.

 

[10ofRods]

What if instead of suiting up he suited down. Removed his clothes, committed this atrocious act, showered after and redressed in say a jumpsuit type garment and stuffed his bloody sock in his pocket.

Well then, he blew it - because he left trace DNA (via skin cells and hair shedding) everywhere.

Dust - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

So you think he showered at the house? He would have left copious evidence in the drains and it's usually one of the first things investigators check (sink traps, drains, bathtub drains, etc). So he brought a duffel with a change of clothes? I do believe he might have avoided bloody socks (which would be worse than blood on the bottom of shoes, btw) by killing people in their beds.

Most likely, he would have had blood on his arms and torso (but covered by whatever he was wearing - which he wore out of the house before disposing of it or cleaning it).

I have faith in LE to have gathered samples from around the house - a naked person would leave way more than a clothed person.

 

[Sister Golden Hair]

I read the rules so i think it’s okay to ask, but did the girls have decent social media following before this? (that we know of) Or do we think the followers grew since the murders?

I only ask cause i wonder if it could’ve been someone who knew them through social media? Just wondering.

KG had approximately 77k on tiktok and 38k on ig, I think, and MM had 7300 n ticktock. these #s were post-murders, of course, but even if they increased, you can see the difference.
kaylee jade on Instagram: "Can we go back to game day??"

TikTok - Make Your Day

TikTok - Make Your Day

I believe that the killer may have become enchanted via sm. jmo.

 

[seemstome]

There were no family/friends in the house. LE removed belongings and put them in storage for owners/families to retrieve.

Thanks for the info.
Thinking about it, maybe they were there to familiarize themselves with the actual house and belongings, decor, furniture in it so if/when they go undercover and chat people/men up, they can pretend/realistically present themselves as if they’ve been in the house as friends/guests of the victims (so as to initiate a conversation with them and maybe get someone to open up to them). Just a guess and my opinion.

 

[Emerald1328]

This is a highly technical specialty, down to which swab to use for what and how to sample a complex crime scene. The people who do this do nothing else but collect DNA samples in crime scenes (they aren't even the ones who process them).

I've never heard of a US Marshal doing such a job or anything close to it, frankly. At least, I've never seen evidence of them having the training to do this - and I hope they aren't doing it. This crime scene would make even an experienced expert DNA analyst worry if they were up to it. I'd want to call in more than one expert crime scene analyst - not a Marshal.



Coroner says (and I just posted the link upthread) that all were "in their beds." K's parents say they were in the same bed, as do many news articles. Apparently, K had moved out of the bedroom next door to M's and taken her stuff (IMO) and so was sleeping in M's room.

The coroner actually walked that back the next day and said “some” were in their beds. This all originated when the coroner gave an interview to Ashleigh Banfield with NewsNation on Thursday, 11/17. In that interview she tells Banfield that the victims were found in their beds.

Coroner: Idaho college students were likely sleeping | Banfield

Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt tells #Banfield that the University of Idaho student murder victims were found in bed, and it's likely they were asleep.

www.newsnationnow.com

Then, the next day, Friday, 11/18, the coroner gave an interview to CBS News and said that earlier reports (I.e. her statement to Banfield the day before) stating that all 4 were murdered in their beds was not accurate.

“Of the four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death in a rental house last Sunday, some were killed in their beds, the Latah County coroner told CBS News Friday.

Coroner Cathy Mabbutt would not provide any further details. She noted, however, that earlier media reports stating all four victims had been murdered in their beds were not accurate.”

Some of the murdered University of Idaho students were stabbed in their beds, coroner says

According to police, the coroner said all four victims were likely asleep, some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[ktm44]

Someone posted an article on this site many threads ago about the 7 most lethal places to stab someone that would kill them instantly/quickly and it was not at all what I expected. It's very hard to stab someone in the heart because of the ribs. It's also harder to slash someone's throat and have it lead to death because there are so many ligaments to cut through. But this article said, it is very easy and accessible to stab and then cut across the top of the thigh where the thigh meets the hip in the bend of the leg to cut a femoral artery. Another, easy spot is to cut across the bend in the back of the knee to hit an artery. Perhaps the easiest was to stab someone at the base of the skull on one side of the spine and then pull the knife quickly across the spine.

Cutting/striking bone dulls knives fairly quickly.

 

[acutename]

Honestly? I don’t know. Killer had a rationale, didn’t know they were there, didn’t care, considered it part of the “thrill,” or some other b.s. reason that only made sense to him.

I personally don’t think the other roommates (or the dog, for that matter) factor in the fact pattern here. They very well may though.

It‘s just curious to me that X had defensive wounds. I think it means something.

moo.

my thought - all IMO- is that the killer attacked EC, and that awakened XK and she tried to intervene and was then also killed. IMO.

 

[Charlot123]

.

Do you think the killer might have had some understanding of human anatomy. So they could, as you say "efficiently and swiftly" do the job?

Or animal anatomy. Might be quite enough. JMO,

 

[Emerald1328]

I thought of that, but all that skin flaking, hair shedding, sweat, etc. plus, danger to appendages. I'm definitely sticking with my homemade shark-proof wetsuit which turns out really is a thing. ALL jmo of course, but I'd totally try to seal me and my DNA in, protect myself from cuts, and still be agile and waterproof. ixnay on getting oodblay on myself. Right gloves and booties, mask and eyes, and I'd be good to go. I could casually wipe myself down with a towel and head out dressed in black.

Seems like it might be squeaky?

 

[Sister Golden Hair]

But it wasn't a full moon - it was at 77%. Would love to hear how that affects lighting in your situation (we live in a regular singular story house). Your higher floor would mean more light, for sure (if your window faced the moon). I need to look up moonrise and house orientation for this house, because the lighting factor is driving me nuts.

We sleep with our door closed too (and two other doors in between that door and any regular point of entry to our house. However, I can see where people sleeping as roomies in one room might keep the door open for quietude when having to get up at night. These sets of people were on three different floors and probably had some expectation of privacy on their own floor.

In this case, people could certainly see in at Level 2 (kitchen/dining room area) but I'm thinking all the lights were turned off - and the killer had to know where the bedrooms were, unless he spent time opening doors and peeking in - and spending the multiple seconds it would take to figure out who was where.

Okay - so it appears to me that the windows in the bedrooms in both the second and third floors face north (so less light from the moon - but I do need to check moonrise time).

you're right. it was not full, but 77% is still a floodlight in here. full moon is today, and all week, I've been noticing how bright as I run to the light to turn it on. not that I'm a chicken or anything.

Moonrise, Moonset, and Moon Phase in Moscow you can check both there. by the time the killer rolled up, he had moonlight, but there are so many cheap ways to get eyes in the dark, I'd guess this was one of the easier issues he faced. not only that, but of course, in my theory, he'd visited prior and may have easily planted his own video. very easy to do without leaving a digital footprint.

 

[Emerald1328]

I read the rules so i think it’s okay to ask, but did the girls have decent social media following before this? (that we know of) Or do we think the followers grew since the murders?

I only ask cause i wonder if it could’ve been someone who knew them through social media? Just wondering.

I saw their SM (edit - Instagram) the day we found out their names…I want to say each girl had 800 - 1,200 followers at that point, IMO. So a decent amount but nothing like it is now.

 

[Sister Golden Hair]

Seems like it might be squeaky?

nope. not neoprene, or at least not IME. Maybe some of the old school rubber ones, but idk.

 

[Vivyinsect]

I realize that, but they would be tracking a known criminal entity if that were indeed the case. And I have to imagine if the person they are tracking down commits or is suspected of committing a crime while on the run, that the US Marshals assigned to find them would spend some time on the scene. That's why I put '' around investigators, as I don't believe they really are. JMO only.

If there was any military angle to these murders, be it the killings or the entering, I’d think they’d have agents with that experience to verify.

 

[AZmixedblood]

Registration info would show if they recently owned it. If it suddenly disappeared or the owner was uncooperative, LE would have a good lead on whom to investigate further. Especially, if they are in the Moscow, ID area.

It could have been a rental

 

[Sister Golden Hair]

“Of the four University of Idaho students who were found stabbed to death in a rental house last Sunday, some were killed in their beds, the Latah County coroner told CBS News Friday.

Coroner Cathy Mabbutt would not provide any further details. She noted, however, that earlier media reports stating all four victims had been murdered in their beds were not accurate.”

and because I'm super normal, jmo, I immediately took that a couple of steps in an odd direction, and just my imagination, this is one of the ways that LE was able to ID the target. potentially. jmo. But imo there is the chance that the killer woke the person who was the reason for his visit so that he could spend time enjoying their reaction and quality time alone (after taping their mouth). Putting tape or a hand over a mouth is not bound and gagged, and LE doesn't have to tell us anyway. they can legally keep those details to themselves.

 

[AZmixedblood]

my thought - all IMO- is that the killer attacked EC, and that awakened XK and she tried to intervene and was then also killed. IMO.

The killer had a large knife bc he likes to kill and he was there to kill until he got fulfillment.

 

[Msl1966]

I know this is going to sound completely crazy, but maybe the killer was able to leave without a trace because he didn’t have clothes on. All he or she would have to do is take a shower quickly or hose off in the dark, then put clothes on. All the blood would remain at/in the house. No evidence to get rid of and if you are seen by anyone (right after), you have on fresh clean clothes.