Nearly a week after four University of Idaho students were found dead in their rental home, a coroner has revealed they were stabbed in their beds.
The three young women and young man were probably sleeping when they were attacked on Sunday, November 13, said Latah County Coroner, Cathy Mabbutt.
They were stabbed multiple times with a “pretty large knife”, she added. No arrests have been made and police in the college town of Moscow have warned the killer may still pose a threat.
More than 25 investigators are working on the investigation with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Idaho State Police.
The female victims were named as roommates, Madison Mogen of Coeur d’Alene, 21, Idaho; Kaylee Goncalves of Rathdrum, 21, Idaho; and Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls, Idaho.Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington, and was Ms Kernodle’s boyfriend.
After police were alerted by a call to emergency services, the victims were discovered dead on Sunday afternoon. Two other people in the house were found unharmed.
“We cannot say that there is no threat to the community,” Moscow Police Chief, James Fry, said.
“We still believe it’s a targeted attack. But the reality is there still is a person out there who committed four very horrible, horrible crimes.”
Speaking to cable news channel, NewsNation, the coroner said: “It has to be somebody pretty angry in order to stab four people to death”.
Moscow Police Department said some of the victims had defensive wounds, adding that there were no signs of sexual assault, the Associated Press reports.
Nor does anything appear to have been stolen from the victims or the house, CBS News reports, and there was no sign of forced entry. A door was found opened by the first police officers to arrive at the scene.
Searches continue for the weapon with the contents of nearby bins examined and local businesses contacted to establish if they recently sold a fixed-blade knife. –AP
