Idaho stabbing victim’s injuries ‘significantly more brutal’

(NewsNation) — University of Idaho stabbing victim Kaylee Goncalves’ injuries were “significantly more brutal” than her best friend Madison Mogen, sources told NewsNation on Sunday.

Three weeks ago, the unthinkable happened in Moscow, Idaho, when four university students were brutally killed.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. 

Two of the victims, Goncalves and Mogen, were close friends and sleeping in the same bed when they were killed.

The two were in an upstairs room in the house, so the killer had to specifically go upstairs.

Goncalves’ parents are saying the way the two victims were killed on Nov. 13, “don’t match.”

Former CIA and FBI agent Tracy Walder discussed the possibility the killings were a “targeted attack” during an appearance on NewsNation’s “Prime.”

This latest detail may end up being a very important piece of evidence when it comes to determining who the target was in the attack.

“Some of the ways that we can know that this is a targeted attack is in the manner in which some of these victims were killed,” Walder said. “And I want to be sensitive, obviously, to these parents and to their friends and family. But what you might see in a situation like this is sort of a gross overkill of one victim versus the others who may be simply just gotten in the way and I believe that that’s what her father is referring to.”

The father and family of Goncalves also questioned if police were too quick to clear some of the people connected to the case.

The family says since the Nov. 13 killings, police have ruled out a number of people as potential suspects, something they would like more information on. 

The family is asking for clarity to help them understand why authorities were able to clear some persons involved so quickly. 

“I don’t know what would prevent you from sharing someone’s alibi,” said Steve Goncalves, Kaylee’s father.