Idaho police clarify comments about target of murders
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(NewsNation) — The Moscow Police Department has issued a clarification about statements the Latah County Prosecutor’s office shared in relation to the Idaho student murders.
Morgan Romero, an anchor for KTVB in Boise, tweeted Wednesday evening that Latah County, Idaho prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson confirmed that one of the victims in the home was in fact the target of the murders. It’s unclear which student he meant.
Tuesday evening, Thompson told NewsNation’s Brian Entin that it was not necessarily one person who was targeted, but more so the home itself.
Moscow police said conflicting information has been released by the prosecutor in the past 24 hours.
“The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office stated the suspect(s) specifically looked at this residence, and that one or more of the occupants were undoubtedly targeted,” Moscow police said. “We have spoken with the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and identified this was a miscommunication. Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but continue to investigate.”
Moscow police’s statement comes on the heels of community members gathering at the University of Idaho to remember the four students who were stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home Nov. 13.
A county coroner preliminarily determined that the students identified as Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, all died from stab wounds and were likely asleep at the time of their murders.
At the vigil, Kaylee’s father revealed that Kaylee and her best friend, Madison, were both killed together in the same bedroom in the same bed.
“These girls were absolutely beautiful. They had been friends since sixth grade. We both put them in a charter academy; they felt like they were being punished. In sixth grade, they just found each other. And every day they did homework together, they came to our house together. They shared everything. They made a proposal to go to a regular high school so then they went to high school together. Then they started looking at colleges. They came here together. They eventually got into the same apartment together. In the end, they died together in the same room, in the same bed. It’s a shame, and it hurts. But the beauty of the two always being together is something that comforts us,” Steve Goncalves said.
The Moscow community continues to mourn the students killed in the stabbings, as the investigation has not seen much apparent progress. Any suspects or persons of interest have not been publicly identified in the case.