Police Backtrack Earlier Assessment In Fatal Stabbings Of University Of Idaho Students
Investigators said Wednesday they don't know whether any of the four University of Idaho students stabbed to death were targeted, contradicting earlier statements and deepening the quadruple murders mystery.
"Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but continue to investigate," the Moscow Police Department said in a statement.
The police department was responding to Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson's telling a local news station that "investigators believe that this attack was intended for a specific person."
The department said Thompson's comments were the result of a "miscommunication."
"Detectives do not currently know if the residence or any occupants were specifically targeted but continue to investigate," the police statement reads.
On Nov. 15, Moscow police said investigators "believe this was an isolated, targeted attack and there is no imminent threat to the community at large," and that "evidence indicates that this was a targeted attack."
The next day, police walked that back.
"We cannot say there's no threat to the community," Moscow Police Chief James Fry said at a news conference.
Details surrounding the deaths of the four students — Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 — have remained murky. The students were found stabbed to death in their off-campus home on Nov. 13, putting the tight-knit university town of 25,000 on edge. Moscow's last homicide occurred in 2015.
Moscow, Idaho shares a border with Washington state and is 80 miles south of Spokane, Wash.
© Copyright IBTimes 2024. All rights reserved.