NewsNation

Forensic expert: Idaho killing answers will rest in science

(NewsNation) — In Moscow, Idaho, there are reminders of a murder mystery that remains unsolved as the weathered memorial outside the restaurant where two of the victims worked makes it clear it’s been quite some time since the stabbing deaths on Nov. 13.

Almost every business is displaying a poster for tips and information about the killings of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle inside an off-campus home.


Joseph Scott Morgan, a professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University, joined “NewsNation Live” to give some insight on where investigators could be with the case.

“We have to still urge everyone to be very, very patient in this case, because the answers to this case are going to rest in the science, I believe,” Morgan said. “At the end of the day, it’s going to come back to the evidence that they collected at the scene and the processing that’s been going on for all of these weeks.”

He said that Moscow is not a place that someone winds up in by accident, and that there has to be a purpose for someone to go there.

“There was a purpose to be at that home. They didn’t just accidentally wind up there,” Morgan said.

He said that that in and of itself is going to be key because that’s a tie back to the hard science, thinking about the utility of the weapon that was used, access to the weapon, access to the home, their points of egress in the home and any kind of trace elements that were left behind.

“In this case, we think about hair fiber, certainly DNA, fingerprints, anything that was left behind, shoe prints, there was a copious amount of blood, we do know that, so there’s a chance that something has been left behind that is that can be tied back to this individual,” Morgan said.