Idaho stabbing deaths: Here is what we still don’t know
(NewsNation) — NewsNation senior national correspondent Brian Entin, former FBI Agent Jennifer Coffindaffer and executive producer Paige Lobdell held a Twitter Spaces conversation on the latest updates in the horrific stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students.
You can read the transcript on Twitter or by clicking the link in the tweet embedded below:
The conversation largely revolved around the many unanswered questions about the murders.
“We’re almost two weeks out now. There’s not a lot of official information from police. Do you think they know a lot more than they’re letting on? Or do you get the feeling that this is almost a cold case at this point?” Entin asked Coffindaffer.
“I think, Brian, they have a lot of information and they have so much more to go through,” she replied, adding that forensic analysis of items like cell phone information is probably still in its infancy.
With no named suspect, many are wondering who exactly is responsible for the grisly killings.
“I think it’s going to be somebody comfortable that maybe has even been in their house before, at one of these parties,” Coffindaffer suggested.
Lobdell emphasized the murder’s impact on the community.
“We’ve talked to parents who are like ‘I called my kid up and I said you’re coming home for Thanksgiving early.’ I mean, this is the first murder in this town in I think they said seven years,” she said.
The four University of Idaho students killed were Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.
They were all close friends, as well as members of fraternities and sororities. Chapin was dating Kernodle, who was roommates with Mogen and Goncalves.
All four were found dead in an off-campus rental home around noon on Nov. 13. Preliminary findings by a county coroner were that the students all died from stab wounds, and were likely asleep at the time.
Idaho Gov. Brad Little has directed up to $1 million in state emergency funds for the investigation, which has gotten national attention.
So far, authorities say, there have been more than 260 digital media submissions by communities to the FBI link, and 113 pieces of physical evidence have been collected in the investigation and taken to the Idaho State Police crime lab.
There is still no suspect in custody.