Police: Sixth person on lease at home where students killed

A county coroner’s preliminary report 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.

Detectives are now aware of a sixth person listed on the lease of the home. As of Thursday evening, Moscow police do not believe the person on the lease was there at the time of the deadly stabbings.

Police will not share exactly where the victims inside the rental home that is now a crime scene. But based on pictures from inside, analyzed by NewsNation, it seems that there are two bedrooms on the first floor with a bathroom in the middle. The second floor also appears to have two bedrooms and another bathroom. On the third floor, there are two bedrooms and another bathroom. According to investigators, the murders happened on the second and third floors of the home.

Moscow police say they remain consistent in their belief that the incident was a “targeted attack.” Investigators have not determined if the target was the home or the people living there.

Police issued a clarification on the matter, saying there was an “internal miscommunication” after Latah County, Idaho, prosecuting attorney Bill Thompson told NewsNation that it was not necessarily one victim who was targeted, but more so the home itself.

“My understanding is investigators believe that whoever’s responsible was specifically looking at this particular residence,” Thompson said Tuesday.

Morgan Romero, an anchor for KTVB in Boise, tweeted Wednesday evening that 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, but police insist conflicting information had been released.

The Moscow Police Department asserted Thursday night they are “the only provider of official information” regarding the case.

The Moscow community continues to mourn the students killed in the stabbings, as the investigation has not seen much apparent progress. No suspects or persons of interest have been publicly identified in the case.

Investigators are still looking for context and clues surrounding the quadruple murder case. Information can be submitted to detectives in the following ways:

NewsNation has been covering this story from the beginning, and will continue its investigation in a special hour on Sunday. National correspondent Brian Entin will host “Special Report: Idaho Murder Mystery” on Dec. 4 at 9 p.m. ET on NewsNation. Here’s how you can watch.