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Idaho crime: police backtrack, now rule out targeted attack

Idaho police continue to gather leads on the Moscow murders and open new avenues of investigation.

Moscow, Idaho

(Jasper Nance / Flickr)

Published by
Rosana Rábago Sainz

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Seventeen days after the attack that killed four college students in Moscow, Idaho, police continue to investigate. The more than 1,000 clues, including nearly 500 audiovisual materials, continue to be analyzed and, day by day, authorities are sharing updates on the case.

Nuevo comunicado de prensa del Departamento de Policía de Moscow by VozMedia on Scribd

The latest report claims that, contrary to what Moscow police claimed at the start of the investigation, the attack may not have had a clear target. This is one of the lastest conclusions reached by the authorities however, they state they still have insufficient evidence to confirm that either the house or any of the four young men were targets of the attack:

Conflicting information has been released over 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.

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.

The new press release contradicts what Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson told KTVB and was picked up by Fox News just hours earlier where he assured that "investigators believe that this attack was intended for a specific person."

It also debunks statements made by the Idaho State Police communications director, Aaron Snell, given to Fox News Digital on Nov. 26 where it was confirmed that investigators believed the attack was targeted at someone specific: "There were survivors of this. And furthermore, based on the evidence internally at the scene, that has led detectives to believe and continue to believe that this was a targeted event."

University of Idaho remembers victims

While the investigation continues, several University of Idaho students returned to campus to continue their classes. The institution decided to pay tribute to the four victims in the presence of their parents, who took the opportunity to say a few words.

The first to speak was Steven Gonçalves, Kaylee's father. He asked those gathered there to remember his daughter and the other victims with love:

The only cure to pain is love — it's the only thing that's going to to heal us; it's the only thing that's going to heal you. That will make a difference, and that's something they can see where they're at right now: That you changed your life a little bit, that you're a little bit nicer, a little bit kinder.

He also dedicated a few words to Madison who, he said, had been Kaylee's best friend for years:

They went to high school together, then they started looking at colleges, they came here together. They eventually got into the same apartment together. And 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 comforts us.

Madison's father, Ben Mogan, recalled how proud he was of his daughter and her life was one of the main topics of conversation he brought up when anyone asked. He emphasized her love for live music, for hard work and for her boyfriend.

For her part, Stacey Chapin, Ethan's mother simply said through tears that "the circumstances that bring us here tonight - they're terrible. The hardest part - we cannont change the outcome."

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