Idaho student killings: Ex-officers say police ‘jumped the gun’ with first report of ‘targeted’ attack

MOSCOW, Idaho – Two former detectives say the Moscow Police Department’s decision to call the Nov. 13 quadruple homicide near the University of Idaho an “isolated and targeted attack” may have been premature.

The Moscow Police Department (MPD) described the attack as isolated and targeted in a press release on Tuesday. Authorities have since revealed that the victims – Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 – were stabbed to death, possibly while sleeping, around 3am or 4am on November 13.

“I think the police definitely jumped at the gun with that statement,” the former New York Police Department detective said. Herman Weisberg told Fox News Digital. “You must have a suspect or a reason for saying this. They have a murder mystery here. No forced entry, which could have led them to believe it was a crime of passion or someone who knew them.”

Former Los Angeles Police Department detective. Mark Fuhrman also said the MPD’s statement that the attack was ‘isolated’ and ‘targeted’ struck him as odd, especially since the statement was made before the coroner released preliminary autopsy results. of the four victims.

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“The ‘targeted attack’, even if it’s true, it just doesn’t make sense,” Fuhurman said. “In my 20 years in the LAPD, I’ve never heard of anything like it. You can’t make that decision that quickly.” …To get them to say it was an isolated, targeted attack , they could be 100% right, but there has to be something that makes them say that.”

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The former LAPD detective speculated that the attacker may have left a note or message of some kind in the house – an indication that the attack was, in fact, isolated and targeted before autopsies were completed.

Investigators in hazmat suits examine the scene of a quadruple homicide near the University of Idaho campus.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Fuhrman and Weisberg said stabbings are usually personal and violent. Furhman noted that male killers typically shoot their victims while females more frequently opt for knives.

Homicides involving knives typically involve suspects who “have a lot of anger” and want to inflict “a lot of hurt,” Fuhrman said.

“The coroner said they were pretty much all the same, so in my mind that means someone really didn’t know how to use that gun quickly in a deadly case,” Fuhrman said of the causes of deaths of the victims, which the Latah County Coroner confirmed was a stabbing homicide on Thursday.

Police have named the four victims of an apparent quadruple homicide at the University of Idaho as Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee GonCalves.
(Moscow City Police Department/Instagram)

Weisberg said the knife attacks are “very personal” and could lead police to believe the attack was “a crime of passion”, potentially committed by “someone who knew” the victims.

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The two former detectives said it was possible the two surviving roommates of the victims, who were in the house at the time of the murders, may not have heard the attack. Police did not attend the scene until around noon Nov. 13, when they responded to a 911 call about an unconscious person at the residence near campus.

Investigators fly a drone over the home in Moscow, Idaho, Friday, Nov. 18, 2022, where a quadruple murder took place over the weekend.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

“People don’t talk when they’re focused on not dying. It doesn’t bother me too much. It’s not television,” Fuhrman said when asked why no one had heard enough. noise to call 911 immediately. “You might say something at first, but then you focus on stopping the attack.”

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There could also have been other noise factors in the house to explain why no one heard enough noise to call the police, Weisberg said.

“Defensive injuries – that usually indicates a lot of noise,” he said. “Again…there could have been music in the house.”

Local, state and federal officials are involved in the investigation and are processing nearly 500 tips. They also conducted 38 interviews “with people who may have information about the murders”.

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The MPD assigned four detectives, 24 patrol officers and five support staff to the case. The FBI has 22 investigators in Moscow, 20 agents in other parts of the United States, and two agents from the Behavioral Analysis Unit working on the case. Idaho State Police deployed 20 investigators, 15 state troopers, a public information officer and a forensic services team to the scene, along with 15 uniformed troopers to assist in d other patrols.

Officials will likely test blood samples, examine shoe prints and examine bed sheets that may contain DNA from the suspect’s contact with the victims, Fuhrman said.

Investigators search a home in Moscow, Idaho, Monday, Nov. 14, 2022, where four University of Idaho students were killed over the weekend in an apparent quadruple homicide.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

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Weirsberg said the FBI is likely tracing the steps of the victims before their murders, reviewing all of the victims’ recent relationships and interrelationships, including past relationships if investigators believe the attack was targeted, and establishing a more solid timeline. events.

Authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to call 208-883-7180 ​​or tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.