The two-storey home where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered last year will be demolished before the end of the year.
Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of fatally stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, were allowed access to the home in Moscow, Idaho, ahead of its scheduled demolition on 28 December.
The defence had previously requested a visit to the residence at 1122 King Road to take photos and measurements for trial. The home was donated by the owner to the university earlier this year, months after the quadruple murder.
“It is the grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there,” University of Idaho President Scott Green said in a statement, per KMVT. “While we appreciate the emotional connection some family members of the victims may have to this house, it is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue.”
The FBI also visited the home in November to take pictures and create a visual rendering that can be shown to a jury in the future. Mr Green said that the demolition may take several days to complete.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21— (Instagram)
The victims were stabbed to death in the rental home on King Road on 13 November 2022. Chapin, Kernodle’s boyfriend, was staying at the residence, which is just a few minutes walk from campus, on the night of the murders.
According to an affidavit for Mr Kohberger’s arrest, Mr Kohberger’s DNA was found on a knife sheath that the killer left behind at the crime scene. The tan leather Kabar sheath, which featured the United States Marine Corps symbol, was discovered on Mogen’s bed next to her body.
At the time of the quadruple homicide, two other roommates were inside the home but were left unharmed by the killer. The police report reveals that one of them came face to face with the masked killer.
Mr Kohberger, a criminal justice PhD student at Washington State University, lived just 15 minutes from the victims over the Idaho-Washington border in Pullman, having moved there to begin the academic programme in August 2022.
Police tape is seen at a home that is the site of a quadruple murder on 3 January 2023 in Moscow, Idaho— (Getty Images)
He was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on 30 December 2022.
In May, Mr Kohberger declined to enter a plea at his arraignment, forcing the judge to enter not-guilty pleas on his behalf for four charges of first-degree murder and another of felony burglary.
The trial was initially scheduled for last October but it was indefinitely postponed after Mr Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial.
No trial date has been set yet.
