Idaho Police Don't Understand How Roommates Slept Through Gruesome Murders

Moscow Police in Idaho can't yet answer how two individuals slept through the murders of four others inside the same home.

The murders of University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21, on the morning of November 13 have drawn national attention. The killer is still on the loose and few details surrounding their gruesome deaths have been disclosed.

Moscow Police Chief James Fry was asked Sunday how the two surviving roommates were not woken up by the murders, two of which occurred on the second floor of the house on 1122 King Road and two on the third. He replied that authorities don't know and that it's part of the investigation.

Police said that after Goncalves and Mogen vacated a bar called The Corner Club in downtown Moscow at around 1:30 a.m. on November 13, they were seen 10 minutes later at a local food vendor called the "Grub Truck." They then used a private party to get a ride, arriving home at around 1:45 a.m.

Chapin and Kernodle returned home at about the same time after previously being seen at the Sigma Chi house on the University of Idaho Campus. Chapin did not reside at the home and was just visiting, police clarified.

Detectives added that the two surviving roommates were each out separately and had both returned home by about 1 a.m. Less than 12 hours later, at 11:58 a.m., the 911 call that led to the discoveries of the victims was made off one of the surviving individuals' phones.

The identity of the 911 caller has not been released by police, though Fry said the killer was not the one who made the call.

The surviving roommates, a male in a white hoodie in a surveillance video near the food vendor, and the male driver who took Goncalves and Mogen home are not currently viewed as suspects. The roommates have reportedly cooperated with authorities.

Police did say that Goncalves and Mogen had made calls to an unidentified male the same night of their deaths.

Autopsy results have confirmed that the victims were all stabbed multiple times in their sleep, Moscow Police Captain Roger Lanier said Sunday at a press conference. Some victims had defensive wounds and none of them were sexually assaulted.

None of the victims were tied or gagged, Lanier added as a point of emphasis to disprove rumors circulating online.

Businesses in the area have been contacted to determine if a fixed-blade knife was recently purchased, as the murder weapon still has not been discovered. The contents of three dumpsters on King Road have been seized to locate potential evidence.

Authorities have received over 600 tips from the public. Fry said over 90 interviews have already been conducted with assistance from the Idaho State Police, FBI and Latah County Sheriff's Office.

Four detectives and 24 patrol officers, 22 FBI investigators and two behavioral analysts, and 20 investigators, forensics analysts and crime scene investigators from the Idaho State Police are working the case.

"This incident has shaken our community, it continues to shake our community, and we continue to mourn...It is a complex and terrible crime and it will take some time to resolve," Fry said.