A 25-year-old suspect is in custody after being arrested in Pennsylvania in connection to the the slaying of four University of Idaho students, NBC news reported Friday.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were slaughtered using “an edged weapon such as a knife” in the targeted murders in the early hours of Nov. 13, Moscow Police Department said.
A friend discovered the bodies inside the rental home on Kings Road and called 911 just before noon that day.
Local Moscow police had been joined by the FBI and State police in a huge investigation to find the killer since the killings, had combed through some 20,000 tips and and collected thousands of pieces of of evidence in relation to the grisly murders. However, they have released little information to the public throughout the investigation.
Law enforcement sources told the Daily Mail that the bloody crime scene was “the worst they’ve seen.” Photos by the Mail showed blood oozing down the side of the building.
The murders, which took place the week before Thanksgiving, shook the campus in the small city of 25,000 along the border of Washington State. Many students went home early ahead of the holiday break early as questions swirled over what had happened.
Jazzmin Kernodle, Xana’s sister, had told the Associated Press her family was anxiously awaiting updates on the investigation.
“Xena was so happy and loved, and it breaks my heart,” Jazzmin said in a text message. “She was so lighthearted, and always lifted up a room. She made me such a proud big sister, and I wish I could have had more time with her… She had so much life left to live.”
The four had been friends in school and were members of sororities or fraternities. Photos posted on Instagram hours before the murders showed the four together, with one snap showing Mogen on the woman’s shoulders.
“One lucky girl to be surrounded by these people every day,” Goncalves wrote.
Chapin was a freshman majoring in recreation, sport and tourism management originally from Mount Vernon, Washington, according to the university. Kernodle had been a junior marketing major and was a Post Falls, Idaho native.
Chapin and Kernoodle appeared to be in a relationship.
The school described Goncalves as a senior majoring in general studies from Rathdrum, Idaho and Mogen was a senior majoring in marketing from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho.
With Post wires
