Investigation into the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students is slow and laborious as the killer was ‘botched’ and left a ‘mess’ of evidence, parents say a victim.
Steve and Kristi Goncalves, whose daughter Kaylee was one of four students killed at an off-campus house on November 13, said police told them examining the chaotic crime scene would take time.
“They’re telling us there’s so much evidence that it’s going to take a long time to process it all,” Steve Goncalves told Fox News on Sunday.
“It wasn’t like a one-off crime. This person was sloppy.
The grieving parents said police were unable to confirm whether they had the suspect’s DNA, but authorities had set up a mobile unit at the scene of the horrific crime in order to trying to “speed things up”.
The killer “put the mess there, and they’re going to have to go through it step by step,” his father added.
At a news conference on Sunday, Moscow Police Department officials pleaded for patience as they begin their second week of investigating the quadruple homicide.
Police still believe the attack was targeted but could not release further information.
“It was a complex and terrible crime and it will take time to solve,” said Moscow Police Chief James Fry.
“We think they’re being targeted because we take the totality of all the circumstances we’re looking at. Do we know anyone who’s been targeted?” Friy said.
“We are unable to say at this time due to our investigation, but we still believe so.”
Authorities believe the four students – Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin and Goncalves – were stabbed to death in the early hours of November 13 as they slept. The three women were roommates and Chapin was in a relationship with Kernodle.
Two of the victims were on the second floor and the other two victims were on the third floor of the house. They were stabbed multiple times and some had defensive wounds, police said.
Two other housemates were at home but were ruled out as suspects. The 911 call came from one of the housemates, but Fry declined to say who made the call.
The police chief also confirmed that other friends arrived at the home around the time the call was made.
Fry also said police believed many of Goncalves and Mogen’s mystery man calls were unrelated to the crime.
Goncalves’ parents told Fox News Digital they believe the person their daughter was calling, her ex-boyfriend Jack, was not involved in the crime.
“They’re wasting their time with Jack. Jack is as upset as we are. Jack is our family,” his mother, Kristi Goncalves, said.
Law enforcement received more than 600 tips last week and conducted 90 interviews, Fry said, because authorities still don’t know where the killer or killers might be hiding.
“We are looking wherever the evidence will take us. I can’t say if the person is here, I can’t say what community they’re in,” the chief said. “We use all the resources we can to make this location individual.”
Police initially insisted there was no threat to the community immediately after the grisly discovery – but backtracked days later and urged community members to be vigilant.
Dozens of FBI agents are assigned to the case, along with state police to assist the Moscow Police Department.
No murder weapon had been located.
