WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.520 What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the program. They 2 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:06.719 were supposed to be safe. That was the unspoken truth 3 00:00:06.759 --> 00:00:09.919 beneath the snow, beneath the locked doors, beneath the college 4 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.119 dreams lining the streets of Moscow, Idaho. Safety It's why 5 00:00:14.240 --> 00:00:17.199 parents send their children to small towns, to college towns, 6 00:00:17.320 --> 00:00:21.239 to places like this. But on the night of November thirteenth, 7 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:26.519 twenty twenty two, safety died too. It begins in fragments. 8 00:00:27.039 --> 00:00:29.879 A line of students shovels past a downtown bar. A 9 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:32.479 white car makes a slow, measured turn on a street 10 00:00:32.840 --> 00:00:36.920 lined with whispering trees. A hand on a doorknob, the 11 00:00:36.960 --> 00:00:40.159 flick of a hallway light, a phone placed down beside 12 00:00:40.200 --> 00:00:44.119 a bed, a kitchen dark, a third floor window glowing 13 00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:47.479 faintly in the early morning haze, and somewhere in the 14 00:00:47.520 --> 00:00:50.479 shadows of it all, a man with a knife. This 15 00:00:50.640 --> 00:00:53.600 is how the Night of the University of Idaho murders unfolds, 16 00:00:53.880 --> 00:00:56.560 not as the singular eruption of violence, but a series 17 00:00:56.600 --> 00:01:00.920 of precise, almost silent ruptures for lives ended in under 18 00:01:00.960 --> 00:01:04.840 twenty minutes. A town shattered, a country stunned, and a 19 00:01:04.840 --> 00:01:08.079 mystery that would ignite a forensic and media firestorm unlike 20 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:12.439 anything the State of Idaho had ever seen. To understand 21 00:01:12.480 --> 00:01:14.760 how it happened, we have to reconstruct the night in 22 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:18.560 its entirety, not just through surveillance footage or timestamp phone pings, 23 00:01:18.719 --> 00:01:23.439 but through space, motion, silence, and intent. The timeline isn't 24 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:27.640 just linear, it's spatial, it's architectural. This house was a 25 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:31.640 box of lives, floor stack like secrets, doors separating life 26 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:38.200 from death. Let's step inside. Saturday November twelfth, twenty twenty 27 00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:42.040 two evening and tonight, The three story house at eleven 28 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:44.840 twenty two King Road sits tucked against a hill in 29 00:01:44.879 --> 00:01:48.799 a quiet neighborhood just off the University of Idaho campus. 30 00:01:49.280 --> 00:01:52.239 The property is oddly shaped, partially hidden from the road, 31 00:01:52.519 --> 00:01:57.560 with multiple entrances and an exterior stairwell, a classic college rental, 32 00:01:57.719 --> 00:02:01.159 functional lived in and fill with quiet noise of youth. 33 00:02:02.040 --> 00:02:05.280 Six people lived here on this particular night. Five young 34 00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:09.120 women and one male guest would be inside. Kayley Gonsolvis 35 00:02:09.319 --> 00:02:13.919 twenty one, Madison Mogan twenty one, Xana Kernodle twenty two. 36 00:02:13.960 --> 00:02:18.919 Surviving roommates Bethany Funk and Dylan Mortensen. And Ethan Chapin, 37 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:22.719 Xana's boyfriend, who was visiting that night. The home itself 38 00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:26.840 was structured with basement level two bedrooms typically used by 39 00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:30.479 the surviving roommates, middle level of the second floor kitchen, 40 00:02:30.680 --> 00:02:35.080 common areas, and Xana's bedroom top level third floor bedrooms 41 00:02:35.080 --> 00:02:38.960 of Kaylee and Madison. At around five pm, each pair 42 00:02:39.039 --> 00:02:42.159 begins their evenings separately. Zana and Ethan make plans to 43 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:45.319 attend a party at the nearby Sigma Kai fraternity house, 44 00:02:45.599 --> 00:02:49.080 located just a few minutes away on campus. Kayley and 45 00:02:49.120 --> 00:02:51.960 Madison are preparing to go downtown for drinks and late 46 00:02:52.080 --> 00:02:55.840 night food. The night feels typical for a college weekend. 47 00:02:56.080 --> 00:02:59.240 The town is cold, low thirties with patches of snow. 48 00:02:59.520 --> 00:03:02.280 The streets of Moscow or dimly lit, lined with tall 49 00:03:02.319 --> 00:03:05.360 trees that mute the ambient light and keeps the town 50 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:09.680 in a kind of permanent twilight. After dusk, around ten PM, 51 00:03:09.800 --> 00:03:12.719 Kaylee and Madison arrive at the Corner Club, a small 52 00:03:12.719 --> 00:03:17.159 downtown bar popular with students. Surveillance cameras and witness accounts 53 00:03:17.199 --> 00:03:20.400 confirm their presence. They're dressed for a night out talking 54 00:03:20.479 --> 00:03:24.039 with friends. There's no reported confrontation no one following them, 55 00:03:24.280 --> 00:03:27.199 nothing to suggest that the night will turn. They stay 56 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:29.960 at the bar until just before one thirty am, and 57 00:03:30.039 --> 00:03:33.400 then head toward the Grub Truck, a local food cart 58 00:03:33.439 --> 00:03:37.319 that live streams footage for entertainment. This truck, through Sheer 59 00:03:37.360 --> 00:03:41.000 Happenstance records what would become the final public images of 60 00:03:41.080 --> 00:03:44.759 Kaylee and Madison alive. In the video time stamped around 61 00:03:44.759 --> 00:03:48.039 one forty am, the two women appear relaxed. They laugh. 62 00:03:48.360 --> 00:03:51.479 Madison places in order while Kaylee scrolls through her phone. 63 00:03:52.080 --> 00:03:56.479 A man stands nearby. Someone online sleuths would obsess over 64 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:00.319 for weeks, but police later cleared them. The live stream 65 00:04:00.360 --> 00:04:04.479 is mundane, that's what makes it so eerie. After retrieving 66 00:04:04.479 --> 00:04:07.120 their food, the girls leave the area at approximately one 67 00:04:07.199 --> 00:04:09.960 fifty six am, picked up by a private party ride 68 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:12.879 chair driver and dropped off at eleven twenty two King 69 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:16.600 Road at around one fifty nine am. The driver is 70 00:04:16.680 --> 00:04:21.040 also cleared. Meanwhile, Xana and Ethan leave the fraternity party 71 00:04:21.079 --> 00:04:23.399 around the same time and returned to the King Road 72 00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.360 house just after one forty five am. All six occupants 73 00:04:27.399 --> 00:04:30.920 are now inside the home the silent hours two am 74 00:04:31.240 --> 00:04:34.879 to four am. This is the black box, no confirmed 75 00:04:34.920 --> 00:04:40.360 Eyewinness accounts, no confirmed interactions, no obvious disturbances, but something 76 00:04:40.439 --> 00:04:44.319 was happening. Cell Phone records later confirmed that Xana Kernodle 77 00:04:44.439 --> 00:04:48.079 was awake during this window. At four twelve am, her 78 00:04:48.079 --> 00:04:52.680 TikTok app was actively used. Investigators suggests this confirms she 79 00:04:52.800 --> 00:04:56.399 was still alive at the time. Kaylee and Madison's phones 80 00:04:56.519 --> 00:05:00.480 show in activity after roughly three forty five am. Their dog, 81 00:05:00.560 --> 00:05:03.439 Murphy was present in Kayley's room and would later be 82 00:05:03.480 --> 00:05:07.240 found unharmed. The only piece of recorded data during this 83 00:05:07.319 --> 00:05:11.800 window that raises alarms comes from a neighbour's audio surveillance, 84 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:14.959 which captures a series of faint thuds, a whimper, and 85 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.199 a sharp sound that some have described as a cry 86 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:22.199 or a scream. This occurs between four seventeen and four 87 00:05:22.199 --> 00:05:26.360 to twenty am, a crucial timestamp. It is during this 88 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:28.680 window four am to four to twenty five AM that 89 00:05:28.759 --> 00:05:33.199 investigators believe the murders took place. At approximately four to 90 00:05:33.240 --> 00:05:36.040 twenty am, a white Hondai A launtra is seen speeding 91 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:40.279 away from the area on multiple surveillance cameras. The car 92 00:05:40.279 --> 00:05:43.720 had been circling the King Road neighborhood repeatedly between three 93 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:46.959 point thirty and four to twenty am captured turning around 94 00:05:47.000 --> 00:05:49.519 several times in a three minute span near the house. 95 00:05:50.199 --> 00:05:52.759 This car will become the lynchpin of the future case 96 00:05:53.160 --> 00:05:58.120 and inside the house a massacre. The murders room by room. 97 00:05:59.199 --> 00:06:01.360 The killer entered through a sliding glass door on the 98 00:06:01.360 --> 00:06:05.720 second floor, an entrance easily accessible via an exterior stairwell. 99 00:06:06.199 --> 00:06:09.240 There were no signs of forced entry. What happened next 100 00:06:09.279 --> 00:06:13.720 is reconstructed through crime scene photographs, corner reports, and leaks, 101 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:17.279 and the information remains partial but chilling. The second floor, 102 00:06:17.519 --> 00:06:20.680 Zana and Ethan. It's believed that Ethan was attacked first. 103 00:06:21.000 --> 00:06:23.360 He was found on the floor of Xana's bedroom near 104 00:06:23.399 --> 00:06:26.279 the doorway, possibly standing or getting out of bed when 105 00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:31.199 the killer entered. His injuries were consistent with an ambush. Xana, 106 00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:33.560 based on the defensive wounds on her hands, fought back. 107 00:06:34.079 --> 00:06:37.319 Her father would later state publicly that she had bruises, 108 00:06:37.480 --> 00:06:40.439 torn skin, and deep cuts on her fingers, signs of 109 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:43.720 a desperate struggle. They both died on the second floor. 110 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:48.279 The third floor, Madison and Kaylee, the two best friends, 111 00:06:48.279 --> 00:06:51.680 were found in Madison's bed. Both were killed with a knife. 112 00:06:51.759 --> 00:06:55.720 According to the coroner. It's widely speculated that Kaylee received 113 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.959 more wounds than the others, particularly to the chest and neck. 114 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:01.600 Her father told the press at the nature of her 115 00:07:01.639 --> 00:07:05.560 wounds suggested that she was the target. The killer exited 116 00:07:05.560 --> 00:07:07.959 the house through the same door he entered. It speculated 117 00:07:08.800 --> 00:07:11.279 the basement level roommates to sleep in their rooms were 118 00:07:11.360 --> 00:07:14.759 left untouched. One of them reported waking up to noise 119 00:07:14.959 --> 00:07:18.480 and opening her bedroom door sometime around four am. She 120 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:21.439 later told investigator she saw a man in black clothing 121 00:07:21.680 --> 00:07:24.720 with a mask covering his nose and his mouth walking 122 00:07:24.759 --> 00:07:27.800 past her. He left through the sliding door. She locked 123 00:07:27.800 --> 00:07:34.040 her door and did not call nine one one. This decision, misunderstood, misrepresented, 124 00:07:34.319 --> 00:07:38.160 and widely criticized online, would become a source of intense scrutiny. 125 00:07:38.600 --> 00:07:41.920 But trauma doesn't always follow logic, and what she saw 126 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:46.600 in that moment may not have registered as real discovery 127 00:07:46.759 --> 00:07:49.600 and the nine to one one call morning of November thirteenth, 128 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:53.160 twenty twenty two. The bodies were discovered just before noon. 129 00:07:53.759 --> 00:07:56.240 One of the surviving roommates called friends to the house 130 00:07:56.439 --> 00:07:59.920 because she believed someone was unconscious. Multiple people are off 131 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:02.720 at eleven fifty eight am, a call was placed to 132 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:05.560 nine one one from one of the roommate's phones. The 133 00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:09.399 dispatcher was told someone was unconscious. Officers arriving at the 134 00:08:09.399 --> 00:08:12.480 scene would later say the word unconscious didn't match the 135 00:08:12.519 --> 00:08:16.720 brutality that they found upstairs. Police entered through the front 136 00:08:16.759 --> 00:08:19.480 door and were met with an overwhelming stench of blood. 137 00:08:20.120 --> 00:08:23.000 What they found inside stunned even the most veteran officers. 138 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:26.000 Blood seeped down the exterior wall of the house. The 139 00:08:26.040 --> 00:08:29.040 interior was a maze of violence, stab wounds, blood spatter, 140 00:08:29.240 --> 00:08:36.039 defensive injuries. It speculated Kaylee, Madison, Xana Ethan, all four 141 00:08:36.159 --> 00:08:39.320 pronounced dead at the scene. The town of Moscow had 142 00:08:39.360 --> 00:08:42.600 not seen a single homicide in seven years. Now it 143 00:08:42.639 --> 00:08:48.240 had four. Part two the victims. To talk about murder 144 00:08:48.279 --> 00:08:52.399 is to speak in reduction victim suspect case. But before 145 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:55.879 the crime, before the autopsy, before the press conferences and 146 00:08:55.960 --> 00:09:00.960 legal filings, there were lives, bright, ordinary, vivid life. To 147 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:03.480 understand what was lost in Moscow, Idaho, you have to 148 00:09:03.559 --> 00:09:07.840 understand who was taken. There were four of them, young, alive, 149 00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.720 moving through the ordinary rituals of college life, shared dinners, 150 00:09:11.840 --> 00:09:17.039 late nights, text chains, Snapchat updates, coffee runs, inside jokes. 151 00:09:17.480 --> 00:09:19.840 In the hours before they were murdered, they were doing 152 00:09:19.919 --> 00:09:23.600 exactly what they were supposed to be doing. Living. Each 153 00:09:23.600 --> 00:09:26.000 of the four students killed in the early morning hours 154 00:09:26.279 --> 00:09:29.720 of November thirteenth, twenty twenty two had their own trajectory, 155 00:09:29.919 --> 00:09:33.879 their own story, their own relationships, and when the violence struck, 156 00:09:34.039 --> 00:09:37.480 it did not just stop time, it ruptured futures. To 157 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:39.960 understand the gravity of what happened, you have to see 158 00:09:40.039 --> 00:09:42.720 them not as a statistic, but as a series of 159 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.480 unfinished stories. Let's begin with the one who was supposed 160 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:52.200 to be gone already, Kay Gonsalves, age twenty one, major 161 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.720 General Studies, planning a tech career. Kayley Gonsalves had already 162 00:09:56.799 --> 00:09:59.840 left Moscow. At least that was the plan. She had 163 00:09:59.840 --> 00:10:02.720 just completed her coursework ahead of schedule and was set 164 00:10:02.759 --> 00:10:06.320 to graduate early from the University of Idaho. She landed 165 00:10:06.320 --> 00:10:09.320 a position with a Texas based technology firm and was 166 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.080 preparing to move to Austin. She wasn't even supposed to 167 00:10:12.120 --> 00:10:15.000 be in town the weekend she died, but something pulled 168 00:10:15.000 --> 00:10:19.679 her back, something as simple as human as friendship. Kayley 169 00:10:19.759 --> 00:10:21.799 had returned to Moscow to spend the weekend with her 170 00:10:21.799 --> 00:10:25.440 best friend and roommate, Madison Mogan. Before her official departure, 171 00:10:25.960 --> 00:10:28.519 she brought her new Range Rover with her, proud and 172 00:10:28.600 --> 00:10:32.039 excited to show it off. The vehicle would later become 173 00:10:32.039 --> 00:10:36.200 a landmark detail in case photos. By all accounts, Kaylee 174 00:10:36.240 --> 00:10:39.759 was magnetic. Friends described her as fire and light, a 175 00:10:39.799 --> 00:10:43.080 confident extrovert who wasn't afraid to speak her mind, but 176 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:46.159 who always brought levity to a room. She had an 177 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:49.440 ambitious streak. Tech was the path she had chosen. She 178 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:53.919 wanted independence, growth and excitement of a new city. She was, 179 00:10:53.960 --> 00:10:55.759 in the eyes of those who knew her, on the 180 00:10:55.840 --> 00:10:59.519 cusp of something great. She had grown up in Rathstrom, Idaho, 181 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:01.960 the third of five children in a close knit family. 182 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:05.279 Her father, Steve Gonsalvez, would become one of the most 183 00:11:05.360 --> 00:11:09.200 vocal and visible figures following the murders, determining to keep 184 00:11:09.240 --> 00:11:12.559 her name in the headlines and the pressure on the investigation. 185 00:11:13.919 --> 00:11:17.600 Kaylee and Madison weren't just housemates. Their history stretched back 186 00:11:17.600 --> 00:11:21.000 to childhood. They had grown up together, gone to school together, 187 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:24.279 and made a deliberate decision to attend the same university 188 00:11:24.480 --> 00:11:28.919 and even live together as upperclassmen. That choice, the decision 189 00:11:28.960 --> 00:11:30.799 to spend one more night in town with her best 190 00:11:30.799 --> 00:11:34.840 friend would be her last. Madison Mogan, aged twenty one, 191 00:11:35.159 --> 00:11:39.759 marketing Cordelay and Idaho. Where Kaylee was the spark, Mattie 192 00:11:39.799 --> 00:11:43.879 was the compass, according to friends. Friends described her as grounded, loyal, 193 00:11:44.080 --> 00:11:47.919 and quietly assertive. She was a planner, a protector. If 194 00:11:47.960 --> 00:11:51.279 Kaylee was the wind, Mattie was the anchor. The two 195 00:11:51.360 --> 00:11:54.279 had formed a bond early in life, inseparable through high 196 00:11:54.279 --> 00:11:58.600 school roommates, throughout college, best friends to the end. That 197 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:01.039 night they had gone out together, just like they had 198 00:12:01.279 --> 00:12:04.240 hundreds of times before. Kaylee had come back to see her. 199 00:12:04.360 --> 00:12:07.279 It was supposed to be a reunion, a goodbye. Instead 200 00:12:07.799 --> 00:12:11.360 it became a tragedy. Madison was a senior at the 201 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:14.080 university and was just months away from graduating with a 202 00:12:14.080 --> 00:12:16.600 degree in marketing. She had worked part time at a 203 00:12:16.600 --> 00:12:19.679 local restaurant and was known among her co workers as 204 00:12:19.679 --> 00:12:22.600 someone who always picked up extra shifts and never showed 205 00:12:22.679 --> 00:12:26.200 up late. Born in Eugene, Oregon and raised in Courtelaine, 206 00:12:26.360 --> 00:12:29.360 Madison was close with her parents and her extended family. 207 00:12:29.840 --> 00:12:32.919 Her Instagram was filled with snapschats of vacations, friendships, and 208 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:36.879 campus life. Nothing extraordinary, and that's what made it resonate. 209 00:12:37.240 --> 00:12:39.240 She was a twenty one year old woman building a 210 00:12:39.279 --> 00:12:42.919 future one step at a time. Those close to her 211 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:46.360 say she had been considering her next steps job applications, 212 00:12:46.559 --> 00:12:50.200 career moves, maybe even a move to Boise or Seattle. 213 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:52.679 She had a boyfriend at the time, someone she had 214 00:12:52.759 --> 00:12:55.759 dated seriously and who was questioned and cleared in the 215 00:12:55.799 --> 00:12:59.360 early days of the investigation. When the killer entered the 216 00:12:59.360 --> 00:13:02.000 home that night, Madison and Kaylee were asleep in the 217 00:13:02.039 --> 00:13:06.120 same bed. Whether it was comfort, routine, or just fatigue, 218 00:13:06.519 --> 00:13:08.879 they had ended the night together as they had lived 219 00:13:08.919 --> 00:13:12.279 it side by side. All right, we're gonna wrap up 220 00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:14.600 episode one right here, and in the next episode we're 221 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:17.480 gonna pick up with part two. All of the information 222 00:13:17.559 --> 00:13:19.960 that goes with this episode can be found in the 223 00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:23.519 description box. What's up, everyone, and welcome back to the program. 224 00:13:23.879 --> 00:13:25.559 In this episode, we're going to pick up where we 225 00:13:25.679 --> 00:13:29.600 left off with our comprehensive review of how we got 226 00:13:29.679 --> 00:13:33.320 where we are when it comes to the murders at Moscow. 227 00:13:34.039 --> 00:13:38.879 Xana Kernodle Age twenty Major Marketing Xana was a fighter, 228 00:13:39.240 --> 00:13:41.840 not in the combative sense, but in the quiet, determined 229 00:13:41.879 --> 00:13:46.039 way that people notice only in hindsight. She had moved states, 230 00:13:46.240 --> 00:13:49.600 changed schools, juggle work and classes, and built a life 231 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:53.399 for herself that was uniquely her own. Born in Avondale, Arizona, 232 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:56.320 Xana moved to Post Falls, Idaho, where she graduated high 233 00:13:56.320 --> 00:13:59.759 school and enrolled at the University of Idaho. Like Madison, 234 00:14:00.000 --> 00:14:02.240 he was a marketing major, and she had worked part 235 00:14:02.279 --> 00:14:05.840 time as a server to support herself. Xana was known 236 00:14:05.879 --> 00:14:09.320 for her sharp sense of humor, harse, sarcasm, and her athleticism. 237 00:14:09.759 --> 00:14:11.879 She's the type to crack a joke in a tense room, 238 00:14:12.080 --> 00:14:14.879 to speak up when someone needed defending, and she had 239 00:14:14.879 --> 00:14:18.360 a strong presence in every space she entered, visible, direct, 240 00:14:18.600 --> 00:14:21.440 and magnetic, according to everyone who knew her. In the 241 00:14:21.480 --> 00:14:24.120 weeks leading up to the murders, Xana was spending increasing 242 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:27.080 time with Ethan Chapin, a fellow student and Sigma Kai 243 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:30.000 fraternity member. The two had been dating for several months 244 00:14:30.159 --> 00:14:33.440 and were described as inseparable by their friends. That night, 245 00:14:33.519 --> 00:14:36.399 Ethan had stayed over at Xana's house, located on the 246 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:41.399 second floor of the King Road House, Xana's father, Jeffrey Kernodle, 247 00:14:41.559 --> 00:14:45.360 would later speak publicly about his daughter's final moments. According 248 00:14:45.360 --> 00:14:49.080 to the coroner and law enforcement, Xana had defensive wounds, 249 00:14:49.120 --> 00:14:53.080 suggesting she was awake, aware, and fought back against her killer. 250 00:14:53.879 --> 00:14:55.919 It's believed she was the last to die that night. 251 00:14:56.600 --> 00:14:59.159 Her phone was still in use around four to twelve am. 252 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:01.879 She had likely she heard something, she had likely tried 253 00:15:01.919 --> 00:15:05.440 to respond, and in doing so, she had likely died fighting. 254 00:15:06.399 --> 00:15:11.440 Ethan Chapin, age twenty, major recreation, sport and tourism management. 255 00:15:12.159 --> 00:15:14.600 Ethan wasn't supposed to be there. He didn't live at 256 00:15:14.600 --> 00:15:17.480 the house. He wasn't a full time resident. He was 257 00:15:17.480 --> 00:15:20.000 there that night because he was spending time with his girlfriend. 258 00:15:20.480 --> 00:15:23.159 He had gone to the Sigma Kay party earlier, walked 259 00:15:23.159 --> 00:15:26.720 home with Xana, and stayed the night. It was unremarkable 260 00:15:26.799 --> 00:15:31.240 casual routine. Ethan was a triplet, one of three siblings, 261 00:15:31.279 --> 00:15:34.480 attending the University of Idaho at the same time. He 262 00:15:34.559 --> 00:15:37.559 had a twin brother and a twin sister. The Chapin 263 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:40.240 family had raised them to be close, competitive, and loyal 264 00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:45.240 to one another. They were used to sharing everything, sports, birthdays, classes. 265 00:15:45.919 --> 00:15:49.600 Now they had to share grief. Ethan was a gentle giant, 266 00:15:49.679 --> 00:15:52.720 over six feet tall, with a wide smile and goofy streak. 267 00:15:53.200 --> 00:15:56.320 Friends described him as someone who made things better just 268 00:15:56.320 --> 00:15:59.759 by being around. He was studying recreation in sports management, 269 00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.279 and he was also active in Greek life and intramurals. 270 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:06.639 Unlike the other three victims, Ethan was not a permanent 271 00:16:06.679 --> 00:16:10.080 resident of the house. This detail his presence at night 272 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:13.200 would later become the subject of speculation. Was he in 273 00:16:13.240 --> 00:16:15.559 the wrong place at the wrong time, or did his 274 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:19.480 presence alter the killer's plans. He was found near the 275 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:22.240 doorway of Xana's bedroom, as if he had gotten up 276 00:16:22.240 --> 00:16:25.440 to confront something. There are unconfirmed reports that he was 277 00:16:25.519 --> 00:16:28.720 killed first, likely before he could fully respond to the intrusion. 278 00:16:29.679 --> 00:16:32.519 He died within inches of his girlfriend, both of them 279 00:16:32.559 --> 00:16:36.720 slaughtered on the second floor. Two other young women lived 280 00:16:36.720 --> 00:16:39.679 in the King Road house and survived the night physically unscathed. 281 00:16:40.519 --> 00:16:44.120 Their identities were initially withheld to protect them from public scrutiny, 282 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.159 but as the case unfolded, their role became more complex 283 00:16:47.480 --> 00:16:51.320 and controversial. One roommate reportedly woke up in early morning 284 00:16:51.320 --> 00:16:53.480 hours and opened the door to find a man in 285 00:16:53.519 --> 00:16:56.320 black clothing with a mask covering his nose and mouth 286 00:16:56.360 --> 00:16:59.039 walking past her. She later locked her door and went 287 00:16:59.080 --> 00:17:02.960 back to sleep. Hours nothing happened. Then she called friends, 288 00:17:03.080 --> 00:17:06.759 then nine to one one. This timeline puzzled many. How 289 00:17:06.759 --> 00:17:09.440 could someone see a masked intruder and not call for help? 290 00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:12.599 Why didn't she check down the others? But trauma doesn't 291 00:17:12.640 --> 00:17:16.400 follow a script, and either this fear, that moment, frozen 292 00:17:16.480 --> 00:17:20.400 in confusion, disbelief, terror became part of the cases of enigma. 293 00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:25.799 The survivor became a lightning rod online, accused, interrogated, defended, 294 00:17:26.079 --> 00:17:27.720 But at the end of the day, she was a 295 00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:31.400 nineteen year old who saw something no person should ever see, 296 00:17:31.759 --> 00:17:34.480 and she lived or remember it. She carries that burden 297 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:40.599 now every day. Four lives lost, countless more shattered. Kaylee Madison, 298 00:17:40.920 --> 00:17:45.039 Zana Ethan. They weren't symbols, they were not sound bites. 299 00:17:45.079 --> 00:17:47.480 There were people, and then the cold silence of that 300 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:52.720 Sunday morning. Someone stole everything from them, their futures, their plans, 301 00:17:52.920 --> 00:17:57.599 their relationships, their very breath, and they left behind a mess, 302 00:17:57.960 --> 00:18:00.920 a forensic puzzle, a city and more, and a man 303 00:18:01.000 --> 00:18:05.920 soon to be accused of it all in a murder investigation. 304 00:18:06.039 --> 00:18:08.559 The most dangerous period isn't when the killer is on 305 00:18:08.599 --> 00:18:11.079 the run. It's in the hours right after the bodies 306 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:17.079 are discovered. That's when facts are scarce, memories unreliable, evidence vanishing, 307 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:19.880 and the weight of the world descends on a department 308 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:23.720 with no margin for error. A Moscow, Idaho law enforcement 309 00:18:23.960 --> 00:18:26.720 wasn't just chasing a killer. They were already fighting to 310 00:18:26.759 --> 00:18:29.240 keep control of the crime scene that had started slipping 311 00:18:29.279 --> 00:18:32.799 through their fingers before their first patrol ever even arrived 312 00:18:33.160 --> 00:18:36.720 eleven fifty eight am. The call that changed everything. It 313 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:40.039 came through the local dispatch center at eleven fifty eight am, 314 00:18:40.119 --> 00:18:42.119 a nine to one one call made from a surviving 315 00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:47.359 roommate's phone. The phrasing was clinical, even routine. An unconscious person. 316 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:51.119 That's what was reported, not a stabbing, non multiple deaths, 317 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:55.440 just someone wouldn't wake up. The truth would be infinitely worse. 318 00:18:56.279 --> 00:18:59.240 The Moscow Police department arrived within minutes. It was a 319 00:18:59.279 --> 00:19:03.720 basic welfare check, or so they thought. First officers through 320 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:06.000 the front door would later say the smell hit them 321 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:12.200 before the visuals did. Blood thick, metallic, unmistakable, a pungent 322 00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:15.160 scent that had soaked into the floorboards, the dry wall, 323 00:19:15.559 --> 00:19:19.000 the furniture. They didn't need long to realize what they 324 00:19:19.039 --> 00:19:22.880 were dealing with. Four victims brutally stab multiple times, no 325 00:19:22.960 --> 00:19:25.440 obvious signs of a struggle in the lower parts of 326 00:19:25.480 --> 00:19:28.559 the house, no evidence of a forced entry, no weapon. 327 00:19:29.200 --> 00:19:32.599 At that moment, Moscow, home to fewer than thirty thousand people, 328 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.480 with only seven homicides were recorded over the past two decades, 329 00:19:36.920 --> 00:19:39.640 had just become the site of a quadruple homicide with 330 00:19:39.680 --> 00:19:43.960 no immediate suspect and no clear motive. The air turned 331 00:19:43.960 --> 00:19:49.039 coal fast. The scene they stepped into, eleven twenty two 332 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:51.359 King Road, was a split level house built into a 333 00:19:51.440 --> 00:19:54.839 hillside with three floors. The top two levels were used 334 00:19:54.839 --> 00:19:57.839 primarily as bedrooms, while the bottom floor, accessible by a 335 00:19:57.839 --> 00:20:02.039 separate entrance, was occupied by to other roommates. When the 336 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:05.440 officers cleared the scene, they found two bodies in the 337 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:09.000 second floor bedroom, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Ethan was 338 00:20:09.000 --> 00:20:11.839 found near the doorway, likely the first to be attacked. 339 00:20:12.079 --> 00:20:15.880 Xana's injuries were consistent with the struggle, bruising, defensive wounds, 340 00:20:16.000 --> 00:20:20.039 deep gashes on her hands and arms. Two more victims upstairs, 341 00:20:20.359 --> 00:20:23.319 Kally gonsolve in Madison Mogan. They were found in the 342 00:20:23.319 --> 00:20:26.920 same bed, likely asleep when the attack began. Madison is 343 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:29.640 believed to have been attacked first, but Kaylee suffered what 344 00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:33.680 her father would later call significantly more brutal wounds, details 345 00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:37.680 that would ignite speculation about her being the killer's intended target. 346 00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.640 No signs of forced entry, broken glass, or disturbed furniture 347 00:20:42.720 --> 00:20:45.920 Beyond the rooms where the victims were found. A fixed 348 00:20:45.920 --> 00:20:48.839 blade knife sheath lying next to Madison's body, stamped with 349 00:20:48.880 --> 00:20:54.000 the United States Marine corn insignia. Blood spatter across multiple surfaces, 350 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:57.680 including an exterior wall where it seeped out of the 351 00:20:57.759 --> 00:21:01.640 second floor onto the foundation. In one of the downstairs bedrooms, 352 00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:04.839 a roommate had reportedly opened her door around four am 353 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:08.680 after hearing sounds crying, loud dump, a man's voice saying 354 00:21:08.720 --> 00:21:11.640 it's okay, I'm going to help you. What she saw 355 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:15.200 next would haunt the investigation. A man in black clothing 356 00:21:15.319 --> 00:21:18.319 and a mask walking past her and out the sliding door. 357 00:21:18.880 --> 00:21:21.799 She didn't call police, not then, not even after locking 358 00:21:21.799 --> 00:21:25.200 her door. She didn't know what she saw. Trauma, confusion 359 00:21:25.559 --> 00:21:30.960 fear locked her in place the first twenty four hours shock, chaos, 360 00:21:31.000 --> 00:21:35.039 and a gaping void. By the afternoon of November thirteenth, 361 00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:38.200 Moscow PD knew they were in over their heads. The 362 00:21:38.240 --> 00:21:42.480 crime scene was expansive and delicate, the victims were high profile. 363 00:21:42.680 --> 00:21:46.400 The media was already descending. The killer, whoever they were, 364 00:21:46.680 --> 00:21:50.440 had vanished into thin air. Police quickly moved to secure 365 00:21:50.480 --> 00:21:53.759 the scene. Barriers were erected, a mobile command center was 366 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:57.319 set up. Uniformed officers with rifles stood outside the perimeter, 367 00:21:57.799 --> 00:22:02.599 but internally things were already becoming unstable. Multiple civilians had 368 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.720 already entered the house before officers arrived. Friends had been called, 369 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:10.000 some had even attempted to rouse the victims. Evidence had 370 00:22:10.039 --> 00:22:13.839 already been disrupted, potential DNA, shoe prints, and even digital 371 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:17.680 devices had been touched by multiple individuals before the first 372 00:22:17.680 --> 00:22:21.839 detective even arrived. The crime scene was not processed forensic 373 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:25.759 First patrol officers entered the house before crime scene technicians, 374 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:28.559 a necessity given the welfare check nature of the nine 375 00:22:28.599 --> 00:22:31.640 one one call, but one that could have potentially compromised 376 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:36.480 trace evidence. Despite these challenges, the Moscow Police Department called 377 00:22:36.480 --> 00:22:39.680 in reinforcements from the Idaho State Police and the Federal 378 00:22:39.720 --> 00:22:44.440 Bureau of investigation. The joint task force included sixty plus investigators, 379 00:22:44.640 --> 00:22:48.920 forensic texts and digital analysts. This would soon become one 380 00:22:48.920 --> 00:22:53.400 of the largest collaborative investigations in Idaho history. The first 381 00:22:53.440 --> 00:22:58.039 public statement and the mistake that backfired. On November fourteenth, 382 00:22:58.240 --> 00:23:00.599 less than twenty four hours after the discovery of the 383 00:23:00.599 --> 00:23:03.559 crime scene, Chief James Fry stepped to the podium and 384 00:23:03.720 --> 00:23:07.759 gave the public their first update. With reporters packed shoulder 385 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:11.640 to shoulder and news cameras capturing every breath, Fry made 386 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:15.640 a fateful choice. At this time, we do not believe 387 00:23:15.680 --> 00:23:19.079 there is an ongoing threat to the community. That sentence, 388 00:23:19.200 --> 00:23:22.880 just fifteen words, shattered public trust. How could there be 389 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:25.680 no ongoing threat when four people were dead and no 390 00:23:25.720 --> 00:23:28.920 one was in custody. How could they assure safety when 391 00:23:28.920 --> 00:23:31.720 they hadn't even identified a suspect, motive, or a method 392 00:23:31.799 --> 00:23:36.599 of entry. Public backlash was swift. Students fled campus in droves. 393 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:40.400 Parents pulled their children out of housing in classes, Online 394 00:23:40.440 --> 00:23:45.200 forums exploded, Local businesses started locking their doors early. The 395 00:23:45.240 --> 00:23:49.240 message from law enforcement, intended to reassure, had the opposite effect. 396 00:23:49.640 --> 00:23:52.960 It stoked fear, and worse, it implied that police knew 397 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.519 more than they were saying. The truth is they didn't. 398 00:23:57.079 --> 00:23:58.680 All right, we're going to wrap up right here, and 399 00:23:58.759 --> 00:24:00.400 in the next episode, we're going to pick up where 400 00:24:00.440 --> 00:24:02.920 we left off. All of the information that goes with 401 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:06.440