Students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in November 2022 in a case that horrified the nation.
More than a year after four University of Idaho students were murdered, the house where the slayings happened is being torn down.
“It is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue,” the university says, calling the existence of the house a “grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there.”
Lawyers and investigators for the 28-year-old defendant, Bryan Kohberger, were given access to the house Thursday. They returned Friday to conduct more forensic work in their last chance before the house is to be demolished on Dec. 28, while students are away on winter break.
NewsNation’s Ashley Banfield has been following the case.
“For the university, its been very uncomfortable not only to have that scar as a reminder of the horror that happened right there so close to campus, but also the lookie-loos, the visitors, the crime tourists who’ve come to see this. This is not something that the university wants nor does the student body,” Banfield tells Inside Edition.
The decision to tear down the house is angering the victims’ families.
“Leave it alone. Don’t touch it until the trial’s over. Period,’ says lawyer Shannon Gray, representing the family of Kaylee Goncalves, one of the murdered students.
The three-story house is near campus.
“It’s really the University of Idaho that wants to demo it under the guise that it is the best for the community. I don’t think it's true,” Gray says.
Students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death in November 2022.
Their families are concerned that the demolition could raise questions with jurors when Kohberger is brought to trial. No trial date has been set. Kohberger has pleaded not guilty.
The father of Kaylee Goncalves spoke with Inside Edition.
“I’ll be very angry and very upset that I didn’t do more,” he says. “I feel like the house is evidence. It’s just evidence for both sides, the defense and the prosecution.”
A team of FBI crime scene specialists was recently at the house creating three-dimensional images inside and out of the house. They also took drone video.
The University of Idaho says after the house is demolished, the site will be turned into what they call a “healing garden.”
