Spilbor on Idaho murder mystery: Time to investigate 'outside the box'
Criminal defense attorney Jonna Spilbor on the latest from the Idaho murder mystery investigation and police searching for a missing North Carolina girl.
MOSCOW, Idaho — A newly leaked image of two of the four University of Idaho stabbing victims has emerged, revealing little new information in the case as the homicide investigation nears a seventh week without a suspect.
Authorities confirmed early in the investigation that two of the victims, 21-year-olds Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, spent several hours in the Corner Club bar in downtown Moscow before returning home in the early hours of Nov. 13.
The image, which began circulating early Tuesday, shows two women who appear to be wearing the same clothes as Goncalves and Mogen before the attack. It appears to have been taken by a security camera inside the bar. If the timestamp is accurate, it would have been taken at 1:32 a.m.
Police collected hours of surveillance video from cameras inside and outside the bar, which is popular among college students and where young staffers were friends with the victims.
The Corner Club in Moscow, Idaho, seen from across the street in late November 2022. The bar is where two of the four University of Idaho students killed on Nov. 13 spent much of their evening before being stabbed to death in their off-campus rental house. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Goncalves and Mogen stopped at a food truck nearby and then got a ride to their King Road rental house, arriving just before 2 a.m. Their housemate, Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, both 20, had returned a few minutes earlier after attending a party at the nearby Sigma Chi fraternity house.
Police say all four were killed with a "fixed-blade" weapon between 3 and 4 a.m. Two other roommates on the bottom floor of the three-story house were not attacked, according to authorities.
Social media comments have run wild with speculation about whom the photo shows along with the duo believed to be Goncalves and Mogen.
Moscow Police Capt. Anthony Dahlinger told Fox News Digital on Tuesday that investigators were aware of the image, although the source of the leak remained unclear.
Police declined to verify its authenticity or answer questions about who it shows. Separately, they have warned the public not to harass or threaten people based on online speculation.
Goncalves and Mogen were seen with the man several minutes later on another surveillance camera just a block away as they made their way toward a food truck. They split up there, with the women hitching a ride and the man departing separately, according to authorities.
A man behind the bar Tuesday declined to comment.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the women's two other roommates in Kaylee Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the slayings. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
GROUP SPOTTED WALKING IN BACKGROUND OF BODYCAM VIDEO TAKEN NEAR CRIME SCENE AT 3 A.M.
Club management has said little since the slayings, aside from a statement posted to Facebook on Nov. 14.
"Our hearts are hurting," the post reads. "Hug your loved ones, call that friend you haven’t talked to for too long, be there for each other, travel home safely."
Police are still looking for a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra as part of their investigation. They say it was seen near the house around the time of the slayings and that anyone in the vehicle may have "critical" information.
Moscow, Idaho, detectives are interested in speaking with the occupant(s) of a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra, with an unknown license plate in relation to the investigation of a quadruple homicide on Nov. 13, 2022. This image is not the car in question, it is just for reference. (Moscow PD)
"If you know of, or own, a vehicle matching this description, or know of anyone who may have been driving this specific vehicle on the days preceding or the day of the murders, please forward that information to the Tip Line," police reiterated Tuesday.
Tips can be submitted by phone to 208-883-7180 or emailed to tipline@ci.moscow.id.us. Digital media can be shared with investigators at fbi.gov/moscowidaho.
Screengrabs from a resident's camera and a local food truck in the early morning hours of Nov. 13 show University of Idaho victims Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen hours before they were killed along with two friends at an off-campus rental home. (Kristine Cameron, Twitch/GrubTruckers)
Police are also asking for anyone who witnessed anything unusual in downtown Moscow or at the frat party to come forward.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
"Investigators believe someone has information that adds context to what occurred on the night of the murders and continue requesting additional pictures, video, and social media content," police said Saturday. "Our focus remains on the investigation, not an individual’s activities displayed in the tip. Whether you believe it is significant or not, your information might be one of the puzzle pieces that help solve these murders."
