House where 4 students massacred is demolished despite families' anger

28 December 2023 , 17:12

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The house is being torn apart at the time of writing (Image: X/@Nerdy_Addict)

The house where four university students were horrifically massacred last year is currently being demolished by bulldozers despite pushes from victims' family members to stop that from happening — at least until the trial is over.

Videos shared online show the house being torn down by trucks early in the morning in Idaho, US. Huge machinery is crushing up the wood that once made up the house home to the cold-blooded murder of Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21.

The student rental home near the uni campus in Moscow, Idaho, was set to be torn down earlier in the year but this was delayed after the family and prosecutors argued it was a key piece of evidence in the case.

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Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 were killed in cold blood late last year (News Nation)

Many online are upset that the house is being demolished - after the families of the victims campaigned to prevent it (X/@NancyLoo)

But now the University of Idaho has confirmed that the house will be torn down “as an attempt to decrease further impact on the students who live in that area”. The university’s president, Scott Green, said it is a “grim reminder” of the “heinous act” which took place in the house.

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"While we appreciate the emotional connection some family members of the victims may have to this house, it is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue,” added Mr Green.

The families of Xana and Kaylee released a statement on Wednesday to News Nation urging the campus to "stop this madness." They said: "When the victims [sic] can't speak, you have to speak for them when you feel someone is hurting the case.."

They argued that the surviving roommates could hear noises like a dog barking from the third floor, screaming and other sounds that could be tested if the house were still up and everything inside as it was that fateful night.

Bryan Kohberger looks toward his attorney during a hearing in Latah County District Court in 2023 (AP)

They also questioned whether or not suspect Bryan Kohberger, 28, could see inside and targeted specific individuals or if the house itself was the target, but said they won't be able to find that out or test that theory if the house is demolished. They questioned as well what Kernodle's path to picking up a DoorDash order would have been and where Kohberger might have been hiding when he jumped out and slaughtered her.

But lead prosecutor Bill Thompson said the house didn't serve another purpose and that it was so different now than it was at the time of the murders that having the jury come out and view it wouldn't be authorised let alone worth anything.

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Demolition is underway (X/@Nerdy_Addict)

Mogen's father sided with Thompson and the university and stated that he supports the demolition, saying that he never wanted anyone to live in that home ever again after what had happened there, he told KREM 2 News.

The quadruple homicide is alleged to have been committed by Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology PhD student.

Prosecutors argue Kohberger broke into the home in the early hours of the morning, after a figure clad in black was spotted by two survivors of the attack who were in the house at the time. After six weeks, investigators finally tracked down Kohberger as a suspect in the case and arrested him nearly a year ago, on December 30 last year.

Bryan Kohberger faces a murder trial for allegedly killing four students in this home in the middle of the night (Ted S Warren/AP/REX/Shutterstock)

He was charged in May with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.

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Kohberger’s defence team visited the home in mid-December to take “photographs, measurements and possibly gather drone footage of the house” before it was demolished. A press release from the university, announcing the date of the house’s demolition, said: “Following this, the university will prepare for demolition of the house. Demolition will begin at 7am on Thursday, December 28, and it may take several days to completely clear the site.”

The four University of Idaho students stabbed to death in November, were Kaylee Goncalves, top left; Xana Kernodle, top right; Ethan Chapin, bottom left; and Madison Mogen, bottom right. (Moscow Police Department/TNS via ZUMA Press Wire Service/REX/Shutterstock)

Comments on social media are tending to express sadness for the families who fought to keep the house untouched until the trial was over, due to the fear that vital evidence could be demolished along with the house. But university spokesperson Judi Walker contended: “That is an area that is dense with students, and many students have to look at it and live with it every day and have expressed to us how much it will help with the healing process to have that house removed.”

Contractors say it will take a few hours for the house to be razed and a few more hours after that to clear debris from the site. The plan is to replace the house with grass after demolition, according to Walker, but there are no more plans for it.

Alex Croft