Families of murdered students furious as house of horrors to be knocked down

08 July 2023 , 10:21

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The house where the four students were gruesomely murdered (Image: AP)

Victims' families have slammed the decision to knock down the house of horrors where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death.

The bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found on November 13 at the off-campus rental home in Moscow Idaho.

Bryan Kohberger has been charged with their murders and is due to stand trial in October.

The owner of the property donated it to the school after the killings, and the university announced earlier this year that it was planning to demolish the home. A date to pull the house of horrors down has not been set, but university spokesperson Jodi Walker said the school wants it gone before the start of the fall semester.

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)

But members of three of the victims’ families have said it should be preserved until after the trial due to its "evidentiary value".

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Shanon Gray, an attorney for the family of Kaylee Goncalves, said the university is disregarding families’ requests that the home be left standing until after the trial of Kohberger, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Ms Gray said in an email to the newspaper that the university asked for the families’ opinions “and then proceeded to ignore those opinions and pursue their own self-interests. The home itself has enormous evidentiary value as well as being the largest, and one of the most important, pieces of evidence in the case.”

Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing the four students, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court (AP)

Members of the Mogen and Kernodle families also oppose demolishing the property until after trial, the attorney said. Ms Gray was unsure what position the Chapin family had.

Ms Gray also represents the Goncalves and Mogen families in tort claims filed against the university, the city of Moscow and Idaho State Police. That step preserves the families’ rights to sue the government entities if they choose in connection with the deaths of their children.

Ms Walker said university officials have been in “regular communication” with the victims’ families since taking ownership of the house.

The house was donated to the university who have said they want to pull it down (AP)

University attorney Kent Nelson, in correspondence with Ms Gray, said neither the prosecution nor the defense has objected to the property being demolished. He told Gray that the university needed a “cogent argument,” citing relevant case law or rules for it to deviate from its demolition plans. Nelson requested a response by June 23.

Gray said he received the correspondence from Nelson on June 22 and did not say if he met the deadline for a response.

Charlie Jones