Demolition of the home where four University of Idaho students were murdered in 2022 started this morning at around 7 a.m.
The former owner of the home, located off King Road and a short distance from the university, donated the residence to the school after the murders of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves.
The school made plans to demolish the home shortly after the November 2022 murders.
“It is the grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there,” UI President Scott Green said, according to CBS News. “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.”
Contractors project that the demolition of the house will require a few hours, with additional time needed for debris clearance, UI spokesperson Jodi Walker said. She emphasized that weather conditions will also influence the time it takes.
The Morning Call reports that Walker said the site will then be landscaped with grass. Currently, there are no other specific plans for the location, but Walker indicated that the university might reconsider potential uses in the future.
“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,” Walker said.
Some of the victims’ family members have opposed the demolition, as CrimeOnline previously reported, worried that jurors would not be able to visit the crime scene during suspect Brian Kohberger’s upcoming capital murder trial.
University of Idaho Victims’ Families Worry Murder House’s Demolition May Jeopardize Trial
Kohberger, a Ph.D. criminal justice student at Washington State University, is believed to have turned off his phone during the November 13, 2022 murders. Police claim he then visited the area 12 times before fatally stabbing the victims.
A probable cause affidavit alleged that campus police at Kohberger’s college alerted Moscow, Idaho, police to his white 2015 Hyundai Elantra, which resembles a car seen at the victims’ home around the time of the murders.
Surveillance footage showed a white four-door sedan, but it did not capture its front license plate. At the time of the killings, Kohberger’s car was registered in Pennsylvania, which does not require front plates.
Kohberger was arrested on December 30, after a cross-country trip with his father from Idaho to Pennsylvania. During their trip, Indiana police pulled over the pair twice. Sources claimed the FBI requested the traffic stops to view possible injuries on Kohberger’s hands.
Kohberger remains jailed without bail. Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: FILE – Bare spots are seen on Nov. 29, 2022, in the snowy parking lot in front of the home where four University of Idaho students were found dead on Nov. 13, in Moscow, Idaho. The home where University of Idaho students Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were killed is slated to be demolished starting Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)]
