“It’s pretty traumatic”: Autopsy report confirms University of Idaho students died from stabbing

On Thursday, November 17, the deaths of four University of Idaho students were confirmed as homicides after autopsy findings revealed that they were stabbed multiple times with a "large knife." According to the local coroner, the students bled to death in their student home.

The victims, identified as Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves, reportedly suffered multiple "extensive" wounds from a "large knife" and bled to death tragically. They sustained stab wounds to different parts of their bodies. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said:

"It’s pretty traumatic when there’s four dead college students ... who’ve been stabbed to death in one location...I’ve been coroner for 16 years... we have had multiple [victim] murders in the past, but nothing, nothing like this."

She further narrowed down on the possible time of the murders and said:

"[the murders took place] early in the morning, sometime after 2am, but still during the night."

Police are also using text messages and other technology to determine a timeline of the gruesome murders of the University of Idaho students. Based on the coroner's findings, investigators are looking for a military-style knife thought to be the murder weapon. The possibility of there being more than one killer is also not being dismissed at the moment.

Police are yet to reveal any person of interest or make any arrests regarding the murders of the four University of Idaho students. DNA samples and nail clippings have been collected from the crime scene in hopes of finding the people involved in the deaths.

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The tragic murders of four University of Idaho students have raised several questions

On Saturday night, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were at a campus party while Madison Mogen and her friend Kaylee Goncalves were at a bar. They are believed to have returned to their off-campus student home in Moscow, Idaho, by 1:45 am. Sometime after this, all four of them were brutally stabbed to death.

A whole week later, the police are yet to reveal any suspects or arrest anyone in connection with the murders. 20-year-old Xana Kernodle's father, Jeffrey Kornodle, told The Independent:

"How can you protect some kid? You keep them at home and don’t let him go to college? They’re not gonna stay at home like that. So, it’s really mind-boggling. It’s just completely unthinkable and it’s the worst nightmare."

Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt is of the opinion that the University of Idaho students were killed while they were asleep. She told NewsNation that at least one of the bodies had defensive wounds and the walls had a lot of blood on them. She said:

"It has to be somebody pretty angry in order to stab four people to death."

According to police, they have found no signs of forced entry, the door appears to have been unlocked and nothing seems to have been taken, which rules out the possibility of a robbery.