University of Idaho murders: police address 'delicate question' and stalker claim

Police investigating the deaths of four University of Idaho students who died in a horror knife attack earlier this month have insisted at least one of the victims was targeted – but refuse to say which of the friends could have been the focus of the attack.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Idaho State Police spokesman Aaron Snell, 49, said it's possible all four victims could have been intended targets of the gruesome November 13 stabbings. 

He confirmed investigators have gathered enough evidence to suggest the killings were targeted, but admitted they are still no closer to identifying the murderer.

'We still believe it was a targeted attack based on the evidence at the scene and how everything developed, what we know. We believe that's accurate,' he said.  

It comes days after the Moscow Police Department revealed it had received 'hundreds of pieces of information' that suggested one of the victims, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, had a stalker – however, authorities are yet to corroborate the theory. 

Friends Kaylee Goncalves, 21, (second left), Madison Mogen, 21, (on Kaylee's shoulders), Ethan Chapin, 20, (second right) and Xana Kernodle, 20, (next to Ethan) were stabbed to death on Sunday November 13 between 3am and 4am 

On Sunday, Steve Goncalves, the father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, 21, (pictured together) admitted he has been 'frustrated' by the lack of information into his daughter's murder as the investigation enters its third consecutive week without a suspect

Snell said the theory plays into the notion that one of the four was targeted but refused to say which of the victims police believe to be the target, describing it as a 'delicate question'.

He said: 'That's part of the ongoing investigation. That's a real delicate question and when we're able to say that or if we're able to say that, we'll definitely do that.

'It's very similar to the whole stalking, right. Potentially if there was a stalker, that would be somebody of extreme interest.

'You can't lay all your cards out at once. We're trying to find the various potential participants.'

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Kaylee, her best friend Madison Mogen, 21, and young couple Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, were all found stabbed to death in their off-campus rental house in Moscow, Idaho on the morning of November 13, with a 911 call reporting an 'unconscious person' dialed in at 11:38am.

Kaylee and Madison were found on the top floor of the property while Ethan and Xana were found on the second level.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com, Idaho State Police spokesman Aaron Snell, 49, said it is possible all four victims could have been targeted

Two roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, both 19, were in the home at the time of the murders and had bedrooms on the ground floor, but managed to escape death. 

Kaylee's dog Murphy which had been at the home also survived the slayings and is now living with her boyfriend Jack DuCoeur and his family in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho.

Seen in exclusive DailyMail.com photos, red-haired DuCoeur, 22, had dated Kaylee for six years and was possibly the last person to speak with her – with multiple calls placed to his number by Madison and Kaylee hours before they died.

The 22-year-old has since been ruled out as a suspect by police and has been too heartbroken to speak, with his mother telling DailyMail.com that the DuCoeur family intends to stay silent out of respect for Kaylee's parents and siblings.

Moscow police chief James Fry had initially made the claim that the gruesome murders were not random attacks days after the killings without further explaining, and was later forced to backtrack after saying there was no risk to the wider community. 

'The chief, he stands by that. One if not all [was targeted] and there is evidence for that based on what we've seen at the scene,' Snell said.

'That is accurate. If that does change, we'll fall on the sword and say that has changed.'

Jack DuCoeur, the former boyfriend of Kaylee, is seen with his family in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho, in exclusive DailyMail.com photos 

DuCoeur, 22, has been ruled out as a suspect by police and has been to heartbroken to speak on Kaylee's horrific death 

His mother told DailyMail.com that the DuCoeur family intends to stay silent out of respect for Kaylee's parents and siblings

Kaylee's dog Murphy (pictured) which had been at the home at the time of the murders and was found unscathed, is now living with her boyfriend Jack

Snell added: 'Is there a threat to the community? I think we've been pretty consistent over the past week that yes, indeed, we know that somewhere in someone's community, possibly this community [Moscow], there is a person or persons who have committed multiple murders.

'Is there a threat to the community? Yes, there is. Is there somebody out there? Yes. Our goal is to find that person and bring them to justice.'

In a wide-ranging interview, Snell also said police have now largely finished with the crime scene but continue to hold it in case further investigation is needed. 

He noted that police have been unable to corroborate reports that Goncalves had a stalker and told how investigators had worked through Thanksgiving in a desperate bid to solve the case.

He also said police are looking at the relationships between the four victims and anyone they had recently come into contact with, in the hopes of finding something that could crack the case.

Police have been delving into the circumstances surrounding the murders of the four students for over two weeks.

Cops arrived to discover a scene of utter carnage that a source close to the investigation later described as 'one of the worst we've ever seen'.

DuCoeur dated Kaylee for six years and was possibly the last person to speak with her – with multiple calls placed to his number by Madison and Kaylee hours before they died

Police said they had found no evidence that Kaylee was being stalked – despite her complaining to friends about it. They also made no mention of Murphy, her dog, which was inside the home at the time of the murders but survived 

Dylan Mortensen (left) and Bethany Funke (middle) lived in the modest Moscow rental house with fellow University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle (second from left) Kaylee Goncalves (second from right) and Madison Mogen (right)  but survived the attack. They have been ruled out as suspects

Snell said most of the forensic work at the house where the students died has been done and revealed plans to release the scene are underway but noted that it won't be released until police are completely sure there is nothing left to retrieve.

He said most of the police work is now being done behind the scenes – with crime lab testing and reports a major part of that.

'Investigations are very difficult. Potentially, it could go for quite a while. But if we have some leads that lead us to a potential suspect and quickly… We don't try and estimate or speculate on the length of the investigation,' he told DailyMail.com. 

'Obviously, our goal would have been to solve this last week so we don't have a timeline. We are receiving a lot of quality tips and have done over 150 interviews so all the information that has been received is building that whole picture.

'Since we don't have a suspect at this time and we don't have a weapon, it's really difficult to find out what happened.

'So, what we have to do is try and build this picture of what occurred on that night, the relationships the four of them had – was there anything suspicious in those, are there any tidbits of information we can draw from that.

'Did anything occur in the evening of that night, was there anything out of the ordinary that occurred to them? And the movements of the residents themselves.' 

The murder house in Moscow, Idaho. Slain housemates Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were found on the top floor in their beds. College lovers Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were found in a second floor bedroom while survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were sleeping on the first floor

Where the bodies were found. Ethan and Xana were discovered murdered on the King Road house's second floor, while Kaylee and Madison were in their respective bedrooms on the third floor

The first floor where the surviving roommates were sleeping sits below grade and opens onto a gravel parking lot in the front of the building (pictured) 

From the back of the house, it appears to have only two stories. It is possible the killer might have not have known about the first floor if entrance was made from the rear 

Despite the difficulties, Snell said he is confident police will eventually unravel the mystery of what happened – and bring the killer to justice.

He said: 'We have not identified anybody who was involved in this so we for sure do not want to say we think they came through whatever door and did this because once we do that, we start going down a rabbit hole and then all these ancillary facts that might point to something else – then maybe we would miss those.

'[Investigators] truly are doing a phenomenal job – all the debriefs and stuff we do upstairs, they really are talking about this entire picture.

'They're trying not to get pigeonholed into all these various theories and motives because we're not entirely sure what they are right now.

'Once they get that picture, I think we're going to see something.'

He added: 'On TV, it's an hour long and you have a solution. We're now into this 11 or 12 days and people are frustrated. They want that solution and we get that.

'In a criminal investigation, providing information is delicate. If we provide it then potentially, we could ruin the investigation and the prosecution that we hope to have.

'That is the ultimate goal – bring justice through prosecution.'

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