Idaho murders: House to be demolished Dec. 28
The King Road house in Moscow, Idaho, is set to be demolished on Dec. 28, according to the University of Idaho. Kohberger’s defense team will visit the home before demolition, potentially taking photos and drone video, according to the university.
The sounds of construction equipment pierced the early morning air as an excavator started tearing down the front part of the house. The former walls formed a large pile of crushed and smashed wood on the ground as debris was picked up and loaded into a dump truck.
The owner of the rental home near the university campus in Moscow, Idaho, donated it to the university earlier this year. It has since been boarded up and blocked off by a security fence. Students Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves were fatally stabbed there in November 2022.
FILE – The four University of Idaho students were found dead in this house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho. (Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Contractors estimated that it would take a few hours for the house to be razed and several more after that to clear the site of debris, Walker said, adding that weather also will be a factor.
Some of the victims’ families have opposed the demolition, calling for the house to be preserved until after the man accused of the slayings has been tried.
The concerns from victims’ families previously prompted the university to push back its timeline for demolition. After initially announcing the plan in February, the school in July said it would pause the process and revisit it in October.
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The Latah County prosecuting attorney’s office declined to comment, citing a gag order from an Idaho judge that restricts what lawyers in the case can say to the news media.
Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin — Kernodle’s boyfriend — was there visiting on the night of the attack. All of them were friends and members of the university’s Greek system. The killings left many of their classmates and residents of Moscow reeling with grief and fear.
Rush reported from Portland, Oregon.
