Tag Archives: Moscow

As many of us wait for a trial date to be set in the Idaho 4 murders case, news came out recently that Judge Judge would allow cameras in the courtroom at the time of trial.

Yes, while it sounds like Judge will be putting some restrictions on cameras, I applaud his decision to allow them in. Really, was there any other way to go?

Sure, he could have banned them and we could have been left with media pool reports, still photographs and so on. At the end of the day, this would have been a fraction of the valuable details cameras can provide to the public.

One of the big fears of having cameras televise the trial is that they would be too focused on defendant Bryan Kohberger. Given BK is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, having the cameras trained on him much of the trial could lead some to have biased views on him. It also can take away from focusing on those who will testify, the prosecution and defense teams and so on.

My guess is Judge will lean to having one camera set up at perhaps the back of the courtroom. This could be similar to watching a CSPAN hearing on television. In doing this, you do not have the camera locked in on one specific subject.

Given there is much to question about the prosecution’s case, having the cameras in the courtroom should help limit misinformation getting out there. With some of the misinformation out there now and doubts in how this case has been handled to date, transparency is of the utmost importance.

One thing that I will be curious to see is how much focus there will be on witnesses and others taking the stand to testify under oath.

For example, assuming roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke get called to testify, how much camera time will they get? Their testimony may well prove critical to this case and whether or not BK is ultimately found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

With it looking like the trial will in fact be televised in some manner, are you for or against cameras in the courtroom when the Idaho 4 case goes to trial?

The holiday of Halloween means different things to different people.

Some people go all out on this big day in late October and others take little to no interest in it.

One thing that Halloween often conjures up is haunted thoughts. From scary movies to haunted homes and more, it can be easy to let one’s mind run a little wild on them.

With that thought in mind, why exactly would the FBI be inside of a quadruple murder scene almost a year after the tragic crime took place?

As authorities make their way in and out of the rental home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho this Halloween, this activity has created its share of buzz online.

As Brian Entin of News Nation reported on X (@BrianEntin), authorities were inside the home.

The reported goal is to create a version of the home that could be used at trial. Reconstructing the home where Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found deceased on Nov. 13, 2022, is not something that goes unnoticed. Plenty of web sleuths have been wondering exactly why do this and even more so the timing of such action.

I’ve advocated for the home remaining up until the trial ultimately concludes. Of course we do not even have a trial date set at this point. It could be 2024 or even 2025 before a trial takes place. In the meantime, more emotional suffering for the four families of the victims.

I have also said and will continue to say that a jury should be allowed to see the inside of the home for themselves if they request such and Judge Judge grants such a request. I do not care how many photos, videos and so on you take or if you do your best to have a physical recreation of the home at trial, it is NOT the same.

Yes, most of us know by now that the interior of the home is not what it was that fateful morning last Nov. 13.

Victim items are gone, some floorboards and walls were reportedly removed etc. Even with all that in mind, I would still want to see with my own eyes and hear with my ears the actual house if a juror and if approved by the judge.

With that in mind, why do you think officials are back at the home now?

If you were a juror on the case when it gets to trial, would you feel comfortable and find it beneficial going to the home if allowed to for a visit?

Yesterday (Oct. 13) was sadly the 11-month anniversary of the Idaho 4 murders.

On that fateful morning 11 months ago, Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were murdered in the rental home the three women shared at 1122 King Road. Chapin, who was dating Kernodle at the time, was spending the night there. Two other roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, presumably home at the time of the murders, were not harmed.

Not too long after a suspect (Bryan Kohberger) was arrested and people were beginning to wrap their heads around the case, a gag order was put in place. The gag order is for both the defense and prosecution, law enforcement and so on.

One group not impacted by the gag order have been the families and friends of the four victims. As such, there has been a sizable amount of information put out there about what supposedly happened on the morning of Nov. 13, 2022 in the King Road home.

As someone who has followed notable crime cases for some 40+ years and has been a journalist for more than 30 years, I have seen my share of misinformation get out there to the public over time. This case has been no different.

Many of us following the case have our opinions on who did it, what might well have happened and more. Even with that in mind, it is safe to say that much of the information put out there on social media and the like is speculation at best. Until we get to trial, we will not know what is true and what is false.

Among some of the biggest pieces of information floating around social media circles NOT confirmed to date would be:

• Kohberger had at least one of the female victim’s I.D. in his possession after being arrested – This has never been proven to be true. Of course this could change at trial. In the meantime, some in the Kohberger is guilty faction run with it on a regular basis.
• Kohberger stalked one or more of the female victims – Once again, this has never been proven as a fact. Even if it is shown at trial that Kohberger’s vehicle was in the area of the home in 2022, that does not equate to stalking someone or walking in their home and killing them. I’ve driven by countless locations more than once over my 40+ years of driving. It does not mean I am stalking an individual or plan to kill them.
• Kohberger liked to go out for evening drives – One thing that many against the defendant have hung their hats on is that the defendant has no alibi the day of the murders. Granted, one or more credible people saying they were with Kohberger around the time of the murders and it was not at 1122 King Road would give the defense and the defendant a strong alibi. The fact it was stated he was out driving around during that time period in question last Nov. 13 looks bad on paper. Once again, driving around and actually being in a home murdering people are not the same.
• Kohberger followed a couple of the female victims on social media – One of the biggest topics of chatter for many months now has been Kohberger followed Goncalves and Mogen on one of their social media channels. Like many other things in this tragic case, this has never been proven to be legitimate. And if it is ultimately found to be true at trial, following someone of the opposite sex on social media and murdering them are two entirely different things.
• Mortensen took part in the murders – Mortensen has been the subject of much chatter when it comes to her statement to police in the PCA. There have been some who think she in fact was part of the murders. There is zero evidence to point to the Boise resident having taken part in the murders. While it is fine to question her actions or in fact inaction when it comes to that morning and not calling 911 once safe to do so, saying she may be involved is totally speculation at best.
• Goncalves family is cashing in on their daughter’s death – One of the hotter topics of late on social media is that the family of Kaylee is cashing in on her death. Yes, people have been sending the family gifts to remember their daughter/sister. Steve Goncalves has reportedly come up with a hoodie to honor his daughter. There is also reportedly Ethan Chapin merchandise out there and most of us know about the tulips program in place to honor the lone male victim in the killings (Chapin worked on a tulip farm in his native Washington). As I see it, there is nothing wrong with any of these things as long as any monies made go towards scholarships etc. to honor the four victims. Many people feel a connection to this case despite not knowing the victims and families personally. If buying credible merchandise or making a donation to do something positive and the families do not cash in on it, I think that is fine.

Given we do not have a definitive date for a trial yet, safe to say more misinformation will litter social media in the weeks and months to come.

As you follow this case, what one piece of misinformation gets your attention the most?

Yes, sooner or later there will be a trial in the Idaho 4 murder case.

That is short of the defendant Bryan Kohberger confessing and accepting a possible plea deal.

Honestly, given the circumstantial evidence against BK, I highly doubt he would confess to anything. It is up to Idaho to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the Pennsylvania native carried out the killings of four students (Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin) back on Nov. 13.

Trust me, I am no BK fan boy. If the guy is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, by all means I hope he gets the death penalty.

Having said that, I have serious doubt as of now the prosecution would get a 12-0 jury vote to convict him.

There are too many loose holes right now in my mind to call this a slam dunk case.

So, once we do get to trial, who are you most interested in seeing and hearing from?

Among the possibilities could be:

Bryan Kohberger – Wouldn’t it be something if the defendant himself got up there and answered questions? Of course doing so would open himself up to cross-examination from the prosecution. My gut tells me lead defense attorney Anne Taylor will not allow her client to get on the stand. Then again, hearing from the man who allegedly killed four people would make for a fascinating trial.

MPD – Hearing from one or more of the Moscow Police Department members on the scene at 1122 King Road that fateful day would be compelling too. My guess is we will absolutely hear from one or more of them. Among the things I’d want to know would be did they possibly contaminate the scene? Did authorities have all the proper gear on when they went in and out of the home? It is known by most accounts that the two surviving roommates and Ethan’s friend Hunter were in the home at some point before police arrived in the afternoon. How many other University of Idaho students were in that home before authorities got there?

Coroner/medical examiner – We are most definitely going to hear from the coroner/medical examiner. Their testimony is critical to determining how and approximately when the four victims died. Speaking of that, where is the toxicology report? We are now past 10 months since these tragic deaths and no toxicology report to my knowledge has been made public. And before someone says it is no business of the public, I say BS. Taxpayers have a right to see and hear their local governments in action. Not doing so leads to conspiracy theories among other things. The public has a right to know if any drugs were found in the systems of the four victims. If there were, such a thing could change how this case is looked at. I bought the lone stalker theory early on but now feel totally different as to what went down in those early morning hours at 1122 King Road. That does not make the four victims bad people IF drugs were involved and they sure as hell did not deserve to die.

Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke – Last; many people will be interested to see if the two survivors take the stand. If I am Taylor, I absolutely call them to testify. While I do not believe either were involved in the crimes, I 100 percent think Mortensen’s comments in the PCA are sketchy. One can’t have it both ways. Either the Boise native and U of I student was drunk and/or high and her statement to police is flawed at best or she was totally sober and not calling 911 once safe to do so was a major gaffe on her part. And before anyone screams they’re just kids, it has been documented “kids” under 10 have called 911 before in distress. Mortensen said she saw a figure with a mask on come towards her bedroom as she stood nearby. It was NOT a frat prank nor was the mask on due to COVID. Sorry, but most people are dialing 911 when safe to do so if they spot an intruder in their home at 4 ish in the morning. Doing so may have led to the arrest of a perp or perps much sooner. It also MIGHT have given at least one of the victims a fighting chance to get help and to the local hospital. I will be quite interested to hear from the medical experts at trial if any of the victims likely bled out. If so, getting them help as soon as possible could well have meant the difference between possibly living and more than likely dying.

As we eventually do get to what is sure to be one of the biggest trials in recent memory, who do you want to see and hear from on the stand?

As we are coming up on the sad 10-month anniversary soon of the killing of four University of Idaho students, one can’t help but feel a little overwhelmed with all they have seen and heard on social media.

Sites like YouTube have been full of rumors, theories and more as to what happened to Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022 at 1122 King Road.

One such rumor I saw recently was that three of the four victims were tortured and killed elsewhere, then brought to their final resting place in the home. The allegations said only Mogen was in fact killed in the home.

I’ve also seen reports on YouTube that the four were killed because as part of a drug operation that had gone south. Mogen is alleged to have flushed thousands of drugs down a toilet and thus ticked off those running the operation.

If you spend time on YouTube or Tik Tok, you can also discover that some allege there are underground tunnels all over Moscow, including one at the home where the four were discovered dead. This then leads to allegations that drugs were running through such tunnels and so on.

Honestly, with the gag order in place all these months, it of course fuels speculation of all kinds on social sites.

Some have stated that defendant Bryan Kohberger was an informant and got caught up in a drug case gone really bad. Others will tell you that BK followed all three female victims on social media and was stalking at least one of them. Both claims have never been verified by authorities…. so just more chatter to fuel speculation.

At the end of the day, my theory is drugs were involved but not to the level of some highly organized cartel. No college student is likely going to be taken out by a well-run cartel because they allegedly flushed some drugs down a toilet.

More likely, I think drugs to some degree played a role in the four being killed. If that is true, it of course may well come as a shock to the parents grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Last; when all is said and done, we may find out this senseless tragedy was the result of a fight involving frat boys and it spilled over to 1122 King Road.

While pretty much anything is possible at this point, take time to think things through no matter which side of the guilty/not guilty side you find yourself on involving the defendant.

So, what do you think truly went on in the early morning hours of Nov. 13 that took four young lives?

With no Idaho 4 trial starting Oct. 2 (trial was postponed to a date and time to be announced), it is a good opportunity to look back at the tragic Nov. 13, 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.

So, how comfortable are you with the narrative from the Moscow Police Department and others in a position of power?

While I bought into the stalker theory early on, I moved away from it months ago.

Why would someone like myself who has three-plus decades of reporter experience and has followed countless high-profile crime cases question the police narrative?

Guys like Ted Bundy, Danny Rolling and other notorious serial killers sadly made their mark by killing young women. Some of those women were killed in college settings. So, isn’t it possible that defendant Bryan Kohberger was trying to be just like them?

Sure, while Kohberger could have been infatuated with one or more of the three victims, such a scenario seems less plausible if you put emotions aside and think things over.

Any of the victims could have been easily kidnapped at a time and choosing of Kohberger’s.

The idea that the Washington State University teaching assistant would just waltz into 1122 King Road in the middle of the night because he was infatuated with Kaylee, Maddie or Xana seems a stretch at this point. Why risk being caught, potentially getting the bleep beaten out of you etc. when kidnapping them while on the way to/from school, walking or jogging, at the store etc. would be so much easier?

Even with a gag order in place. I’ve also got trouble with no full autopsy report being released, no toxicology report on the four victims, no 9-1-1 call let out after nine months and so on. Putting such information out there for the public is not going jeopardize BK’s chance to have a fair trial.

While this may not be a police and/or University of Idaho coverup, something smells fishy here.

Even though Kohberger does not strike me as having the highest IQ in the world, I also do not think he’s a dummy.

So, what might officials be hiding?

Could it be that drugs were involved or even a pay-for-sex scandal involving police or university officials?

That is not to say that any of the women living in the home or those like victim Ethan Chapin visiting were bad people.

Let’s face it; some college students get mixed up in things that may have started out rather innocent. At times, they can get in over their heads. That by no means says what happened to them on Nov. 13 was in any means justified. It was NOT justified and the person/s responsible need to pay a major price.

All four victims should be with us today living some of the best years of their lives.

With that in mind, are you beginning to question the bag of goods we are being sold by MPD and U of I?

Even though it has been some nine months since the slayings of four University of Idaho students in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, the theories, verbal online attacks and more continue.

More notable are some of the perceived absurdities of this case that has grabbed the attention of not only many people nationwide, but also a fair amount around the globe.

With that in mind, we take a few moments to point out some of the perceived absurdities of the case to date.

Among them:

• Alleged murderer Bryan Kohberger was stalking one or more of the victims – If you take a few moments to put aside the negative feelings you might have towards the defendant, stop for a minute and think about the stalking allegation. Would someone who was supposedly stalking one or more young women take a chance on spending time with them, kidnapping them or even harming them with multiple people in a home? Yet, that is what the individual would have faced if he indeed was at 1122 King Road in the early morning hours of Nov. 13. We know of at least four people in the home and possibly six if you count the two surviving roommates both in fact being there. We believe according to the PCA that Dylan Mortensen was there. Not so much is known about Bethany Funke’s whereabouts early that morning. Now, would you take your chances grabbing or killing one of the young women inside the home with all those people and a dog there in the middle of the night? Odds are most would say no. They’d wait to get the victim when most vulnerable. Kidnapping her going to or from class, out on a jog, going to or from a store etc. makes much more sense.
• The killer wore a mask due to COVID – This has to be one of the more absurd claims I have heard for months. Hello! Do y’all remember the videos taken last summer when Moscow Police Department sent officers to the home related to noise complaints from neighbors? The videos are quite accessible on You Tube. With that in mind, watch one or both videos and tell me how many of the students wore masks due to COVID. If too busy to watch the videos, let me inform you that ZERO students on the videos wore masks. So, the killer is going to wear a mask at 4 ish in the morning while moving about because they’re scared of COVID? C’mon people…. use commonsense.
• Drugs are totally out of the question – While many of the Kohberger haters live and breathe the stalker theory, other people think differently. One common thought is that drugs played a role in the tragic deaths of the Idaho 4. That by no means says that 1122 King Road was a big drug distribution center or was taking in a lot of drugs for the tenants there. What it does say is that drug usage or selling them is a possibility. Many people will tell you the residence was known as the party house to various neighbors and others on campus. Hey, many of us had our fun times in college and did not do drugs. That may in fact be the case here. Having said that, one would be naive to think that drugs are not at least a possibility here. Newsflash! Some college students buy and sell drugs. When you have family members with rap sheets due to drugs, one must explore the possibility that drugs were in play. If so, it by no means is an excuse to kill four young adults with their worlds ahead of them.
• All Facebook discussion groups are legit – If you do a search of Facebook groups devoting their pages to the Idaho 4 murders, you will find a number of them. While most talk exclusively about the case at hand, some go off script more than occasionally. One in particular, University of Idaho Murders – Case Discussion, has turned into the local bullying and comedy store for all intents and purposes. The group admin AKA Alina Smith appears to turn a blind eye to anyone saying or demonstrating a lot of hatred towards Mr. Kohberger. Given surviving roommates Mortensen and Funke are key figures in this case, you’d think it would be okay to discuss them. Try doing that with any regularity on the site and you will be shown the door more times than not. Meantime, posting what are supposedly funny memes of BK, wishing him death etc. are perfectly fine. Hell, you can be a Realtor posing as a “legal expert” and talk about urinary issues. While there are some quality people in that particular group you can in fact have a healthy and adult debate with, they are few and far between. And if they have 222k members as they claim to, I have oceanfront property in Nebraska to sell you. Many are more than likely bots and countless duplicate accounts, many of which belong to the head honchos.

As we inch closer to a scheduled Oct. 2 trial date in Moscow, things will undoubtedly get a little more absurd in the process.