Travis Juetten killing: Idaho murder investigators look into eerily similar unsolved 2021 Oregon stabbing
MOSCOW, IDAHO: James Fry, the chief of the Moscow Police Department, who is in charge of the investigation into the killings of the four University of Idaho students, revealed during a press conference on November 23 that detectives had received information about another stabbing that occurred in Salem, Oregon, last year. In the Oregon case, Travis and Jamilyn Juetten were attacked with a knife by an unidentified intruder at roughly 3 am on August 13, 2021. Travis resisted the assailant but was declared dead on the spot.
Despite having 19 stab wounds and other wounds, Jamilyn was taken to a hospital and lived. The attack's perpetrator is not known to the police. As both cases involve an unidentified assailant breaking into a home around 3 am, the press inquired about whether investigators are looking into any potential connections between the quadruple homicide in Idaho and the attack in Salem, Fox News reports.
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"We're looking at every avenue and we have other agencies reaching out to us with other cases, stuff that we are going to follow up on," Fry answered, noting that he was aware of the case in Oregon and had received a tip about the incident. The two cases have not been linked in any way by the authorities.
Ten months after Travis Juetten's death, in June 2022, his family announced a $50,000 reward for information that would result in the capture and conviction of the murderer. More than 100 law enforcement agents from the FBI, Idaho State Police, and Moscow Police Department are still searching through the evidence in Moscow, Idaho 10 days after the murders of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves. According to authorities, the four friends were attacked while sleeping somewhere between 3 and 4 am on November 13 after they arrived home at approximately 1.45 am.
A medical examiner found that all four victims had numerous stab wounds, and several of them also had defensive wounds. Police are searching for a "fixed-blade knife" but have not yet named a suspect or recovered a murder weapon. Police have not made an arrest but are "definitely making progress,” according to an outside public information officer, CNN reports.
“It takes a while to put together and piece together that whole timeline of events and the picture of really what occurred,” said Aaron Snell, communications director for Idaho State Police. “A lot of this the public doesn’t get to see because it’s a criminal investigation. But I guarantee you behind the scenes, there’s so much work going on.”
There hasn't been a homicide in Moscow, a city of around 26,000 people, since 2015. The little college town has been rocked by the quadruple killing. “There is still someone out there who committed four horrible, horrible crimes,” said Fry. “We all have to be aware of our surroundings, and make sure we're watching out for each other,” he added.