'Merch for a murder case?': Madison Mogen's friend slammed over sweatshirt line to help victims' families
This article is based on sources and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently.
MOSCOW, IDAHO: Four University of Idaho students, Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were stabbed to death on November 13 in their off-campus rental home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho. Bryan Christopher Kohberger, 28, a PhD student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at the neighboring Washington State University, has been arrested for the murders and is now facing four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary charges. Recently, one of Madison Mogen's friend announced she has created a sweatshirt merchandise in honor of the victims, and profits feom which will go to the families. Internet users reacted sharply to this development, calling it 'off-putting' and 'predatory'.
Kohberger was arrested on December 30 at his parents' home in eastern Pennsylvania, more than 2,500 miles away from the town of Moscow and is currently being held in Latah County Jail. Kohberger is expected to be in court for a status hearing on January 12. The probable cause affidavit released on January 5, revealed some key details of the case, such as the phone data pointing out that Kohberger was in the area of the murders at least 12 times before the killings and that the suspect left behind a knife sheath with his DNA on it. Also, the quadruple-murder accused was ‘seen’ by one of the survivors, Dylan Mortensen.
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One of Madison Mogen's friend took to her Instagram account, Jessie Frost Photograhy, and posted a picture of the sweatshirt merchandise along with the caption, "Here it is the store is open! I've been working on this for like 7 weeks with Tara from Tara's Stitches. Special thanks to her and her daughter Avery. I had this idea from the get go and went with it. Wings are of Maddie's tattoo and who doesn't love flowers, Maddie’s sure did. Hope you all love them and I can't wait to see the love grow for these kids walking around town. Profits will go to the families."
When a Reddit user shared this information, others were quick to react. "Family Friend of Maddie has created sweatshirt merchandise. All proceeds to be divided amongst the families," wrote the user.
Users replied by saying that the gesture was 'off-putting, 'out of place' and 'weird', "This is off-putting, to say the least," wrote a user. "Family friend of Maddie. I wonder if the friend even concerned themselves with asking the families if it was okay first. Sweet gesture, but so out of place," wrote another. While one user added, "Why would anyone wear clothes with the name of murder victims they don’t even know this isn’t cute it’s just weird as hell."
A user wrote that there were 'better ways to memorialize the victims'. "I hope that this person has good intentions because I guess I can see why someone might think this is a good idea, but I feel like there are better ways to memorialize the victims," the user said.
Whereas, some users believed this was 'bizarre', 'creepy' and 'predatory'. "Bizarre. I mean I understand the sentiment, but who’s gonna want to be walking around in murder merch?" wrote a user. "This is actually insanely creepy, and whilst it says “Maddie’s Mom is okay with it” it’s such a weird thing to ask people while they’re grieving. It feels predatory," added another.
This article contains remarks made on the Internet by individual people and organizations. MEAWW cannot confirm them independently and does not support claims or opinions being made online