Who is Pam Colbert? Woman's dog may have been killed with same knife used in University of Idaho murders
Warning: The article contains graphic content. Reader discretion advised
MOSCOW, IDAHO: The person suspected of brutally stabbing to death four students of the University of Idaho may have used the same knife to kill and skin a couple's dog. However, law enforcement has not made any official link between the killings of the students and the dog. The dog was skinned just weeks before the students -- Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Ethan Chaplin -- were murdered.
Pam and Jim Colbert's dog Buddy was killed, skinned, and sliced after being let out of their home in Moscow, Idaho, on October 21. Pam, 78, said their beloved pooch, 12, only had fur left on his legs and face. The dog had reportedly been rescued from a puppy mill. The couple's neighbor, Barbara Sayler, discovered the dead dog. The four students were killed just a mile away on November 13, sparking fears that the same creep may be behind both attacks. "We called the Sheriff's Department and the supervisor said that Buddy had been skinned," Pam told the Daily Mail.
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"It was like a deer that someone had hunted," Palm added. "They cut him around the neck and just skinned him. His little legs had fur and his little face had fur, but the rest of him was just skinned. The other side of him was as though they had filleted him like they were about to eat him. It was terrible. Unbelievable. They cut him like you filet a fish. We found his collar, but we didn’t find the pelt."
Speaking of her pet's murder and that of the quadruple killing, Palm said, "Everybody is very nervous and scared. This is something awful and evil.' She and Jim, 73, have lived in their home for 39 years - and have now taken to locking their doors for the first time."
Pam explained, "We let Buddy out and somebody must have been waiting out there. Bud never leaves the yard but this person grabbed Buddy. We always leave our doors open and he didn't come back in. Later that night, Jim went out calling him and couldn't find him. Friends came up and started looking for him and eventually found him."
Who is Pam Colbert?
Not much is known about Pam except that she lives with her husband Jim in a home set on 10 acres of land in the rural community. According to her Facebook profile, she worked at WSU Pullman from 1990 to 2008.
The couple got a group of friends to come forward and search Buddy, who was a Mini Australian Shepherd dog. One police deputy believed in the beginning that Buddy's killing was the work of an animal, another officer believed otherwise. "We're not that many people out here. Somebody had to be waiting. We don't have any enemies. It really was horrible. And now with the students killed, it all got brought back up," Pam said.
Pam and Jim's neighbor, Clint Huges, initially posted about the incident on Facebook. "This sounds like clickbait, but it’s not. Last light after 2am, our neighbors’ sweet little dog was skinned like a deer. No animal did this. Our dog is bigger, and was so anxious about the same time that he tore his bed up into a thousand pieces. Also, our cat has been missing for the last couple of days. Not sure if it’s tied to Halloween, and I don’t really care, I’ll be chambering all my firearms, and I would suggest everyone else in North Moscow do the same," Clint wrote.
Police have yet to find promising leads in the murders. They have not found a murder weapon either.