University of Idaho murders: More than one killer involved in massacre, famed pathologist says
MOSCOW, IDAHO: A well-known forensic pathologist has claimed that the four University of Idaho students murdered on November 13 could have been slaughtered by more than one killer.
Dr Cyril Wecht, known for conducting several high-profile forensic investigations over the decades, said he found it difficult to believe that one person could methodically and stealthily butcher four individuals in one house while two other roommates slept in other rooms. Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were reportedly asleep during the massacre inside a Moscow, Idaho home. Roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were apparently asleep throughout the bloodbath and later had a friend call 911 to report one person at the residence was "unconscious."
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“Four young people get stabbed without fighting back – I mean how does that happen?” Dr Wecht told Radar Online. “I kind of think there may have been more than one assailant to have killed four people like that and not to have an audible altercation or cries for help." He added, "You have to wonder if there was more than one assailant. There was no noise—no altercation?” The veteran pathologist, 91, has investigated the deaths of several popular figures, including Marilyn Monroe, JFK, and even the 1969 Charles Manson murders. He reportedly also wondered how long the suspect(s) remained inside the property and the number of stab wounds sustained by each victim.
Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said in a November 17 press release that each victim died from multiple stab wounds. However, she did not reveal the exact number of wounds on each student. Meanwhile, investigators continue to examine hundreds of tips and surveillance videos from nearby homes. At one point, police were looking into Goncalves' ex-boyfriend and spoke to him following the murders after he had received multiple calls from the victim on the night of the stabbings. Her parents, however, defended him and told authorities they were wasting their time probing him.
MEAWW previously reported how investigators were hoping DNA evidence recovered from the fingernails of at least one of the victims will lead them to the suspect(s). “If there was a struggle between the victim and the offender, which it’s believed there was in at least one of the killings, it is almost certain that biological debris will be found beneath fingernails,” an informant told Radar Online. “This will be crucial to the forensic casework.” Embattled investigators, who continue to hunt those responsible without a motive or murder weapon in sight, will hopefully be able to test the DNA makeup and run it through local databases in an effort to narrow their search.
Some local residents, however, were concerned that the police had already "botched" the investigation. "The reality is this evidence was likely obliterated and if the cops had done things correctly, those tire marks would have been photographed, measured, and preserved, on the day when the victims were found," a source reportedly said, adding, “The time that elapsed between when the bodies were found and forensics team returned to the crime scene allowed crucial evidence to be corrupted, by weather or other activity.” Another well-placed insider reportedly said, “With no suspect, no murder weapon, and little to no leads, you have to ask the question: did police botch the investigation from the get-go?”