Idaho murders: Police release bodycam video from night of killings

MOSCOW, Idaho – The Moscow Police Department released new body camera video recorded the same morning four University of Idaho students were murdered.

Police working a plain clothes alcohol enforcement patrol stopped three University of Idaho students for suspected underage drinking at about 2:50 a.m. Nov. 13 as the students were walking in a field between West Taylor Avenue and the Sigma Chi fraternity.

The teens were stopped about one-tenth of a mile from the rental home at 1122 King Road, where Madison Mogen, 21, her best friend Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, 20, were brutally stabbed to death between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. 

Police said the students who were the subjects of the stop are not connected in any way to the killings. 

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“Investigators working on the current homicide case are aware of the footage, they have reviewed it and all the details associated with it and have determined it is not related,” Moscow Police said in a statement.

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Officials released the footage, recorded between approximately 2:54 a.m. and 3:30 a.m., through a public records request. Authorities said they gleaned no evidence from the videos.

The Sigma Chi fraternity can be seen in the background. Kernodle and Chapin had been attending a party there and returned home at about 1:45 a.m. the morning they were murdered. 

A police report says officers stopped the students for the unrelated alcohol offense after they noticed the young adults were swaying from side to side and one fell down as he walked across the street.

The students admitted they were under 21 and had each drunk 6 to 8 beers. Cops are shown issuing the trio citations for underage drinking in the footage.

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Fox News Digital obtained the videos one day after police announced detectives want to speak with the occupants of a white 2011-2013 Hyundai Elantra spotted near the off-campus home around the time of the quadruple homicide.

“Tips and leads have led investigators to look for additional information about a vehicle being in the immediate area of the King Street residence during the early morning hours of Nov. 13,” police said in a news release. 

A parked white car can be seen in the body camera footage, but police told Fox News Digital the vehicle is a Chevy Cavalier, not the Hyundai Elantra they are trying to track down. 

The investigation has stretched into its fourth week, and police have not publicly named a suspect or recovered the fixed-blade knife they believe was used in the murders.

Some of the victims’ family members have expressed frustration over the slow pace and progress of the investigation.

Moscow Police, who are working with the FBI and the Idaho State Police, have released few details about the crime. 

Police have described the attack as “targeted” but have not disclosed whether a single victim or all four were the intended prey.

The Moscow Police Department is asking that the public call in tips at 208-883-7180, email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us or submit digital media here.