Idaho ‘murder-house’ is a ‘major challenge’ for cops because of amount of blood

Police officers investigating the gruesome murders of four University of Idaho students face a “major challenge” in recovering samples of the killer’s DNA because of the amount of blood at the scene, a forensic expert said.

Joseph Scott Morgan, a forensics professor at Jacksonville State University, said that as the killer moved from victim to victim, there would be an “mixing of blood” that makes it “difficult to distinguish individual samples.”

Police have not yet named a suspect in the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Xana’s freshman boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20.

They were killed in the early hours of Sunday morning on Nov. 13 in a home in Moscow, Idaho, which the girls shared with two other roommates.

Detectives also revealed on Tuesday that they are looking to see if Goncalves had a stalker.

Moscow police have received hundreds of tips and pieces of information, but have still not found an identity for the killer.

told Morgan Fox news“From a blood evidence point of view, this is a very bloody scene.”

‘It becomes a very complicated matter if you are going to do blood tests, if you are going to do DNA typing. It’s a big challenge.

“If we believe this is a single killer with a single weapon, then the killer migrates from body to body and you get what’s called blood mixing.

‘Here’s the problem. If this blood is all mixed up, it’s hard to distinguish the individual samples.”

Joseph Giacolone, a former NYPD detective and adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the killer may have also injured himself due to the severity of the attack.

“If you stab and hit the bone, the blade kicks back and your hand is cut open,” he said.

Police in Idaho have been contacting local businesses to ask if they have recently sold a KA-BAR style knife. Morgan said it would be surprising if such a blade were used, adding, “It’s a combat knife, sharpened on one side, with a hilt. It’s a short blade, not as robust as other survival knives.’

Moscow police said on Tuesday it had received “hundreds of pieces of information” suggesting one of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, had a stalker.

Researchers have not been able to verify any of these tips.

Police believe the students were asleep when the killer launched the attacks between 3 and 4 am. Each victim was stabbed multiple times and some had defensive wounds.

Two other housemates were in the house and unharmed. The police were not called until around noon – and none of the surviving housemates were the callers.

A criminal profiler also weighed in on the quadruple murder investigation, suggesting the killer was “sloppy” and likely a young man.

The ex-FBI agent said he believed the killer knew or was stalking one or more of the residents.

The night before, on the evening of Saturday, November 12, Miss Mogen and Miss Goncalves were at a local bar in Moscow, Idaho.

Chapin and Kernodle had been at a party at the Sigma Chi fraternity house on the campus of the University of Idaho.

Both parties returned home in the early hours of the morning. Chapin was not a permanent resident of the house, but appeared to be staying in the residence that night.

The bodies of the four students were later found on the second and third floors of the house.

Jim Clemente, a former FBI profiler and behavior analysis expert, told Fox News Digital, “This is probably more of a compulsive type of person, which would put him at a younger age and maybe in the age group or just above the victims.”

The ex-FBI supervising special agent also called the killer “sloppy” and not “particularly sophisticated, criminally perfected or forensically perfected.”

Complementing his theory, Clemente said, “He killed four different people this way. He doesn’t just fade and run after the first one.’

Clemente also said he believed the killer’s “decision to commit such a brutal crime” meant he was likely in a relationship with one or more of the victims.

The killer entered the home in the middle of the night with six people inside. Clemente said this made it a “high-risk crime” unless he knew one or more of the residents. This was probably not a random location, Clemente added.

“It could be because he’s in or has been in a relationship with one or more of them, or it could be because he’s stalking one or more of them.”

He also said entering the occupied home during the night meant the killer knew the victims’ routines.

Clemente said he believed these couldn’t be random killings because the killer is at risk of entering a home where one resident might have a gun, or where multiple residents might confront him.

Moscow police said on Tuesday there has been much debate over how to describe the weapon used and that the type used in the attacks is believed to be a fixed-blade knife.

Police also said on Monday they would hold a press conference on Wednesday afternoon to update the public on the investigation.

On Sunday, law enforcement officers investigating the deaths asked for patience after a week had passed with no arrests.

Police have said there are indications they believe the students were targeted, but have repeatedly declined to give details.

Anyone with information that could help investigators with the stalker tips is asked to contact Moscow Police.