Featured Image Credit: Demolition starts on house where 'worst crime scene police have ever scene' happened
Topics: News, US News, Crime, True crime
Rebecca Oakes
Topics: News, US News, Crime, True crime
Demolition has begun on the house that held the 'worst crime scene' police had ever seen.
On November 13, 2022, four students at the University of Idaho were brutally murdered in their off-campus accommodation.
In the early hours of the morning, housemates Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle, and Xana's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin returned home from a night of partying and were stabbed to death with an 'edged weapon.'
Madison and Kaylee were discovered on the second floor of the home, meanwhile Xana and Ethan were found together on the third floor, according to court documents.
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There were two other roommates in the home at the time, but they were left unharmed, while the four victims were murdered in what was described by police as the most 'gruesome' and 'harrowing' crime scene they'd ever seen.
The following month (December 30), criminology PhD student, Bryan Kohberger, was arrested on suspicion of murder.
He remains in custody in Latah County Jail in Moscow, Idaho, and is facing four counts of first-degree murder, as well as one charge of felony burglary.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for his crimes.
CBS News reports the trial will start in summer 2024.
Now, 13 months after the brutal murders, demolition has begun on 1122 King Road — the scene of the crime — with forklifts starting to dismantle the structure earlier today (December 28).
The University of Idaho announced plans to demolish the property earlier this month, saying: "It is the grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there," in a school-wide memo.
Bryan Kohberger's defense team paid one final visit to the property to take photographs, measurements and drone footage prior to the scheduled demo.
The prosecution also visited the site on December 21.
However, many people, including the family of Kaylee Goncalves, have protested the demolition of the house.
"PLEASE STOP THE DEMOLITION OF THE KING ROAD HOME!" her family wrote on Facebook on Thursday morning.
"When the victim’s can’t speak you have to speak for them when you feel someone is hurting the case," they continued and argued that the house should stay standing for 'basic evidentiary purposes.'
In the post, the Goncalves family suggested that keeping the King Road home intact during the trial could help jurors visualize the perspective of the two surviving roommates who were home when the murders took place.
But, a trial expert previously warned against taking jurors to the crime scene, saying: "Usually when you go to trial it’s at least a year after the allegation occurred. So by that time the scene is done.
"You’re not gonna have yellow tape everywhere, you’re not gonna have bloodstains, and you’re not gonna see anything."
It is reported that, to commemorate the four victims, the university will be building a memorial garden on campus to honor their memory.