Authorities investigating the murders of four University of Idaho students believe that only one of the victims was the intended target, CNN reports.
On November 13, police were called to an off-campus apartment where they found the four victims stabbed to death: 21-year-old Madison Mogen, 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle.
Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday that he has been told police believe the attacker was principally interested in just one of the victims.
“I’ve been told it’s one, but then, again, there’s the vagueness, like it’s like purposely vague,” Steve Goncalves told CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
Investigators have not publicly identified who they believe may have been the intended target, but officials have said they are exploring still unsubstantiated allegations that Goncalves may have had a stalker.
Kaylee Goncalves’ sister Alivea told CNN that she is skeptical of the stalker rumor.
“I think a lot of those rumors do stem from all of the vagueness and it’s human nature to want answers. It’s human nature to kind of put forth a theory, so that you can even comprehend it in your brain,” Alivea Goncalves told CNN. “And so I think that’s how we’re getting all of some of these really, really off-the-wall theories and some of these theories like Kaylee had a stalker, that even we’re sitting here scratching our head saying, no. It couldn’t be. If it was, it would be news to us.”
Early in the case, police said it appeared that the victims were killed in an “isolated, targeted attack.”
Law enforcement has not identified any suspects and has not recovered any weapons used in the stabbings, which are believed to have occurred around 3 or 4 a.m. on November 13.
Investigators do not believe that two roommates who were home at the time of the stabbings had anything to do with the attack. Police have also cleared other individuals who interacted with the victims in the hours before they died.
To report information about the case, call 208-883-7180 or email tipline@ci.moscow.id.us.
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[Featured image: Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves (left); Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle;/Instagram]
