The University of Idaho plans to begin demolition today of the off-campus rental home where four undergraduate students were killed in a stabbing home invasion last year.
The house at 1122 King Road is a grim reminder of the murders, now boarded up, fenced and guarded 24 hours a day.
Some critics of the decision, including several family members of the victims, want the house to remain standing until the suspected killer, Bryan Kohberger, is brought to trial.
However, maintaining the home position could prove to be a “logistical nightmare” that does not affect the jury in the long run, one expert said.
Other high-profile homicide cases have involved jury visits to the crime scene with mixed results.
OJ Simpson was acquitted of murder in a trial in the early 1990s for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman.
Critics of the decision and some family members of the victims want the house to remain standing until suspected killer Bryan Kohberger is brought to trial. Paul Martinka
A jury convicted Alex Murdaugh in the shooting deaths of his wife and son after visiting the family’s Moselle farm earlier this year, where prosecutors said the disgraced South Carolina lawyer shot them dead near a dog kennel.
The Simpson case was unique, said David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney who has followed the Idaho case, because it was highly publicized and because the defense was able to decorate the house with family photos in an effort to make the defendant look better to the jury.
He said in shooting cases, if there is a dispute about the distance or angle, a direct view can help the jury.
The house where four University of Idaho students were killed in Moscow is still under construction and fenced off. Kai Eiselein
Otherwise, he told Fox News Digital, it’s a logistical “nightmare.” Jurors, alternates, judges, attorneys, law enforcement and other courtroom personnel need to be transported and kept safe, fed, and accommodated for bathroom breaks. He didn’t think it was always helpful for the jury’s understanding of the case.
“No one wants to do it,” he said. “To say it’s rare – it’s a unicorn.”
After serving as a prosecutor and defense attorney, he said he has only tried one case where a jury was brought to the scene.
The four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death are Kaylee Goncalves, top left; Xana Kernodle, top right; Ethan Chapin, bottom left; and Madison Mogen, bottom right. ZUMAPRESS.com
He successfully prosecuted the arson suspect who was accused of setting fire to the house with the victim inside. It was the defense that insisted on going to the scene.
“I don’t think it does anything,” he said. “I thought it was theater. I thought it was a defense attorney looking for a straw.”
The jury, during their deliberations, did not ask any questions about the scene, he said.
“Usually when you go to trial it’s at least a year after the allegation happened,” he said. “So at that point the scene was over. You won’t have yellow tape everywhere, you won’t have blood stains, and you won’t see anything.”
Other experts have told Fox News Digital that the university’s bid to demolish the building is a decision that prioritizes the school’s goal of “moving forward” over the potential impact that a first-hand view of the scene could have on jurors in the case against Kohberger.
“The ability to visit the crime scene in certain cases is very important,” said Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based defense attorney whose clients have included Idaho “cult mother” killer Lori Vallow. “Videos and pictures can help, but may not depict the scene as accurately as an in-person tour can. The house must be preserved until the trial is over or Kohberger pleads guilty.”
Police arrested Kohberger on December 30, a few weeks after the murder, after he took a cross-country trip with his father back to his family’s home in Pennsylvania.
At the time of the murder, he was studying for his Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University, about a 10-mile drive from the King Road home.
He allegedly killed the four students on two floors of the three-story building, sparing two other housemates, one of whom told police he saw a masked man peering out his bedroom door.
Investigators examine the off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death on November 25, 2022 in Moscow, Idaho. James Keivom
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, were found in an upstairs bedroom. Under Mogen’s body, police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath that they say tested positive for Kohberger’s DNA.
On the middle floor, responding officers found the bodies of Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, both 20 years old.
The landlord donated the property to the University of Idaho earlier this year, and officials announced plans to raze it and build a memorial garden, which the Chapin family says is being designed by UI architecture students.
Police and forensics units came to remove bedding, blood-stained mattresses, furniture and personal items from 1122 King Road in Moscow, ID — where four University of Idaho students were killed. Kevin C. Downs for the NY Post
Attorney Shanon Gray released a statement Wednesday from the Goncalves and Kernodle families, who said they had “contacted the Latah County Prosecutor’s Office and the University of Idaho to stop this madness” and preserve the home until Kohberger’s trial “for basic evidentiary purposes.”
“When the victim cannot speak you have to speak for them when you feel someone is hurting the case,” they said.
“All this time we only wanted King Rd. The house should not be demolished until after the trial and for us to have a trial date so that we can wait for justice to be served,” they added, urging that a trial date be set. “Is that too much to ask?”
Kohberger’s trial was initially scheduled for October, but he waived his right to speedy proceedings and instead focused on challenging the allegations and DNA evidence.
The Goncalves family, in a Facebook post, lamented the decision to demolish the building and said December 28 would be a “very sad day.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
