Nov.13, 2023, will be exactly one year since four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death at an off-campus house in Moscow, ID. The following two months provided new details in the case, which aided police in identifying a suspect and making an arrest.

According to CBS News, the four slain roommates were identified as Ethan Chapin (20), Kaylee Goncalves (21), Xana Kernodle (20) and Madison Mogen (21). ABC News provided a complete timeline of everything that occurred around the time of the murders.

During the late hours of Nov. 12, 2022, best friends Goncalves and Mogen had a night out at the Corner Club bar that was within walking distance from their house when they were stabbed. Chapin and Kernodle, who were a couple, visited the Sigma Chi fraternity house that same night. There were two other roommates who were out and about that night, but they survived the attack and were ruled out as suspects.

At about 1:40 a.m. on Nov.13, surveillance video caught Goncalves and Mogen at a food truck. They got a ride home, arriving there at 1:45 a.m. Chapin and Kernodle returned to the off-campus residence around the same time as the others.

Authorities believe the stabbings took place between 4-4:25 a.m. Kernodle received a DoorDash order at approximately 4 a.m. One of the roommates who survived the incident woke up around 4 a.m. to the possible sounds of Goncalves playing with her dog. A short time after that, the roommates thought she heard Goncalves say something along the lines of “there’s someone here,” but that might’ve been Kernodle on her phone since statistics showed she was scrolling through TikTok at about 4:12 a.m.

That same roommate said she looked around after hearing about someone being in the house but didn’t see anything. She investigated again once she heard crying coming from Kernodle’s bedroom. The roommate heard a male voice saying something like “it’s ok, I’m going to help you.” She then saw a man dressed in all black with a mask walk past her, whom she didn’t recognize, which left her “frozen” and in “shock.”

At around 4:17 a.m., a security camera just outside of Kernodle’s room recorded sounds of a dog barking and inaudible audio of talking directly followed by a loud bang. Just before noon later that day, two roommates called their friends and 911 to come over and assist, as they thought one of the four students that were murdered passed out on the second floor and wasn’t waking up. The officers who responded found the victims.

While investigations were ongoing and surveillance videos were looked over, the suspect’s vehicle was seen driving by the victims’ house three times before passing a fourth time at 4:04 a.m. Based on phone records, the suspect returned to the house just before 9 a.m., about five hours after the stabbings occurred.

The suspect’s phone was close to the off-campus house multiple times even before the murders happened either late at night or early in the morning.

On Nov. 17, autopsies revealed that all four victims were stabbed several times. They were most likely asleep at the time of the crime and had a lot of wounds. Police added that there was no signs of sexual assault.

People living in the Moscow area and especially at or near the University of Idaho campus were asked to be on the lookout for a white Hyundai Elantra, the vehicle that was caught on security camera driving past the victims’ house four times the night of the stabbings.

On Dec. 7, police announced they wanted to speak to the driver of the car that was seen in the immediate area of the victims’ house.

On Dec. 15, a vehicle matching the description of the Hyundai seen on camera was stopped twice for traffic violations east of Indianapolis. This was before authorities were able to connect a name to the stabbings that occurred in Idaho. The driver of that car was driving to Pennsylvania to return home.

On Dec. 27, DNA was recovered from the knife that was used to stab the four victims. It belonged to the owner of the same Hyundai that was pulled over twice in Indiana.

The vehicle that kept driving past that off-campus house the night of the murders was registered to Bryan Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, less than 10 miles away from the University of Idaho. He was arrested in PE on Dec. 30 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary.

This crime caused students to become more fearful and vigilant about their safety while at college, which still holds true almost a year later. The Carroll News interviewed two students, asking if they thought their concerns about safety had changed.

Mary Hanlon ‘26 mentioned that “Living in a dorm, I definitely still lock my door every night. I think I’d be a lot more vigilant living off-campus in a house.”

Darla Rini ‘24 added “It hits home more when someone’s life was taken so cruelly at such a young age. I always lock my doors and have cameras set up outside of my house pointing in every direction of a potential entryway.”

Rini also stated “I’m not hesitant to meet new peers on campus, but I do try to keep a cautious eye out for people more now than ever. Considering the circumstances, I do not believe that I have changed many habits. I have always been taught that the world can be a good place as much as a dangerous one.”

It’s extremely important to be constantly vigilant of surroundings regardless of location. If something suspicious is seen, report it immediately. Not only would this action be a good deed for the community, but it could also be life-saving.