FBI visits Idaho murder house to construct model of crime scene

Feds are returning to the scene of the Idaho murders to construct a physical model of the home where the killings took place.

The operation, currently being carried out by the FBI, comes nine months after Bryan Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial, postponing the case against him indefinitely.

Amid this delay, investigators are now returning to the Moscow house where the murders happened this past November, a statement from the University of Idaho confirmed.

The move is an interesting one - after prosecutors months ago signed off on an order that would have seen the home demolished.

But after Kohberger's move over the summer, agents say they now have time to create the model - as well as an unspecified number of visual and audio exhibits to help encapsulate the night in question.




Feds are returning to the vacant Moscow, Idaho, home where four university students were murdered 





The police operation comes after suspect Bryan Kohberger (pictured in court on Thursday) waived his right to a speedy trial, delaying proceedings indefinitely and allowing feds the time to undergo the recreation


















Investigators will construct a physical recreation of the house when it had been inhabited by the victims (seen with floor plan)

Photos snapped on King Road Tuesday showed the operation already underway - while a statement from the school where the victims were enrolled confirmed the police operation.

'Because the trial of Bryan Kohberger is delayed indefinitely, investigators and the prosecution recently asked University of Idaho for access to the King Road house where a quadruple homicide took place,' the statement said.

'With the new extended timeline, the FBI is on scene today.'

While the overall operation is set to take months, the school said that feds would be on the scene both Tuesday and Wednesday 'to get documentation to construct visual and audio exhibits and a physical model of the home'.

During that span, agents will 'gather their own measurements and images now that the [previous occupants'] personal property has been removed from the premises,' the school said.

The university added that they were told that the visual displays would take months to build - a timeframe 'not feasible under the timeline of an October trial.

'While the measurements and details needed to build a model were taken at the time of the initial investigation,' they added, 'the FBI is using this extended trial timeline to gather their own measurements and images.'

The school said the Latah County Prosecutor's Office, which is handling the case, 'has notified the families of the victims and survivors [of the project], as well as the defense' about the construction. 




Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, as they slept in the home on November 13, 2022





Kaylee and Madison were found on the top floor of the Moscow, Idaho home in November 2022. College couple Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, meanwhile, were found in a second-floor bedroom while survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were on the first floor





The home, seen here boarded up last week, has been unoccupied for months, and had been scheduled to be demolished within the next few months. That timelines has now been delayed to the next school semester, University of Idaho brass said in a statement



Idaho Murderers, from @uidaho:

The FBI is on scene today to get documentation to construct visual and audio exhibits and a physical model of the home where the murders took place.

The reason has to do with the delay in Kohberger's trial. pic.twitter.com/Gvmg6zwGTP

— Bradley Warren (@bradmwarren) October 31, 2023

Shortly after the alert was circulated, plywood seen on the domicile's doors and windows earlier in the day were stripped, as agents entered and commenced work

'Upon completion, the house will be re-secured,' school officials added in their statement - before specifying that while officials still have plans to demolish the home, 'it will not be done this semester.'

The decision serves as the second time in months the school paused its plans to bring down the home - which residents by and large have said serves as an unneeded, grim reminder of what took place on the night of November 13, 2022.

In July, officials said they would revisit the decision in October, over fears that the home's destruction could impact the case.

Now that the trial - initially slated for October 2 - has been delayed, the home set in a cul-de-sac called 'fratlantis' by students due to its proximity to fraternity row will remain for at least another few months.

In February, President of the University Scott Green initially said the six-bedroom and three-bathroom property would be demolished this semester.




The decision serves as the second time in months the school paused its plans to bring down the home - which residents by and large have said serves as an unneeded, grim reminder of what took place on the night of the murders





Blood drips down the outside of the wall of the house the four students shared back in November, shortly after the murders took place. Investigators described it as the worst crime scene they have ever seen







Immediately after the murders - which saw the lives of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, prematurely come to an end - the unassuming home was handed to the university by its owner.

It has since become a sight associated with grief and a 'constant reminder' of the crimes that occurred there, the school said in a statement over the summer.

'Since that fateful night in November, the house on King Road where four of our fellow Vandals were senselessly killed has stood as a stark reminder of what was lost,' the statement said.

'We lost our innocence and our sense of safety. We realized that evil can visit our town and we lost four bright souls from our Vandal family. In response to this tragedy, we have tried to do what is right, knowing full well there are no actions or decisions that will be met with full support.

'This is why the decision about what to do with the Kind Road house is so difficult. On the one hand, some people want it taken down. It is a constant reminder of the heinous acts that went on inside it. It is also a place that continues to draw unwanted attention from the media, YouTubers and others.

'On the other hand, it elicits deep emotional responses from those who are working through grief and who fear that its destruction could impact the court case.

'We hear all these arguments, take them seriously and weight them against the greater good for our university.'

The July memo added that the university 'fully expect to demolish the house' in the near future, and that not destroying it immediately was 'the right course to take' at the  moment. 




The suspect is believed to have driven some 2,300 miles from Moscow to Pennsylvania. He was attending college in nearby Washington State





Investigators allegedly matched the DNA on a Ka-Bar knife sheath to that of Kohberger. Pictured is a similar Ka-Bar seven inch hunting knife

The defense previously revealed that they would be contesting the notion that Kohberger's DNA was left at the scene on the knife sheath. They also claim that DNA from three other unidentified men was also found at the Idaho crime scene.  

The defense also wants more information on how the FBI used the DNA to create family trees that led them to Kohberger and his father in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for an early-morning arrest.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, claim in court documents that a DNA sample taken from the crime scene is a near-match from a sample from Kohberger, who was arrested this past December after being tracked down to his family's home in the Poconos.

They claim Kohberger left the military knife sheath behind and that it was found next to one of the victims bodies in her bed, on the third floor of the student home. 

DNA allegedly present on the sheath was  matched to Kohberger, they claim, after the FBI checked the sample against genetic genealogy databases and 'tipped off' local cops.

Days later, Kohberger was in cuffs - and has remained incarcerated since.








Kohberger's attorneys, seen here Thursday, previously revealed that they would be contesting the notion that Kohberger's DNA was left at the scene on the knife sheath. They also claim that DNA from three other unidentified men was also found at the Idaho crime scene









Prosecutors Bill Thompson (center), Wendy Olson, and Cory Carone maintain the killer left the military knife sheath behind and that it was found next to one of the victims, and that DNA on the sheath was matched to Kohberger after fed checked the sample against their databases

Police had to work backwards from the DNA sample to build a profile of hundreds, if not thousands, of people who could have matched it before honing in on Kohberger, who was living near the murder scene at the time and had the same car as witnesses had seen.

Just last week, the Idaho judge presiding over his case declined to dismiss a grand jury indictment that sought to prohibit his lawyers from seeing prospective DNA  evidence compiled against their client prior to his arrest, as they seek details about how cops used investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) to indict him.

The 28-year-old also recently had his bid for freedom denied - after Judge John Judge refused to overturn the allegation against him over what Kohberger's team insisted were incorrect Grand Jury instructions.

He was indicted by an Idaho Grand Jury who heard the evidence against him in May - evidence that Kohberger's team will now have access to after the new ruling.

A new date for the trial has yet to be set. The exhibits being constructed at the home have not been specified.


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