Demolition of University of Idaho murder house delayed until after Bryan Kohberger trial
Demolition of the home where four University of Idaho students were savagely murdered last year has been suspended while murder suspect Bryan Kohberger is trialed over꧅ the murders, the college announcꦫed Wednesday.
The three-story home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, will remain intact until at least October, as the local population continues to grieve the 20 and 21-year-old students found slain Nov. 13 last🌌 year.
“On the one hand, some people want it taken down. It is a constant reminder✃ of the heinous acts that went on inside it,” University of Idaho President Scott Green wrote Wednesday .
“On the other hand, it elicits deep emotional responses from those🦹 who areꦇ working through grief and who fear that its destruction could impact the court case.”
The house, which is now owned by the university, “has stood as a stark reminder of what was lost,” he said.
“We lꦯost 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.”
Bryan Kohberger, 28, has been charged with breaking into the home — just steps fr💜om campus — and fatally stabbing Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, and Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21.
It is possible thaౠt the ho꧃me may be needed during the trial. Either for evidence purposes or potentially for jurors to visit.
The victims were discovered wit𒀰h fatal knife wounds the next day on theꦆ second and third floors of the home.
The women had all lived in the ho൩me with two other roommates, both o🌠f whom were on the first floor at the time of the stabbings but survived.
Kohberger, a 28-year-old former criminology student, was arrested Dec. 30, 2022, and later indicted on charges of felony burglary and four counts of first-degree murder over the killings. A plea of not guilty w♔as entered on his behalf at his arraignment in May.
He is scheduled to stand trial Oct. 2, but a judge announced this week it could be moved to November if Kohberger’s team need more time to prepare. However, the judge overseeing the case warned: “precious time is ticking”.
Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the d♎eath penalty against Kohberger.
The uniꩲversity took ownership of the King Road property months after the killings, and ann🐠ounced in February its plans to demolish it.
The property is current🍬ly in the process of remediation which involves lead and asbestos removal, the school saidཧ.
Work will thenꦬ come to a standstill until the university reaches𝓡 a decision.
“We still fully expect to demolish the hous🍬e, which was given to the university by the former owner,” Green went on.
“But we believe leaving the house standing, for now, is the right courseꦡ to take.”
