An ID belonging to someone at the house where four University of Idaho students were killed was found in the car of the man arrested for the crimes, according to a new report.
Police haven’t confirmed who the ID belongs to due to a gag order in place, but NewsNation reported that it belongs to someone who lived in the house. A search warrant unsealed earlier this year stated that police had seized IDs from the 28-year-old man suspected of the murders but have not provided additional details.
“It’s a big deal. That is a smoking license,” retired FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer told NewsNation on Thursday. “Just like the sheath was a smoking sheath found next to Maddie with his DNA on that clasp, it’s the same thing in this situation. Why would he have an ID related to one of those people from that house?”
The suspect, who The Daily Wire is not naming, was arrested and charged in late December with murdering Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, back on November 13 at their off-campus home. The suspect was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania six weeks after the four friends were stabbed to death.
Coffindaffer previously told NewsNation that police could look at the suspect for similar murders in Pennsylvania.
“If they are looking at something very specific that’s unsolved with these parameters, they’re probably looking in the right direction,” she told the outlet. “I think it is a signature-type crime.”
Defense attorney Mark Geragos told the outlet that it’s common for police to link suspects like this to other unsolved crimes.
“In virtually every high profile case that is a circumstantial evidence murder case, you almost inevitably hear of some other unsolved murder and law enforcement looks to see if they can link whoever the suspect is,” Geragos told NewsNation. “For one thing I suppose it fills a vacuum — ‘Why did somebody do this when you don’t have a motive?’ That is the most obvious explanation.”
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More than 60 warrants have also been served to major companies and banks in connection to the murders, including Amazon, DoorDash, Reddit, and the owner of dating sites such as Tinder and OkCupid. The contents of the warrants are “sealed and redacted” as part of the murder case against the suspect.
Monroe County First Assistant Michael Mancuso told BRC 13 that when the suspect was arrested, he “was found awake in the kitchen area dressed in shorts and a shirt [and] wearing latex medical type gloves and apparently was taking his personal trash and putting it into … separate zip lock baggies.”
Mancuso implied that the suspect was removing the trash to conceal his DNA. Investigators had been surveilling the home for weeks prior to the suspect’s arrest, and during that time, they searched the trash cans outside.
“A trash pull that was done days before recovered DNA profiles but not from him, only from his family members,” Mancuso told the outlet.
The news follows an unsealed search warrant that listed items taken from the suspect’s parent’s home at the time of his arrest, including a flashlight, four medical-style gloves, a T-shirt, a Washington State Cougars sweatshirt, a pair of size 13 Nike shoes, as well as Under Armour black socks, shorts, and boxers. Police also collected a cheek swab from the suspect for DNA, People Magazine reported.
Of the items taken, Mancuso said two could be important during the suspect’s trial.
“I would be keen on the shoes, the size of the shoes, comparison to any show impressions that might have been recovered at the scene that sort of thing,” he told BRC 13.
He added that the cheek swab could also play a significant role in court.
“Something that they could compare to the DNA of I believe the snap button for the sheath of the knife,” he said, referring to a knife sheath found at the off-campus residence where the victims were found stabbed to death.