A retired FBI behavioural analyst believes the culprit behind the University of Idaho murders was either a stalker or somebody known to the victims.
Former agent Jim Clemente, who is not working on the case, spoke to Fox News Digital about the quadruple murder that shook the college town of Moscow and the nation on 13 November. Mr Clemente profiled the killer as “sloppy,” and close in age to the victims.
The expert added that he believed the murderer likely has a past or current relationship with the victims or had been stalking one of them before carrying out the brutal stabbings of Xana Kernodle, 20, Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Madison Mogen, 21.
“This offender did not just randomly choose this location, that he targeted one or more of the people in there,” Mr Clemente told the network. “That could be because he has a relationship ... with one or more of them, or it could be that he’s been stalking one or more of them.”
Mr Clemente added that he didn’t think the killer was particularly sophisticated, criminally or forensically, and that perhaps this was their first time committing a crime of that magnitude.
“He’s sloppy,” he added. “This is probably more of a compulsive kind of person, that would put him at a younger age and, maybe in the age group or just above the victims.”
No arrests have been made in the case and no suspects have been identified, despite the overwhelming evidence left behind by the killer, according to the parents of one of the victims.
Authorities have reportedly told the grieving families that it is precisely due to the extensive evidence collected at the crime scene that investigators are taking longer to process it and subsequently determine what happened during the attack.
According to the Moscow Police Department, 33 officers from the department are pursuing the investigation, including four detectives and 24 patrol officers,
The FBI has also assigned 22 investigators on the ground in Moscow, 20 agents out of other parts in Idaho, West Virginia and Utah, and two behavioural analysts. Meanwhile, Idaho State Police has 20 investigators and 30 troopers working on the case.
The deaths have been ruled homicides. Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt confirmed that some of the victims had defensive wounds from the knife attack, adding that she had seen “nothing, nothing like this” in her almost two-decade-long career.
There was no sign of sexual assault on any of the victims but they each suffered “pretty extensive” wounds, she told NBC News, confirming that each victim was stabbed a different amount of times and in different places on the body.
Two roommates were in the house at the time of the attack but were not harmed. They are not necessarily considered witnesses or suspects in the investigation, police said.
Authorities said that more details will be released during a press conference scheduled for Wednesday.
