Special Note on the Moscow Murders
Colonel Kedrick Wills, Idaho State Police, at Wednesday's press conference. Photo, Brandon Schrand
My "real" job has carried me to Dallas, Texas where, for the past several days, I have been attending meetings. In between meetings, however, I have been working hard on the podcast. Because I knew I would be working on the show, I had to bring some equipment so that I could work on finalizing Episode 4 (which will drop on November 28).
But there is so much that goes into producing a podcast, that I would have never anticipated when I decided to do this. In the past few days, I have had to tackle a list of To-Dos, so that I can--to the best of my ability--keep abreast of the show and its production schedule. At the top of the list was working with Blake Walker, our engineer, on some final audio changes we needed to make on Episode 3. It was pretty much there, but it needed a little more fine tuning.
The next thing on the list was the chore of reaching out to local/regional media to announce the podcast, so it can get some coverAs many of you now know, just over a week ago, our sister communities of Moscow, Idaho and Pullman, Washington (8 miles apart) were rocked by a shocking quadruple homicide of four students at the University of Idaho, the same school Kristin David attended some 41 years earlier.
For those of you who haven't been following the murders, here is a recap.
The victims were Ethan Chapin 20, Kaylee Goncalves 21, Xana Kernodle 20, and Maddie Mogen, 21, all of whom were stabbed to death in the same residence. The weapon is believed to have been a large fixed blade knife, but it has not been found. Police have not made any arrests, nor do they have a suspect.
This tragedy has hit me in ways I couldn't have anticipated. In fact, I tried to record a mini episode a half-dozen times, but couldn't get through the recording without choking up. I don't know why that is. I didn't know the victims, but I have connections to at least one of them. Maybe it's because I have a college-aged son, and a teenage daughter, and I just can't even imagine what their families are going through right now, one day before Thanksgiving. I just can't.
I attended today's press conference just to see if there were any new leads. Unfortunately, there wasn't much new information. The police did dispel some rumors, however. For instance, the story that the victims were found bound and gagged is unfounded. At this time, they do not believe that a stalker was involved. It was revealed that the 911 dispatcher spoke with several people in the house, which was news to me.
Still, it's been over a week, and we are left with more questions than answers. One of the things I asked one of my interviewees, Joy Passanante, in Episode 3, was how did the community respond to Kristin David’s murder? But because Joy was out of town for the summer, she didn’t know. But having gone through the newspapers at the time, I can tell you that the community was reeling in the wake of her death. Students gathered for a candle light vigil in Kristin’s name, a scholarship was set up in her honor. People flooded the papers with letters expressing their horror, and urging vigilance.
I can also tell you how the community is responding to these murders now. Total grief. Utter shock. My social media accounts are filled with posts saying “Moscow Strong” and "Vandal Strong" (Vandals = U of I mascot).
Everyone is devastated. Some are angry by the fact that the killer hasn’t been caught, that the police, in their view, haven’t been out in front of this tragedy earlier with clearer messaging and more answers. For my own part, I’m more sympathetic to the police in this situation. I can tell you from what I am hearing from my contacts, and from what I heard in today's presser, is that they are pulling out all the stops in their efforts to bring justice. They are all hands on deck. According to Colonel Wills of the Idaho State Police, the investigators have taken over 4,000 photographs, collected 103 pieces of evidence, conducted multiple 3D scans of the residence, have interviewed over 150 people. and processed over 1,000 tips. Investigators will be working through the holiday weekend. I drove by the crime scene and there is still a police presence.
The same is true here. Although these towns are larger now than they were in 1981 when Kristin David was murdered, they are still closely knit. And I when I say closely knit, that’s not a platitude or folksy cliché. I say that because it’s true. For instance, at the press conference, I ran into a former employee who is now a reporter for our local NPR station, and one of the speakers at the press conference, Deputy City Supervisor, Tyler Palmer, is a friend.
At the first press conference, UI President Scott Green choked up. Tyler did today too. Everyone is struggling under the enormity of this devastating loss. Now I will not pretend that I knew any of these young victims. I didn’t. But it turns out that I have connections, and I am only going to mention those here to demonstrate the interconnectednesss of these communities.
First, I earned one of my graduate degrees at the University of Idaho and worked there for over a decade before going to work across the border at Washington State University. Second, Ethan Chapin was a Sigma Chi. That is the same fraternity I was a part of as an undergraduate (though at a different school), and it just so happens that in the past year, I have attended two events Ethan’s chapter has held for alumni (though I don’t believe I met Ethan himself). Third, my son--also a Sigma Chi (though at a different school)--whose best friend from childhood, Matt, is not only member of Ethan’s chapter, but roomed with Ethan. In fact, when my son came home from school during breaks, he routinely hung out with Matt and, in so doing, had met Ethan
So, no, I didn’t know the victims. But I have connections, which doesn’t make me unique. It makes me a totally ordinary member of a close-knit community. That’s just the way it is in these kinds of small college towns. You either know the person, or you are one or two removes from knowing them.
As many of you know, I was in Dallas, Texas when I heard the news. I was in my hotel room, working on the Kristin David case in between meetings, when my phone buzzed. It was an emergency alert from my employer, Washington State University. It read: Police are investigating a homicide near the University of Idaho campus. Homicide. As in singular. Not plural. I immediately started pinging my contacts, asking what was going on? What did they know. Turns out, they knew as little as I did.
Here are a few things we do know.
The University of Idaho is holding a candle light vigil in honor of the victims on November 30. I know that the international organization of Sigma Chi has set up a scholarship in Ethan's name, and there are Go Fund Me campaigns for Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, and one for Madison and Kaylee.
Meanwhile, please stay tuned for Episode 4 of the Snake River Killer, which drops on November 28th. Keep an eye out for some bonus content along the way, and as always thank you.Coverage outside of me just blowing up everyone's inboxes and social media accounts with announcements and reminders. You should be seeing some coverage shortly.
Daily tasks involve, but are not limited to, monitoring the show's analytics and metrics. This includes monitoring data from my hosting platform, the show's website, and the the individual distribution platforms (i.e. Spotify, Apple iTunes, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, etc.).
It also involves responding to fans of the show (I try to respond to everyone, even if briefly), answering questions, and sorting through various tips and ideas listeners have about the cases.
Daily tasks also entail posting updates to social media, and having my son post to Instagram for me (I still need to figure out how to more easily navigate that platform).
Other critical tasks that come up: paying bills that come into the show, monitoring all the various subscriptions and services I have had to sign up for to launch the show.
And then there is the task of creating content. Content for the web and content for the actual show itself. This morning, for instance, I had to create a quick map of Kristin David's bike route so that when people listened to Episode 3, then could see the route I reference in the show.
Last night, I had to record some audio on my cell phone in the closet of my hotel room, as a way of minimizing background noise. That wasn't terribly successful, and I will likely after re-record when I get home, but it was definitely a new experience. And last but not least, is the ongoing task of research: combing through articles, examining timelines, scrutinizing each story, questioning the likeliness and probability behind each and every assertion made by those invested in, or affected by, these cases.
And here, I will mention something shocking and disturbing. Last night as I finished my recording session the closet, I received a text from the Washington State University alert system. It stated that police were investigating a homicide near the University of Idaho campus, just 8 miles east of WSU, and the same school Kristin David had attended 40 years earlier. Within the hour, we were learning that four people had been murdered in the same residence. And because these are small towns--a fact I have emphasized on the show--it wasn't long before we learned that we had friends and family who knew at least one of the individuals who had been killed.
I don't know what to make of this heart-sinking news. I'm still trying to process it all, as I work on the show and attend meetings for work, and as a gray rain falls steadily on Dallas.