Idaho murders update January 2024: these are the outcomes for other residences connected to infamous murders
Idaho murders update January 2024: these are the outcomes for other residences connected to infamous murders
Idaho murders update January 2024: The Idaho home that murdered four students was demolished. These are the outcomes for other residences connected to infamous murders. In the most recent example of a structure being demolished after gruesome, high-profile killings, the University of Idaho on Thursday demolished the off-campus residence where four students were fatally stabbed last year.
The deaths of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves inside the off-campus apartment in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022, stunned both the university and the neighborhood.
The house’s owner gave it to the university, and before the new academic year began in July, the institution intended to demolish it. However, those intentions were put on hold until last month, when the university said that, to better prepare for the suspect’s trial, Bryan Kohberger’s counsel had been granted access to the residence. The school reported that on December 21, prosecutors also gained entry to the residence.
Four counts of first-degree murder have been brought against Kohberger, and he has entered not-guilty pleas on his behalf. The summer of 2024 is when the prosecution has suggested that his trial start.
The University of Idaho stated in a news release this month that the demolition, which is scheduled for Thursday over winter break, was anticipated to take several days. However, Jodi Walker, a university official, told CNN that it might be completed in a day.
Scott Green, the president of the University of Idaho, stated in a news release that “it is the somber reminder of the horrible act that took place there.” “Although we acknowledge the sentimental bond that some victims’ relatives may have with this residence, it is imperative that it be demolished to facilitate our community’s ongoing healing process.“
The families of Goncalves and Kernodle begged the university and local authorities to save the house the night before it was to be demolished. In a joint statement, they contended that it might yield information concerning the murders, particularly how much the surviving roommates might have heard.
However, the university stated that neither the defense nor the prosecution had objected to the demolition. In an email, a prosecutor informed school administrators that the house was “so substantially different than at the time of the homicides” that a jury would not be permitted to view it.
“We acknowledge that the house is a source of great emotion, particularly for the families involved. However, we have also engaged with the prosecutors and defense team, listened to our community, and feel that this is an excellent time to move forward with demolishing the house,” Walker, the university’s spokesperson, stated to CNN on Wednesday.
The house, which is located in a student-populated neighborhood off university property but is visible from the campus, is a “daily reminder of the horrific event that happened there,” according to Walker.
“We can heal, and we can take that next step forward, and taking that house down is that next step,” she said, adding that the institution would never forget.
Now that the house is gone, the focus can shift to what will happen to the land. According to the university, ideas for a memorial garden honoring the four students will be drafted this past fall by students studying architecture and landscape design.
In the US in particular, where communities frequently have to deal with the scenes of mass shootings and consider how they can honor the victims and their families while allowing those left behind to heal and move forward, the question of what to do with such properties has become distressingly routine in recent years.
That is especially challenging in the wake of school mass shootings, when educators and students may have to go back: For instance, Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, was destroyed and rebuilt after a shooting there in December 2012 claimed the lives of 26 people, including 20 children ages 6 and 7.
However, private residences like the one in Idaho where infamous murderers resided or their victims were killed have raised similar concerns for communities for decades. Like the Sandy Hook shooter’s house, which he shared with his mother, who became his first victim that day, these homes are frequently demolished.
Here are the outcomes of some more houses that are linked to the murders that occurred there.
Idaho murders update
10050 Cielo Drive
The most well-known murder committed by the Charles Manson-led cult occurred in 1969 when five individuals, including the actress Sharon Tate, were killed at 10050 Cielo Drive.
The mansion in Beverly Hills, California was demolished in 1994 and replaced with a massive nine-bedroom, eighteen-bathroom estate that was finished in 1996. It has a new address.
In January 2022, the estate was listed for $85 million, but during the last 23 months, the asking price has decreased several times. The real estate agent’s listing states that the sellers now want $49.5 million; it does not refer to the property’s troubled past.
The home of Fred and Rose West
From the 1960s to the 1980s, two of Fred and Rose West’s daughters were among the many girls and young women who were kidnapped, sexually assaulted, and murdered in England. Rose was found guilty of ten charges of murder in November 1995 and given a life sentence; Fred, who was charged with twelve killings, committed suicide before he could go to trial.
Investigators discovered the remains of numerous victims at their Gloucester, Massachusetts, home at 25 Cromwell Street, including those in the toilet, basement, and garden, when the case was first opened in the 1990s.
Dubbed a “house of horrors,” the mansion was demolished in 1996. It has now been replaced with a public walkway.
Alex Murdaugh’s hunting estate
The 1,700-acre Islandton, South Carolina, property known as Moselle was the family’s hunting home before it became recognized as the location where Alex Murdaugh killed his wife, Maggie, and their son Paul. The estate included a house, a lodge, and dog kennels where the killings took place.
Jurors visited the estate during the now-disgraced attorney’s trial earlier this year to gain a better understanding of the murder scene and the arguments made by the prosecution and defense.
Moselle, on the other hand, is still standing, unlike the other crime scenes.
According to CNN station WJCL, the estate was put up for auction some months after the deaths, and numerous objects from the house were put up for auction soon after Murdaugh was found guilty. His defense lawyers have filed an appeal, which is pending the outcome of their pursuit of a motion for a new trial.
According to WCIV, another affiliate, the house sold for $2.6 million in March.
Veronica Miracle, Jeffrey Kopp, and Cindy Von Quednow of CNN contributed to this story.
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