The home where four University of Idaho students were found fatally stabbed 13 months ago will be demolished today, Dec. 28.
The university revealed plans of the demolition in a Dec. 14 press release. Defense attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, accessed the house on Dec. 14 and 15 to take photographs, measurements and possibly gather drone footage of the house, according to the university.
The prosecution in the Kohberger case accessed the house on Dec. 21 for several hours, the university said. Those attorneys did not indicate specific their specific during that visit, according to the university.
The demolition is set to begin on Dec. 28 at 7 a.m., and it could take several days to completely clear the site, the university said.
“It is the grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there,” University of Idaho President Scott Green said in a statement on Dec. 14. “While we appreciate the emotional connection some family members of the victims may have to this house, it is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue.”
Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, told NBC News last month he wanted the house to remain standing throughout the trial.
“The house is evidence, probably one of the biggest pieces of evidence, so I asked for the community support us and understand that we want the house to come down at a certain time too,” he said. “But we just don’t want to have that dread and that worry over our heads for the next year, that maybe they would want to go in there one more time.”
The Goncalves family made a plea to the prosecution and the university in a statement titled, "Please stop the demolition of the King Road home." They listed their reasons the house should remain intact, including "vantage points" of the surviving roommates and what they could have seen.
Kohberger was arrested six weeks after the students were found dead on Nov. 13, 2022. He was indicted on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in May, and an Idaho judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf on all charges.
A trial date has not been set for Kohberger, according to the university.
The home where the students were slain was given to the university in early 2023, and the school announced in February the house would be slated for demolition, to "remove the physical structure where the crime that shook our community was committed."
"Demolition also removes efforts to further sensationalize the crime scene," Green said in a statement at the time.
