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Latah County coroner describes the scene of the quadruple homicide in Moscow

University of Idaho
Posted at 5:54 PM, Nov 16, 2022
and last updated 2022-11-17 12:32:42-05

MOSCOW, Idaho — Latah County coroner, Cathy Mabbutt, was one of the first people to comment on the scene of a quadruple homicide in Moscow over the weekend.

“There’s quite a bit of blood in the apartment and it was a pretty traumatic scene to find four dead college students in a residence,” Mabbutt said.

After Wednesday's joint police press conference, we know the victims were all stabbed with a knife, but that investigators are still trying to identify a suspect and find the murder weapon.

Officials still have no suspect in custody and walked back previous statements about community safety, now saying they cannot ensure there is no threat to the public.

Autopsies for the four victims took place Wednesday and we expect to learn more about the exact cause of death and if the same murder weapon was used on all the victims.

“There could be some evidence of the suspect that we get during the autopsies which would be helpful,” Mabbutt said.

Stacy Chapin, the mother of Ethan Chapin who was one of the four victims, is grieving the tragedy. Ethan had two siblings. The three were triplets.

"We're just trying to process it. It's not a call that you think that you're going to have to speak with the funeral home directors and the FBI and have it hit national news," Chapin said.