Idaho murders: Surviving roommates who slept through attack break their silence

The two surviving roommates of three of the four University of Idaho students who were murdered over three weeks ago spoke out about the attack that took their friends' lives for the first time this past weekend.

Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were slain on Nov. 13. Each was killed in bed and stabbed in the chest and upper body with a large knife.

Their other roommates, Dylan Mortensen, 19, and Bethany Funke, 19, were apparently asleep on the first floor of their home when a suspect or suspects entered the residence and stabbed the four students, who were asleep on the second and third floors, to death.

Mortensen and Funke wrote statements that were shared at a memorial over the weekend and read by a pastor who oversaw the gathering.

"I wish every day that I could give them all one last hug and say how much I love them," Funke wrote, per the Daily Mail. "You always told me that everything happens for a reason, but I'm having a really hard time trying to understand the reason for this."

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Funke addressed the characteristics of her roommates, recalling Goncalves's unstoppable will to succeed and sense of humor, as well as Chapin's love for his girlfriend, Kernodle.

© Provided by Washington Examiner University of Idaho students Xana Kernodle, right, and Ethan Chapin on a boat on Priest Lake, in Idaho. (Jazzmin Kernodle via AP)

"The way you loved her was truly admirable and so special," Funke wrote. "It made people believe in true love."

Mortensen also wrote that Chapin and Kernodle were the "perfect duo."

"They both had this fun, passionate, crazy, but good energy," Mortensen said. "They both were the kind of people who cared about everyone and would help anyone. ... They had this unstoppable, loving relationship. They both would look at each other with so much love."

Funke praised Kernodle's personality, calling her the "life of the party" and having the ability to draw everyone near her.

"There really wasn't one person that didn't love you and your amazing personality," she said.

The roommates pointed to Mogen and Goncalves's inseparable bond, something Goncalves's family has cited as the only source of comfort, knowing that their daughter died next to her best friend.

Mortensen said Mogen and Goncalves were second mothers, as well as sisters, to her.

"They taught me a lot about how to be a responsible adult and also how to live life happy," she wrote. "They changed the way I look at life and how to enjoy life to the fullest."

© Provided by Washington Examiner Boise State University students, along with people who knew the four University of Idaho students who were found killed in Moscow, Idaho, days earlier, pay their respects at a vigil. Sarah A. Miller/AP

All four students were "gifts to this world" and will "will never be forgotten and will forever be in all of our hearts," Funke wrote.

No suspect has been identified or arrested at this time. Moscow police have ruled out the surviving roommates, as well as other friends who were present at the house when the roommates placed a call to 911, as suspects.

People such as a food truck driver and a third-party driver who brought Goncalves and Mogen home from downtown Moscow, as well as Goncalves's ex-boyfriend, have been ruled out as well.

In an interview with NewsNation, the Goncalves family suggested that police may have been too quick to clear people connected with the case as the investigation continues with little to no answers.

"I just feel like there’s been a couple individuals that were cleared very fast that maybe should not have been,” Kristi Goncalves, Kaylee’s mother, said.

Kaylee Goncalves's sister added that she has heard names "circulating around" that she hopes police are digging into.

"I don’t know how much of that is we have so little information from law enforcement and how much of it is really a sister or a father’s intuition,” sister Alivea Goncalves said.

However, Moscow police continue to state in their press releases that, while they understand the level of fear and questions surrounding the homicides, they urge the public to only listen to updates from police and not to rely on rumors circulating in the media.

"There is speculation, without factual backing, stoking community fears and spreading false facts. We encourage referencing official releases for accurate information and updated progress," several press releases have stated.

Kaylee Goncalves's father, Steve, said he is seeking clarity from police on why certain people were ruled out.

“I don’t know what would prevent you from sharing someone’s alibi,” he said.

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He also told Fox News on Saturday night that he believes their "means of death don't match" but did not provide any further evidence as to why he thinks so other than stating that the "points of damage don't match."

"I'm just going to say it. It wasn't leaked to me. I earned that. I paid for that funeral," he said. "I sent my daughter to college. She came back in a box, and I can speak on that."

Police have stated they do not want to provide any information that will damage the investigation.

“It will potentially put more fear, more suspicion on a wide variety of people versus if we use that to really refine where we're at in our investigation. I think that will be more pertinent,” Aaron Snell, the communications director for the Idaho State Police, previously told Fox News.

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Tags: Crime, Idaho, Higher Education, murder

Original Author: Rachel Schilke

Original Location: Idaho murders: Surviving roommates who slept through attack break their silence