The home where four University of Idaho students were murdered in their beds will be demolished.
The doors and windows of the off-campus house on King Road in Moscow have already been plywood closed and a temporary fence has been erected around it.
It will be overthrown, the university announced on Friday, more than three months after Bryan Kohberger, 28, allegedly stabbed students to death.
‘The owner of the King Street house offered to donate the house to the university, which we accepted. The house will be demolished,” said university president Scott Green.
‘This is a healing step and removes the physical structure where the crime that shook our community was committed.’
A masked Kohberger allegedly entered the house around 4:00 am on November 13 with a knife. The criminology doctoral student is accused of stabbing Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Gonçalves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, as well as her visiting boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20.
Police say Kohberger went to the house at least a dozen times before he allegedly attacked and that he returned to the crime scene five hours after the murders, hours before a 911 call.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. He waived his right to an expedited preliminary hearing and is expected to file an appeal on June 26.
The demolition will help limit efforts to “sensationalize” the crime scene, Green said.
A memorial and ‘healing garden’ will also be created in honor of the victims and other students who died, he added. The place for them has not been determined.
“We will never forget Xana, Ethan, Madison and Kaylee, and I will do everything in my power to protect their dignity and respect their memory,” Green said. ‘Together we will rebuild and continue to support each other.’
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