MOSCOW, Idaho — Police in Moscow, Idaho, say they do not believe a local university professor was involved in the murders of four students after the educator sued a cybersleuth for accusing her of being linked to the grisly unsolved crime.
The Moscow Police Department issued a press release on Tuesday — 44 days since four University of Idaho students were found fatally stabbed inside an off-campus home — acknowledging investigators’ belief that the professor, whose name is being withheld by Fox News Digital, was not involved in the slayings.
“At this time in the investigation, detectives do not believe the female associate professor and chair of the history department at the University of Idaho suing a TikTok user for defamation is involved in this crime,” the press release stated.
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO MURDERS TIMELINE: WHAT WE KNOW
Flowers at an improvised memorial at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho, Monday, Nov. 21, 2022, for four of its students who were slain on Nov. 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The woman, an associate professor at the University of Idaho, sued a TikTok creator on Wednesday after she was accused of being involved in the November quadruple homicides.
The professor cited in the lawsuit several videos posted to TikTok in which the woman tried to link her to the crime.
Wendy J. Olson, the professor’s attorney, called the alleged cybersleuth’s statements “false, plain and simple.” She said her client sent the TikTok creator two cease-and-desist letters, but she “has continued to make false statements, knowing they are false.”
The victims of the Nov. 13 University of Idaho massacre
(Instagram @xanakernodle/@maddiemogen/@kayleegoncalves)
IDAHO MURDERS: UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR SUES TIKTOK CYBERSLEUTH WHO ACCUSED HER OF CAMPUS KILLINGS
“What’s even worse is that these untrue statements create safety issues for the Professor and her family,” Olson said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “They also further compound the trauma that the families of the victims are experiencing and undermine law enforcement efforts to find the people responsible in order to provide answers to the families and the public.”
Olson described the lawsuit as “necessary to protect [the professor’s] safety and her reputation.”
A memorial at the University of Idaho on Nov. 17, 2022, for the four students who were murdered in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The TikTok creator responded to the lawsuit in subsequent TikTok videos in which she said, “I am not stopping.”
“Now, I have information about what she’s saying her alibi is. I am going to dig deep into that, too,” she said in a video posted Friday.
She then released a different video two days later in which she wrote, “I have physical evidence against [the professor] that validates everything that I have said about her, but I can’t speak on it now because it has to wait for court.”
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the women’s two other roommates, in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the slayings.
(@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and 20-year-olds Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle were discovered fatally stabbed inside the three-story King Road residence just before noon on Nov. 13. Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogen lived at the address, which is located just one block from the University of Idaho campus and within eyeshot of some fraternity houses.
Officials have said they believe the victims were asleep when they were attacked between 3 and 4 a.m. inside the home at 1122 King Road. Each victim suffered several stab wounds, and some showed signs of trying to defend themselves.
IDAHO MURDERS: A LOOK AT VICTIMS’ LAST STEPS BEFORE THEY WENT HOME
The home where four University of Idaho students were murdered on Nov. 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital/File)
The attack was carried out on the second and third floors. Two other roommates were on the bottom floor of the home and were unharmed, police said.
Moscow police officers responded around 11:58 a.m. to a report of an “unconscious person” at the address, but several people had gathered at the crime scene by the time police arrived, officials said.
The 911 call “originated from inside the residence” and came from one of the surviving roommates’ cellphones, police said. Multiple people allegedly spoke to the dispatcher before officers arrived.
Police revealed on Dec. 7 that they had gathered information through tips and leads about a 2011-2013 white Hyundai Elantra “being in the immediate area of the King Street residence during the early morning hours of Nov. 13.” They added that they believe the people inside the vehicle could have “critical information” related to the case.
Investigators are now “sorting through” information on approximately 22,000 Hyundai Elantras that match the description of the one seen near the crime scene at the time of the murders. It was white and its model year was between 2011 and 2013, police have said.
Police are analyzing 113 pieces of physical evidence and about 4,000 photos from the scene. They had received an estimated 10,000 tips and leads as of last week.
State police forensics personnel look for clues at a rental house in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 21, 2022. Four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in the house on Nov. 13.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
The Moscow Police Department is urging the public to submit any images or information that they think could be important or useful to their investigation. They can do so by calling 208-883-7180, submitting tips through tipline@ci.moscow.id.us and sending digital media here.
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Authorities have also created a dedicated webpage related to the King Road attack.
Fox News Digital’s Peter Aitken contributed to this report.
