Law&Crime Sidebar - Idaho Student Murders: Latest Developments Heading into Holiday Break

Episode Date: December 16, 2022

The Law&Crime Network's Jesse Weber breaks down the latest developments in the Idaho student murders mystery and the current status of the investigation.LAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Logan HarrisGuest Booking - Alyssa FisherSocial Media Management - Kiera BronsonSUBSCRIBE TO OUR OTHER PODCASTS:Court JunkieObjectionsThey Walk Among AmericaCoptales and CocktailsThe Disturbing TruthSpeaking FreelyLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. We have looked at massive amounts of video footage, especially in the critical camera areas. And we looked at the 24 hours prior to and 24 hours after of those. and now we're extending that out even further to other cameras and other time frames. We go through the latest developments in the University of Idaho murder investigation. From updates on the search for a car to a new stalker report, we get into it all. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime.

I'm Jesse Weber. We have had an interesting past few days in the University of Idaho quadruple murder case. The killings of 21-year-old Kaylee Gonzalez. as 21-year-old Madison Mogan, 20-year-old Zanerker Nodal, and 20-year-old Ethan Chapin. While there's still no arrests, no suspect, no recovered weapon, we do want to do a bit of a recap of some of the latest developments that we've been seeing and hearing. And we're going to start by talking about the White Hyundai Alantra. Now, as you recall, police asked for the public's help in identifying this car because they

believe that it was near the crime scene at the time of the murders. Well, here is Moscow police captain, Roger Lanier, explaining some of the latest on the car and why it is so important. Well, through our tips, through our leads, some of the evidence that came in, we start to identify patterns. And like we said earlier, we are confident that the occupant or occupants of that vehicle have information that's critical to this investigation. We also understand that even though there's sometimes a fascination with the particular

case, some people simply don't see the news and may not know that we're looking for it. So if we get the word out there, hey, maybe your neighbor has one in the garage that they don't drive very often. Maybe there's one that's just not on the registration database. Let us know. So far, we have a list of approximately 22,000 registered white Hyundai Alonteris that fit into our criteria that we're sorting through. That's an awful lot of information, but it may not be all of them. So the public can help us with that. And to give you an idea about why it is imperative, for the public to be aware of all this and why it is imperative for the public's help is because of what just happened. A gas station assistant manager decided to just go through the surveillance

footage from the gas station when she had some downtime. She did this after hearing the police's call for help in identifying the white car. And when she went through the footage, she noticed a white car driving rather quick headed down a side street off a highway at 3.40. 3.45 a.m. at the time, or at the night of the murders, I should say. 3.45 a.m. at the night of the murders. Now, police ended up collecting eight hours worth of tape from the gas station as a result of this. We're not really sure if the car is the one they're looking for. But again, it just gives you a sense of how important is for the public to help the police at this critical time.

There was also an update on whether or not Kaylee had a stalker. Originally, her family said that they weren't aware of a stalker. Police haven't corroborated any evidence to suggest that there's a stalker. They actually looked into a prior incident where two guys were in a local business with Kaylee back in October. One even looked like he was going to approach her but didn't. Police checked out the two guys. They determined that they were just trying to meet girls and ruled them out as being suspects or involved in the murders in any way. But here's what's interesting.

Newsdation senior national correspondent Brian Enton, who has been following this case and has actually come here on sidebar. He spoke with a vape shop owner who knew Kaylee and Madison and said there were discussions about a stalker just three weeks. weeks before the murders. You know, hey, you know, coming together and stuff like that, you know, it's nice to see you girls trying to stay safe. One of them more or less openly says, oh, yeah, we've had a front of ours be stalked before. So this is kind of why we all travel in a group like this. And just like, was it was it Kaylee who said that, do you remember?

No, it was Maddie who actually said that. So Maddie said it. And it was kind of like more mentioning like motion to Kaylee too, like who was right next to her. So you could tell that like they obviously all were trying to keep Kaylee safe, you know, and to be there for her as a good. friends. Now, we don't have any information about this. We don't know what they were referring to. We don't know who this was about, if it was about the incident that I mentioned in October or

something else. But the reason that this is relevant is because we are trying to understand what would have led someone to commit these crimes. And according to Steve Gonzalez, Kaylee's father, after speaking with the coroner, he said that the wounds to Kaylee were worse. So there has been this back and forth about what was the target? Was she the target? Were they all the targets was in a case of the house being targeted. That's why it's important to understand this backstory. By the way, focusing on the Gonzalez's for a moment, we know that Mr. Gonzalez has clearly expressed his frustration with law enforcement,

particularly the flow of information, the communication. He's been very vocal on the media about that. But Kaylee's mom sat down with the Today Show, and she too said that she is frustrated. Gonzalves says she and her family support the police and the work investigators are doing, but they're critical of authorities for what they called poor communication with victims' families. You found out about the white car from a press release. Yes.

Yes. Did they send you the press release? No. And Christy Gonzalez does worry that the case could go cold. She said, quote, I can't help but not. She said, I mean, in all honesty, this is a possibility. There's a lot of unsolved murders. And that brings me to Shannon Gray.

Shannon Gray is the attorney for the Gonzalez family. And as he explained to my co-host here on Saibar and Jeanette Levy, he had a very important meeting with the family as well as the authorities to explain their concerns with this investigation. Well, we were, you know, we had a meeting with the investigators on Monday. The investigators, the prosecutor, Chief Frye was there. as a few other people in the room. And, you know, our theme going into that was accountability and communication. Accountability, meaning that a lot of the information that had gotten out had been inconsistent and confusing not only to the families, but also to, I think, the public, you had the

corner making statements. You had the Bill Thompson, the prosecutor making statements about targeting, and that was walked back by Chief Fry in another statement. You had Art Bedke, you know, within a day or two making a statements about, crime of passion. And so a lot of inconsistencies in that, you know, it was, consistency promotes trust. And so, you know, part of our theme going in was that, you know, you need to, there needs to be some accountability within the investigation about having really one voice. And he really didn't hold back when it came to talking about the coroner in this case, Kathy Mabbitt, because according to

Steve Gonsalves, as I mentioned, Mabbitt revealed to him gruesome details of the killing. She herself has spoken to the media saying, talking about the toxicology reports, the extreme nature of the case, the possible murder weapon. Well, Mr. Gray was very critical of her comments and whether or not she had a conflict of interest. Well, I mean, I have issues with the coroner, number one, you know, expressing all of her opinions over the media at, I think, inappropriate times, number one. And number two, you know, making a personal phone call and describing graphic details of the, of what she discovered and what she, to the family, I don't think was beneficial in any way. I don't think she did it out of a place of spite. I think she did it because she was, you know, trying to give them more details. But once you hear certain details, it's not helpful to the family on certain things.

So, and I, you know, I could go on and on about the coroner. The idea that she's a criminal defense attorney at the same time that she's a coroner, I think could present a conflict down the road. And the fact that she's continuing to defend people during this investigation. And she's done it before. I mean, the fact is is that there was, she was involved in a, she was a coroner on a murder investigation. in Moscow years ago, and she also was the defense counsel on the case, which blows my mind. We believe he's talking about the James Curtis Leonard case. You can definitely check that out.

But it's an important discussion that he's having about her and her role here. We want to go now to one more big update that we have to talk about, and that is the neighbor of the slain students. I'm talking about Enon Harsh. He sat down with Lauren Matthias, who is the host of the hidden true crime podcast and YouTube channel. The reason that he is important is because he allegedly heard something strange on the night of the murders because he was home. After me, so I heard like, you know, a car shut, a door shut and then like, you know, an apartment door shut and like also like a scream.

But like, you know, that's like, that's like normal. Like I always hear like screaming almost every Saturday night. So like, I don't really like think of it. Now here's what's interesting. about Mr. Harsh. And then that is that people online think that he's suspicious. In fact, they have gone so far to suggest that he might be the killer. Here was his response to that.

Yeah, I don't know. I think it's kind of, I mean, it's almost hilarious to me that people think I did it. And they're like sending them, they're like telling me like, yo, you know, you did it. And it's like, I don't know. It's kind of like the equivalent to like flat earth theory to me. Well, I had the opportunity to sit down not only with Lauren Matthias about this, but I also sat down with legendary former homicide detective Phil Waters, who's an expert at obtaining criminal confessions.

Here was his thoughts, Aninan. He does a lot of looking around, and I'm not talking about eye stuff. I'm talking about just his mannerisms. He does a lot of this. And there are a lot of subtle shoulder shrugs. He'll be getting into a discussion, and you'll see that shoulder. start to pump. Those things together would indicate to me if I was sitting in the room with him and had a better view of him, that there is a possibility of some deception in what he is saying.

In my mind, if I'm one of the detectives, he's a suspect. A lot to digest here. And we are going to continue to follow this case as it ultimately progresses. And as we do, I want to just remind everybody that if you have information, there are places to relay that. Authorities are encouraging anyone with relevant information to call the tip line at 208, 3.718. You can also email tipline at c.moscow.org.org.com. And digital media can be submitted at FBI.gov slash Moscow, Idaho. And that's all we have for you, everybody. Thank you so much for joining us here on Sidebar. Please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcast. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

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