Law&Crime Sidebar - 'We're Getting a Clearer Picture': Moscow Police Rep. Sets Record Straight on Idaho Murders Case

Episode Date: December 22, 2022

It's been nearly six weeks since four University of Idaho students were found murdered in a home near campus. The family of victim Xana Kernodle has mailed out flyers to homes and businesses asking for anyone with information to come forward. Law&Crime Network's Angenette Levy talks with the spokesperson for Moscow Police about the flyers, the status of the case so far and the challenge of going through 15,000 tips and trying to find the white Hyundai Elantra.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. Nearly six weeks after four University of Idaho students were murdered in a home near campus, one of the victim's families issues a plea for tips through the mail. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy and welcome to law and crime's sidebar podcast. Zana Karnodl's family mailed out 5,000 flyers this week to homes and businesses in the Moscow area with information about the tip line and how to submit video evidence to the FBI. This is the second time the Kronotles have done something with flyers.

The first go around about a week after the murders, they passed them out around town and posted them in different areas. You will recall that Zana Kernodal, Ethan Chapin, Maddie Mogan, and Kalygon's Salvis were found murdered in the home on King Road near campus on November 13th. Kurnodol's family has also established a scholarship at the University of Idaho in her name and in her memory. Joining me to discuss the very latest in this investigation is Aaron Snell. He's a public information officer for the Idaho State Police, which is assisting Moscow police with this investigation along with the FBI and he's serving as a spokesperson for Moscow PD. Aaron, welcome to Sidebar. Thanks for coming on. Thank you for having me today. I appreciate it.

Aaron, what is the very latest? So at this point in time, we're still processing through our tips and our leads, and we're really working on developing a full picture of what occurred the night of the incident and as well, the nights before. We're trying to add context. That way, our investigators really have a full idea of what occurred and which direction that they need to go. The last time we spoke when I was in Idaho a couple of weeks ago, you said the picture was becoming more clear. A couple of weeks has passed now. How much more clear is that picture now? Yeah, you know, and we keep using this picture analogy, but it is true. You know, the further we get into this, the more evidence that we receive back from our crime lapse. We've been receiving it all along now. The more analytics that we have, the more that we're able to see really what occurred. Again, we use the word context. We're trying to develop context, talking with the various people that were around the victims that night. We've done over 250 interviews. So really, we are getting a clearer picture as we go. You know, the question then becomes, how long does it take to have a full?

picture. We're not sure. This is a very complex investigation. It has a lot of different ins and outs on it. And so, you know, from the crime scene itself, to the fraternity house, to the businesses downtown. There's a lot of things that we need to know. And there's potential for suspect or suspects to be in any of the pictures or any of the videos. And so we really have to review things and take a real thorough look at this entirety of the crime. Hey there everybody, Jesse Weber here from Sidebar. On our next episode of Prime Crime, it is a case truly unlike any other, Dorel Brooks Jr. This was the man accused of driving an SUV through a holiday parade, leaving a path of death and destruction behind him.

Not only do we examine the footage from that day, but also the trial, where we saw things that no one could have predicted. Since he wanted to make a record and not be accurate, so let's be accurate on the record since you think you know so much. I'm also told that he is threatening to throw and break items. I need to take a break. This man right now is having a stare down with me. Tune into Prime Crime on Friday, December 23rd at 8 p.m. Eastern on the Long Crime Network. You know, Captain Lanier said in one of the videos recently that you all have been able to see patterns. And it sounds like patterns from your leads and possibly from the video.

And he was talking about how they are confident, you all are confident, that somebody in that Hyundai Alantra, the white Hyundai Alantra, between the years of 2011 and 2013, has information that is critical to this case. That, to me, sounds like saying you're confident, you're pretty certain. And it sounds like that vehicle from, we've heard it was in the immediate area. And we've also heard through another spokesperson that it was there. How close was this Hyundai Alantra to the house? So we have exactly specified, but we do believe that it was in the immediate area of the residents around the timeframe that we believe, you know, was the night of. And so we think that the occupant or occupants of that vehicle potentially saw or heard or know something about this case. And so that's why we put the information out. The information came through Tipped and Leeds. And so as we processed it, we think that the occupant has some information to provide to us, which is why we put it out.

I've likened the search for this Hyundai Alantra to a search for the needle in the haystack. We know you've eliminated one of those vehicles as being the Alantra found in Eugene, Oregon that had been involved in a vehicle crash that belonged to a woman and it was registered out of Colorado. So you've already eliminated that one that leaves 21,99 or so to go. What's the progress on that? What's the update on working through that list of vehicles? because that's a huge number of vehicles. And is that a nationwide list or what can you tell us about that?

I'll be a tiny bit more generic about it. But it is a list of vehicles that potentially could be in this area. You know, it's received through all sorts of different sources and databases. And so as we look at that list, obviously, you know, the ones that could be close to the area might be important. And then as the ripples and as it gets a little further out, maybe those vehicles potentially would be less likely to be involved in an incident of this nature. And so, you know, we're able to, as we're able to, as we're able to, as we. go through this list, we're looking for, again, different patterns and different trends. And so as we're putting it all together, we're hoping that something will come to light

and that we'll be able to use that to move forward. We noticed, too, in one of the recent updates, that about 14 FBI agents have been added to this case. Can you tell us why that number increased from last week from 46 to 60? So really what we tried to do when we put out those numbers is give people a snapshot in time of what's occurring in this investigation. That's why we update the number of tips and the of leads and the number of digital images and those types of things that we receive. We would like the public to understand the volume of information that we're processing and the number of people who are currently working on this case.

So really, that's a snapshot in time. So as various projects come and go, those numbers will increase and decrease. And so, you know, saying that we have additional FBI personnel assigned to this case is a little bit of a misnomer. Well, you know, we have, I think, 25 ISP, Idaho State Police detectives assigned to that. but those are the ones that are here and working on the case that doesn't include the other ISP detectives and troopers throughout the entire state who are assisting in interviews and those kinds of things. So really what we're trying to do is we're just trying to show a picture to

our community, letting them know the volume and just the sheer magnitude of this case. You have more than 10,000 tips. I think the number's hovering around 15,000 now. That is a huge number. I don't know if people truly understand how much information that is and how much that is to go through. How many of these have you been able to rule out as maybe not being fruitful or where are you in that process? So I don't have the exact number of tips and leads that we have actually processed through. But what I do know is that a lot of the resources that we're adding to our group, you know, the FBI in particular, the leads and tips go through them. And so there's a process to analyze each and every one of those leads and look at and review those leads and then assign them a priority. And so leads that potentially

are of based on other information that we have in the case, those are assigned a higher priority than we start working on those. But we are dedicated and motivated to process each and every one of those and actually analyze them and review them and make sure that, you know, they don't contain something that we really need for this investigation. We truly do believe that there is somebody somewhere out there or maybe information that has already been provided that is going to be the key to unlocking this entire, this entire crime, this entire investigation. I've covered cases in the past where it was almost like a nugget came, a nugget came to the investigators, something that might seem small. But it was a thread that they pulled on. And it kind of just kept,

they kept pulling on it and it led to more information. In your experience, how important is that? Because it could be just one thing or a couple of things that really open a pathway to leading to who did this. That's 100% correct. I truly believe that there is going to be a piece or maybe even potentially pieces of information out there that are going to connect together, almost like a puzzle. And when they do, it is truly going to open up, open up the doorway and we're going to have a clear direction in which to go. And I think at that time, you know, it's going to unravel quickly and we're going to be able to make determinations. The interesting thing is the information that we already have, the picture that we've already drawn, that will help us as we move forward

to really put together what occurred. And so knowing a lot of those things and putting them together already is going to help as well. So we recognize the public would like quick end to this. And that's what we would like as well. But these types of cases are large and they take time. We recognize that there's frustrations out there, a lack of information. But again, ultimately, this is a complex criminal investigation. And we will provide as much information as possible. And we're always wanting more information as well from the public. Speaking of more information from the public, the family of Susanna Carnotle has sent out flyers. They sent some out last month and they've sent more out this week. Basically just begging people, asking people with any information to come forward, whether it's the

tip line, whether it's the digital media upload with the FBI site. So they sent out, I think, 5,000 or so of these flyers in the mail. Talk to me about how important that could be because this happened. A lot of people left campus and left town. And you're saying you think there's somebody out there that knows something. We think it's very important. And, you know, we just, we appreciate that support from the family. We want additional leads as well. You know, anybody that had looked at some of their past social media posts or past pictures and think something's out of the ordinary, something's odd. We want that information. I think we've been consistent in saying that the activity that might have been done within those pictures or those videos

that people may or may not want to submit to the police. That's not what we're interested in. We're interested in the context of the crime. That way we can piece together aspects of this case, that we get a better picture. Chief Fry released a video and said that he was addressing questions about leadership in this investigation. And it's, I think I know why he did that. There have been some things said about Moscow being too small of a PD to handle something like this. Obviously, Idaho State Police and the FBI are assisting with this investigation. He talked about the experience of his command staff. I saw some reporting the other day about the lead detective from Moscow only having two years of experience, but it sounds like he actually has more experience

than that, at least two years with Moscow PD possibly, but more experience in law enforcement, possibly military police training and things like that. Can you address that? Why did Chief Fry feel the need to come out and do that? Yeah, I do think it's important. There have been statements made in the public and in media, and the chief really wanted to stress that indeed, this was his investigation. This is his agency. You know, these crimes happened in his jurisdiction. And so he is the chief and he is the one leading these investigations. His command staff has ample experience, you know, 94 years of experience combined. That's a lot of experience for any agency. And so, you know, they are, they have the right to pick whom they want to be in the

positions that they are on the investigative teams. And they have the information out there is not always correct. And I don't even think it's accurate when it comes into. terms of saying that this agency is too small. It doesn't matter the size of the agency. You know, you have a police chief who understands what he's doing. He understands how to get an investigation done. And he's able and willing to call in additional resources. I think that's ultimately important. So at this point in time, you have some of the best and the brightest, both from Moscow Police Department, but the ISP and the FBI, all working on this case. And so when you have that much skill and technological wonderment and abilities and, you know, you just have all that

investigative skill, that's important. And the chief is the one that had that and brought that all here. And so, you know, when he says we're dedicated and motivated to get this case solved, you have to believe him because it's true. He's willing to bring in those resources that can help and assist his agency. Well, Aaron Snell, spokesperson for Moscow PD and Idaho State Police, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate it. Thank you for your time as well. And that's it for this edition of Law and Crime Sidebar podcast. It is produced by Sam Goldberg, Michael Dininger, and Logan Harris. Bobby Zoki is our YouTube manager. Alyssa Fisher handles our bookings, and Kiera Bronson does our social media.

You can listen to and download Sidebar on Apple, Spotify, Google, and wherever else you get your podcasts. And of course, you can always watch it on Law and Crimes YouTube channel. I'm Ann Jeanette Levy, and we will see you next time. binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.