Four students dead in ‘crime of passion’

Four students at the University of Idaho were found dead near campus in what a local official described Monday as a “crime of passion.”

Art Bettge, mayor of Moscow, Idaho, said that authorities were still investigating what had transpired but that the case was being treated as homicide. He said authorities did not believe that there was a “perceivable danger to the broader public,” but declined to say how the victims were killed or whether a suspect was at large.

“With a crime of this magnitude, it’s very difficult to work through,” Bettge said, adding that police needed time to piece together what had transpired.

Authorities said they responded to a call Sunday and discovered four dead people at a house near the University of Idaho campus. On Monday, they identified the victims as Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee GonCalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.