Idaho murders: Coroner intervenes in toxicology reports, outlines role in case
FIRST ON FOX: The Moscow, Idaho coroner, who also runs his own downtown law firm, said the toxicology reports of four slain University of Idaho students were not relevant to the case.
“They may be related to the cause or the manner of death, but they are not in this case,” Cathy Mabbutt said of the tests that determine whether alcohol or drugs were in a woman’s system. person at the time of his death. She added that the results are unlikely to offer new clues to investigators.
Autopsies were performed by the Spokane Medical Examiner’s Office, but full reports won’t reach Mabbutt’s hands until toxicology results come back from the lab — usually three to eight weeks after the samples were taken, a she declared. Thursday, the coroner had not received the results.
Mabbutt, who was elected coroner for Latah County in 2006, was tasked with determining the cause and manner of death of murdered college students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20 years.
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A combination of photos of the Latah County coroner and the four college students who were stabbed to death Nov. 13 in a rental house near campus.
(Courtesy Cathy Mabbutt/Instagram)
The four friends were brutally stabbed to death on Nov. 13 between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. in a rental house near campus. Police have yet to find a suspect in the grisly murders that rocked the small college town of 25,000 people.
“It’s been really difficult, especially not knowing who did it and not having someone in custody,” Mabbutt told Fox News Digital in an interview Thursday.
“I deal with a lot of sadness, but it’s quite extreme,”
Mabbutt visited the crime scene and contacted each family member to release details of the autopsies.
The students were ambushed while sleeping in their beds at 1122 King Road with a large fixed blade knife, according to police and Mabbutt. Each victim had multiple stab wounds.
The belongings of victims of the University of Idaho quadruple homicide are removed from the home in Moscow, Idaho, Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2022.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
“It took a really big knife to inflict those wounds and kill four people,” she said.
Kaylee Goncalves’ father told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview on Sunday that Mabbutt described the injuries as “tears” and “large open gashes.”
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At least one victim had defensive wounds, suggesting she awoke during the attack, Mabbutt noted.
“I deal with a lot of sadness, but it’s pretty extreme,” she said. “It’s pretty unusual for us to have homicides, let alone four at a time.”
An aerial map released by the Moscow City Police Department shows the last movements of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves before they were brutally massacred on November 13. Inset, a photo of the victims.
(Moscow City Police Department)
Her duties as coroner involve investigating one to two suspicious deaths a week, and given her primary job as a defense attorney, the two roles may intersect.
His law firm has recovered the most recent bust of convicted killer James Curtis Leonard of assault.
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More than a decade earlier, she was the coroner who determined the cause of death of the man Leonard had shot outside his home in Genesee. Police said he was not linked to the murders.
“I would never be named [as a defense lawyer] on a case where there’s a murder or accidental death if they’re in Latah County because I’m a witness for the state,” she said of the policies in place to prevent conflicts of interest.
A split photo showing the crime scene and the victims, including University of Idaho student Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kaylee Gonçalves, 21.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital/ Instagram/ @xanakernodle/ @kayleegoncalves))
Before embarking on a career in law, Mabbutt worked full-time as an emergency room nurse at the local hospital. About six years ago, she chose to focus exclusively on her law practice.
Moscow has had its share of murders, but the quadruple homicide is “the first time they don’t know who did it in a short time,” Mabbutt said.
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The city had a particularly bloody year in May 2007 when Jason Hamilton murdered his wife at home, a Moscow policeman at the courthouse and a janitor at the First Presbyterian Church across the street before returning his weapon against himself.
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