MOUNT VERNON — Hundreds gathered at Skagit Valley Community College Monday to remember and pay tribute to Ethan Chapin, one of four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death Nov. 13 as they slept in an off-campus home.
As mourners solemnly filed into McIntyre Hall in a light drizzle, Chapin’s mother, Stacy, read a brief statement outside, describing the event as a chance to “honor the life and legacy of one of the most incredible people you’ll ever know.” Standing with her was her husband, Jim, and Ethan’s sister Maizie and brother Hunter. The three siblings were triplets.
Stacy Chapin thanked family, friends and others who have offered support, calling them “beacons of strength” during the family’s ordeal. She also thanked the Moscow, Idaho, Police Department, which is leading the investigation into the deaths, saying they “now carry the burden every day, not only for us, but for all of the impacted families.”
After the statement was read, the Chapin family joined the others inside the hall. The media was not allowed inside.
Ethan, 20, and his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, a 20-year-old junior from Avondale, Arizona, were killed in the attack inside Kernodle’s rental home. Two of Kernodle’s roommates and friends, Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho, were also killed.
Authorities said each victim was stabbed multiple times, and that some had defensive wounds.
The four students’ bodies were discovered hours after their deaths, and police have yet to identify a suspect or a murder weapon.
Ethan, who was from nearby Conway, Skagit County, was a 2021 graduate of Mount Vernon High School, where he was a forward on the varsity basketball team. His brother and sister also attend the University of Idaho.
Police in Moscow have said evidence leads them to believe the students were targeted, although they haven’t released details.
Police said Ethan and Kernodle were at the Sigma Chi house on the University of Idaho campus and returned home around 1:45 a.m. on Nov. 13. Police said Mogen and Goncalves were at a bar called The Corner Club in downtown Moscow, left the bar and stopped at a food truck, and then also returned home at about 1:45 a.m.
Mogen and Goncalves also made multiple calls to a male whom police haven’t identified. Moscow Police Chief James Fry said police believe those calls have no connection with the killings.
Information from The Seattle Times archives and The Associated Press is included in this report.