University of Idaho Begins Demolition of House Despite Pleas from Victims’ Families

The University of Idaho began demolishing a house on Thursday morning, despite pleas from two of the victims’ families to wait until evidence needed for the court case was collected from the site. The house, located on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, was the site of a tragic incident last year, in which four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed.

The University of Idaho had announced in February that teams from both the prosecution and defense would have access to the six-bedroom house before its demolition. The FBI had also gathered additional information from the house in October, but the delay in the trial of suspect Bryan Kohberger, originally set for October, had also delayed the demolition of the house.

The owner of the house offered it to the school after the incident, and the school accepted it as a “healing step.” The demolition of the house began early Thursday morning, with piercing sounds of construction equipment ringing out as an excavator started tearing down the front part of the house. Debris from the home’s walls were loaded into a dump truck.

The University of Idaho has not commented on the demolition of the house, but the families of the victims have expressed their disappointment at the school’s decision to proceed with the demolition before all evidence was collected.