Idaho Home Where Bryan Kohberger Is Charged With Killing 4 Students Is Now a Vacant Lot—What Happened to the Neighborhood?

More than two years after four University of Idaho students were murdered in their rental home in Moscow, ID, an investment company has been buying up properties adjacent to the notorious crime scene.

Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death on Nov. 13, 2022. Bryan Kohberger, who is charged in the killings, is set to go on trial for murder later this year.

The crime scene, a six-bedroom, three-bathroom house at 1122 King Road, was razed in December 2023 and the land donated to the University of Idaho.

Records obtained by Realtor.com® reveal that just three days after the slayings, a company called Eagle Investment Group LLC bought a home on Taylor Street located less than 500 feet from the then-still active crime scene.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom, single-family home with an estimated value of more than $445,000 at that time had been on the market for more than six weeks. The purchasing price was not disclosed.

Eight months later, the same investment outfit went on a buying spree in the Moscow neighborhood shaken by the tragedy, purchasing two single-family homes and one multifamily property directly adjacent to the off-campus student rental where the killings took place.

Each of the three homes located on King Road were bought for an undisclosed sum, but data from Realtor.com indicates that the properties at 1118 King Road and 1126 King Road currently have estimated values of more than $610,000 and $484,000, respectively.

Overall, Eagle Investment Group LLC’s real estate portfolio in Moscow—a small farming community of 25,000 people in addition to being the home of the University of Idaho—has no fewer than 15 different properties, including single-family and multifamily homes, apartments, and triplexes, some of them purchased as far back as 2014.

One of the properties, a multifamily home on West Taylor Avenue, is located just 0.2 miles from the rental where the four students lived. It was not immediately clear when Eagle Investment Group bought that residence.

Many questions remain about the new owner’s intentions for the homes surrounding the site of the high-profile quadruple homicide. It is not uncommon for investors to buy up older homes clustered together and then raze them to make way for a new housing development.

Realtor.com on Tuesday reached out to Eagle Investment Group seeking comment about its plans for the Moscow properties and was awaiting a reply.

Crime scene home razed despite criticism

The rental home where the chilling killing spree unfolded in 2022 was donated by its owner to the University of Idaho, which had it leveled in December 2023.

The demolition had been delayed by several months to allow defense attorneys representing the murder suspect, Kohberger, to visit the home as part of their preparation for his trial, set to get underway in August.

The university went ahead with the demolition over vocal objections from the families of Goncalves and Kernodle, who asked to preserve the home in case it could provide additional evidence during the upcoming trial, according to CNN.

“It is the grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there,” University of Idaho President Scott Green stated, justifying his decision to pull down the house. “While we appreciate the emotional connection some family members of the victims may have to this house, it is time for its removal and to allow the collective healing of our community to continue.”

The three-story home was razed in less than two hours.

The university said at the time that the land where the house once stood will remain a vacant lot, according to ABC News.

A University of Idaho spokesperson told Realtor.com in an email on Tuesday that the property on King Road “remains an open space, planted to grass. The university does not have any immediate plans for the site.”

Bryan Kohberger facing murder trial

Kohberger, 30, a former doctoral candidate studying criminology at Washington State University, is facing four counts of murder in the deaths of Goncalves, Chapin, Kernodle, and Mogen, who were found stabbed in their beds.

Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30, 2022, in Pennsylvania. Investigators said they were able to match his DNA to genetic material recovered from the sheath of a knife found at the crime scene.

Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is found guilty at trial, which is expected to last several months.