U of Idaho awarding posthumous degrees to stabbing victims
A flyer seeking information about the killings of four University of Idaho students who were found dead is displayed on a table along with buttons and bracelets on Nov. 30, 2022, during a vigil in memory of the victims in Moscow, Idaho. A media coalition is trying again to get a gag order lifted in the criminal case of Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing the students. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)
MOSCOW (AP) — The University of Idaho will award posthumous degrees and certificates on Saturday to four students who were killed in a nighttime attack at a home near campus last fall.
The stabbing deaths of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at a rental home near campus on Nov. 13, 2022 left the close-knit community of Moscow deeply shaken. Mogen and Goncalves were seniors getting ready to graduate.
The four students will be recognized during the university's May 13 graduation ceremonies, along with another student who recently died in a car accident, and nearly 3,000 new graduates.
A posthumous degree in general studies will be awarded to Goncalves, and one in marketing will be awarded to Mogen, the university announced in a press release. Chapin, who was a freshman, will be awarded a certificate in recreation, sport and tourism management, and Kernodle, who was a junior, will be awarded a certificate in marketing. Certificates acknowledge credit toward degrees in progress.
Guadalupe Ruiz, who was killed in a car crash in August, will receive a posthumous degree in criminology, the release said.
Bryan Kohberger, who was pursuing a PhD in criminal justice, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary in connection with the stabbing deaths. Prosecutors have yet to reveal if they intend to seek the death penalty.