Theories about what happened to the University of Idaho students found brutally murdered

Loads of questions, few answers, and plenty of speculation in the baffling murders of four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home on Sunday, November 13, 2022

Scott A. Weiss
4 min readNov 22, 2022

As investigators continue to uncover clues about the mysterious murders of four University of Idaho students in the house they shared off-campus on Sunday, November 13, amateur web sleuths have been busy putting together their own theories about who committed the vicious crimes, why and how.

1. Anonymous Perpetrator

Swimmer 20122 suggested on Reddit that the murders were committed by someone who was unknown to the victims but who knew that college aged girls living in the house, had been stalking them and finally found an opportunity to strike. This theory suggests that the killer was lying in wait for the right moment to enter the house, and finally did, leaving behind unthinkable carnage.

On his way out, he may have locked the doors to the house thinking it would take time for people to realize what happened. In the morning, the two surviving roommates, unable to get into their friend’s rooms but seeing their cars in the driveway, may have used a ladder to look in the window, where they see someone who appears “unconscious” and call 911.

2. “Food Truck Guy”

Another popular theory is that the crimes were committed by someone Madison and Kaylee met at the bar and who followed them out. By the time they got to the food truck the girls had decided they weren’t interested but, according to this theory, this particular individual wasn’t reading the signals. All of this plays out on the live stream, which adds an ominous twist. The suspect appears to be alone and seems intently focused on the girls. The girls get their food and immediately go in the other direction, away from the suspect, who then IMMEDIATELY gets out of there and walks away, after which he follows them home and attacks them in a fit of lust and rage.

It’s important to note that investigators don’t believe the food truck guy had anything to do with the crimes.

3. “Jack’s” friend

TheeLawnmower believes the murders were committed by a friend of Kaylee’s ex-boyfriend, “Jack”. As this theory goes, Kaylee and Madison met up with Jack and his friend that night, most likely at one of the bars they visited. After the girls get their food, Jack and his friend give them a ride home at around 1:45, and when they get back to the house, the girls invite the two boys in for a drink.

After a while, Jack decides to leave but the friend wants to stay. The friend starts weirding out the girls and with no Uber available they both call Jack multiple times to come pick him up, but he doesn’t answer. Then, at some point during those early morning hours, something terrible happened

4. Ethan and Xana were the targets

In this scenario, someone infatuated with Xana targeted her, and attacked and killed her and Ethan first, while Madison and Kalyee, who hear the commotion and chaos, call Jack for help. On his way out, the suspect runs into Madison and Kaylee and kills them before leaving.

Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle

5. Military Guy

According to Send Heartfelt PMs, this person graduated from Pierce College in 2020, is currently going to WSU for “Communications” and their Facebook profile lists that he works in Marine Corps Recruiting in Kabul, Afghanistan. He’s posted occasionally in support of Trump and is a fan of Ben Shapiro.

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Scott A. Weiss
Scott A. Weiss

Written by Scott A. Weiss

Author, freelance writer and self-employed recruiter. Bylines in the Daily Beast, Seattle Times, Classic Rock Magazine, LouderSound.

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