University of Idaho where demolition stops Four college students were stabbed. As late as October, the school’s president called Wednesday “the right thing to do.”
“We know that every action and decision surrounding this horrific event has been painful and emotional,” University of Idaho President Scott Green said in a statement. “That’s why every decision we’ve made so far has been made with the families of the victims and our students in mind.”
Kyle Goncalves, an attorney representing the victim’s family, criticized the demolition plan last month, saying school officials asked the victims’ families for their input on what to do with the house, but “then ignored those input and pursued their own interests.”
“The family respects their wishes and supports the justice process by waiting to show the King Rd home after the trial,” lawyer Shannon Gray said in a statement.
“We are grateful that the University of Idaho honored the families’ wishes by not demolishing the King Rd. home,” Gray said in an email Wednesday.
The owner of a three-story, six-bedroom house less than a mile from the school’s main campus in Moscow previously donated the home to the university after the murder.
The school said workers began removing students’ personal belongings earlier this month in preparation for demolition.
“The university is working to carefully and respectfully deliver those items to families in the coming weeks,” the school said Wednesday.
Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Goncalves, 21, were found dead on November 13.
Brian Kohberger, 28, was arrested on Dec. 30 in the killing and charged in May with four counts of first-degree murder. Kohberger, who was pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice at a nearby university at the time of his arrest, has pleaded not guilty.
The trial is scheduled to begin on October 2.
prosecutors said last month. They plan to pursue the death penalty in the case.
This article was originally published by NBCNews.com