MOSCOW, IDAHO: The University of Idaho campus was a haunted place during the weeks after the murders, according to a former sorority sister of one of the four students fatally stabbed last November. Natalia Zieroth-Chaumont, a member of the Alpha Phi sorority and the sister of Kaylee Goncalves, has opened up six months after the horrifying crime in which four students were killed at a house near campus.
The grisly murders of Kaylee, 21, and her friends Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, shocked the nation. On December 30, 2022, suspect Bryan Kohberger was arrested in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, and charged with the four students' murders following extensive investigations and proceedings.
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Who is Natalia Zieroth-Chaumont?
Natalia Zieroth-Chaumont, an Alpha Phi sorority member and Kaylee Goncalves' sister, knew the 21-year-old personally because they were in the same frat. She managed to set her deeply held sentiments away in order to keep up with the heinous crimes. As a senior and housing advisor in a freshman sorority, she felt obligated to transmit a feeling of calm and assist other freshmen in dealing with the shock of the entire incident.
'Opened people’s eyes to real life'
She said she realized the threat exists everywhere despite a stronger presence on campus for the rest of this school year. "Even super-safe places still have their dangers. It certainly opened people’s eyes to real life," Zieroth-Chaumont told Idaho Press.
'Didn’t come back after Thanksgiving'
The victims were stabbed many times between 3 and 4 am, and some showed evidence of fighting back, according to authorities who also said that two other roommates were on the bottom floor of the house at the time of the attack and survived. One of the surviving roommates was then discovered to have confronted the murderer hours before the cops arrived, New York Post reported. Zieroth-Chaumont was one of many students who had to make a hard choice of if they wanted to return to school following Thanksgiving break. "There were a lot of girls who didn’t come back after Thanksgiving," The former sorority sister said.
'We really have had two COVIDs'
She was unable to make this decision because working as a housing adviser precluded her from attending classes online. The murders were likened to Covid by a student, sparking further campus unrest. "I like to say that in a sense we really have had two COVIDs," stated Matty Murphy. According to several students on campus, the atmosphere of school underwent a considerable change some 47 days after the killings and 12 days before the start of the spring semester's classes. "Lessons started in a much better position. There’s no question that the arrest has helped put people’s minds at ease," stated Idaho student Paul Gillespie.
When is Bryan Kohberger's next court appearance?
The suspect Kohberger, who resided in Pullman, Washington, not far from Moscow, allegedly stayed on campus for weeks following the killings before traveling across the country with his father to his native Pennsylvania. The now-29-year-old was charged with four charges of first-degree murder as well as felony burglary. He will show up in court in Latah County in June for a preliminary hearing that will determine if the case will go to trial.
