Six weeks on from the bloody murders of four University of Idaho students, police are yet to name a suspect or motive in the crime that has rocked America. Speaking publicly for the first time, the family of Kaylee’s ex-boyfriend has described the agonising weeks following the death of “the love of his life”.
Jack DuCoeur, 22, had been in a relationship with Kaylee Goncalves for five years when she ended things just three weeks before she was murdered, along with her three friends.
He was once considered a person of interest in the case but police ruled him out as a suspect early in their investigation.
Roommates Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in their beds at around 3am on November 13, after returning home from a night out.
Jack DuCoeur’s aunty, Brooke Miller, has now spoken out for the first time detailing her nephew’s devastation and the subsequent harassment he has experienced from online sleuths.
Speaking to the New York Post on Friday, Ms Miller said the rampant speculation has deeply affected the 22-year-old, who is already experiencing a great deal of loss.
She said: “He’s not only lost the love of his life, and what we all thought and he probably thought as well, would be his future wife — you know, get married and have kids and all of that.”
But despite the breakup, she confirmed the pair had remained close.
Now, she said, “half of America” thinks he could “be responsible” for the heinous killings.
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She added: “Obviously he was sad, but they were still friends”, as she explained Kaylee was “planning on moving away” and their breakup was “amicable”.
In the hours before their deaths, best friends Madison and Kaylee tried to call Mr DuCoeur ten times but he didn’t answer his phone.
Moscow Police Department confirmed that they looked into the calls but “cleared” them and Mr DuCoeur as a suspect on November 23.
In a post on Facebook, the department said: “Detectives do not believe the male Kaylee and Madison attempted to contact numerous times on November 13th is involved in this crime.”
But web sleuths continue to point the finger at the mechanical engineering student.
In a YouTube video shared by Reporter Room last week, host Jessica de la Davies pointed out “red flags” about Mr DuCoeur including the recent breakup and the fact the dog, which he and Kaylee had bought as a couple, didn’t alert them to an intruder.
However, Kaylee’s family have previously stated their support for their daughter’s ex-boyfriend.
Ms Miller said: “We all know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that there’s no way that Jack would ever do anything like that to anybody”.
