MOSCOW, Idaho — Several residents on the block where four University of Idaho students were found dead last month recalled a boisterous party atmosphere in the enclosed neighborhood located just off campus, with the occupants of the large rental home at its core often hosting friends into the early morning hours.
While coming and going from their own rentals, it wasn’t uncommon on most weekends, and some weekdays, for neighbors to encounter streams of college-aged people shuttling between homes in the two conjoined cul-de-sacs, they said. Aluminum cans of alcoholic beverages and red plastic cups frequently were left behind on the single, sloped path, one longtime resident said.
Directly north from the neighborhood, across a grass field, the Sigma Chi fraternity house, part of the university’s new Greek row, is less than a 600-foot walk away.
In contrast, the Saturday night leading up to the students’ deaths, which police have characterized as murders, was notably quiet, two neighbors who live in an adjacent apartment complex told the Idaho Statesman. The Idaho Vandals football team played their final home game of the season that night, drawing many students downtown afterward rather than to the neighborhood, a few theorized.