Mega Edition: The Security Around The House On King Road In The Wake Of The Murders (10/10/26)

In the aftermath of the November 2022 murders, the house at 1122 King Road became one of the most heavily scrutinized crime scenes in the country, but its physical security remained a recurring concern. Moscow police initially controlled access with crime-scene tape, patrol presence and investigators moving in and out of the property, while the house itself was preserved for months as evidence. As national attention intensified, however, the residence also became a magnet for reporters, true-crime followers and curious onlookers, forcing authorities and the University of Idaho to think not only about preserving evidence but also about preventing unauthorized access. The university eventually acquired the property, installed additional fencing and maintained restrictions around the site as litigation continued, particularly because defense attorneys and prosecutors still viewed the house as potentially relevant to reconstructing sight lines, movement and the physical layout of the crime scene.

The security issue became even more complicated because officials ultimately decided to demolish the house in December 2023 despite objections from some victims’ families, who argued that the property might still have evidentiary value if the case went to trial. Before demolition, prosecutors, defense attorneys and investigators were given additional access to inspect and document the residence, and the university said the structure had already been extensively photographed, scanned and mapped. Even so, the decision underscored the tension between preserving a notorious crime scene and the practical problems of maintaining an empty house that had become a public spectacle. For more than a year after the murders, King Road remained both evidence and a security liability, requiring officials to protect it from intrusion while deciding how long the physical scene itself still needed to exist.


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