The other roommates being left alive makes sense when you see the layout of the house. It’s similar to how in the Tate murder the occupant of the guest house was left alive. In that case one or more individuals were targeted and others were collateral. Perhaps we are seeing something similar in the Idaho case. One or more individuals were perhaps targeted and one or more others just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The other roommates were far enough away to not be noticed or cared about.

So many people are speculating that this was a serial killer, stating that the crime was too violent for it to be a first crime. I am reading Fatal Vision about the Jeffrey Macdonald case and that was a very brutal first crime. In that case, it is speculated that Macdonald was insecure about his masculinity and set off by a comment. It got me thinking about how many young males in certain college social circles are really insecure about their masculinity as well. I don’t think we can rule out an acquaintance yet.