‘Healing garden’ erected in memory of 4 slain University of Idaho students: ‘Always find light’
The still-grieving University of Idaho community dedicated a “healing garden” Wednesday to the four students viciously murdered in their off-campus home nearly two years ago.
The student-designed flower patch honors the lives of all students who died while enrolled at the school, but specifically memorializes Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen.
“It’s a reminder that even in moments of sadness, always find light. In the wake of tragedy, I take great inspiration from the amazing resilience of the families involved,” Dean of Student Blaine Eckles said at the unveiling ceremony.
The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial was established as a “permanent space for quiet reflection, remembrance, hope and healing” — following community outrage ignited by the demolition of the off-campus rental where the foursome was stabbed to death on Nov. 13, 2022.
The small walking path, complete with a “Memory Garden” and overhang, is wedged between several academic buildings and peppered with various flora and fauna.
It was designed by the University of Idaho’s architecture students and “inspired by community input.”
There was public outcry earlier this year — including from the victims’ family members — when the three-story home at 1122 King Road was torn down.
Protesters demanded that the home remain intact until after suspected killer Bryan Kohberger’s trial concluded in case the building harbored remaining evidence.
But school officials, who were given the house after the tragedy, called the structure a “grim reminder of the heinous act that took place there.”
A university spokesperson told The Post that the memorial garden was not meant to replace the off-campus home because the site was never intended to be a place of reflection.
The Vandal Healing Garden and Memorial also honors lost students other than Kernodle, Chapin, Goncalves and Mogen, the representative noted.
Prosecutors believe Kohberger broke into the off-campus house around 4 a.m. and stabbed the four friends to death inside their bedrooms. Lifelong pals Mogen and Goncalves were sharing a bed at the time, while couple Kernodle and Chapin were sleeping across the hall.
Kohberger’s defense team claims he was not in the vicinity of the property, but was instead on a late-night drive miles away in Washington State to look at the moon and stars.
At the time of the slayings, Kohberger was a criminology Ph.D student at Washington State University, just eight miles away from the house.
The state will pursue the death penalty at Kohberger’s trial, which is set for June 2025.
