Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Baden said Thursday that the blood from the scene where four University of Idaho students were brutally murdered could provide key details about the suspect's identity as police continue to search for a motive.
Blood was seen dripping from the first-floor bedroom down an exterior wall at the back of the house in crime scene photos obtained by Fox News Digital on Wednesday after victims Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho, were found stabbed to death Sunday morning.
While the suspects and motive for the attack remain a mystery, Baden, a Fox News contributor, said police should be able to gather critical information from the crime scene about the timeline of when the stabbings unfolded.
UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO MURDERS TIMELINE: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER OF FOUR STUDENTS
"Perhaps the deaths did not all occur at the same time, but whoever did it could have been laying in wait," he said on "America Reports." "And one of the things they could have determined is the times of death, and the medical examiner at the scene using rigor mortis, stiffness of body, morbidity, the blood, temperature of the body, may be able to tell whether or not the four victims were killed at the same time or at different times… to see whether or not anybody was bound or gagged during the time, and of course, will tell whether there was any sexual attack, whether there was a struggle."
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The four students' deaths have been ruled homicides, and while "no weapons have been located," investigators believe that a "Rambo-style" knife was used in the grisly attack, Moscow, Idaho police said. Autopsies are currently being conducted.
Officers stationed outside the home this week described a bloody scene inside the home. Baden said it's possible some of the blood contains DNA evidence of the potential suspect or suspects.
"One of the things that's of interest is when there are this many stab wounds and a lot of blood, blood is very slippery and sometimes the perpetrator is cut by the slippage of the knife and some of the blood at the scene can belong to the perpetrator and DNA will be able to evaluate that," he said.
During a press conference Wednesday, officials said they do not have a suspect or a murder weapon and warned the small town of 25,000 to be "vigilant." Baden said the police likely know "a great deal more" than they're letting on.
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"I think what happens in a situation like this is the police know a great deal more than they are telling the public right now, mostly because they don’t want to alert the perpetrator, and I would not just exclude a single — more than one person," he explained.
Coroner Cathy Mabbutt told Fox News that the same knife was likely used to kill all four students, but Baden said it's possible multiple perpetrators were involved.
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"The knife may have been the same weapon, but that doesn’t mean there was not a second person there to control four people," he said. "If all four people are there at the same time, it’s very hard for one perpetrator to control all four not running out, not jumping out the window, not waking up the other two people."
The FBI and the Idaho State Police are assisting in the investigation. Autopsy results for the four victims are expected to be released this week.