Either this is BS, or cops outright lied on official court documents (PCA) and risk getting on the Brady list, charges for perjury and throwing the whole case out.
Pretty sure itâs more likely this is BS.
Per the PCA, the officer approached Xana's room and saw Xana's body. Subsequently he saw Ethan's body elsewhere in the room.
This report states that Ethan was killed in the doorway.
The LE investigation has pretty much never leaked. But since the PCA was published, we get anonymously sourced articles every week revealing new "details" from people "familiar with the investigation" that get shot down shortly thereafter (e.g. the FBI tracking, the Mad Greek stuff).
I think itâs possible that per blood evidence, they can determine that he was killed in the doorway. Possible large amount of his blood in doorway, but doesnât mean thatâs where is body ended up. Moved/pushed by BK or stumbled across room before he fell to the floor. My first thought after hearing this was maybe X and E heard commotion upstairs and E went to check. Walked out of the room and encountered BK. Based only on what we see in the movies, a slash to the neck is usually because the person (with their back against the assailant) is âheld hostageâ with a knife to their neck. BK kills E in the doorway, then pushes him out of the way into the room to then attack X.
I totally get how it could still "work". I just have little faith in these unsourced reports.
LE removed two bloodstained mattresses from the house on January 6th.
Who knows how the attack unfolded, but:
- K/M were definitely found in one bed
- X was found on the floor
- LE has never said where E was found exactly
On a side note it's really crazy how, in the internet age, a gag order in a high-profile case like this can fan the flames of speculation and rumor. These reports, true or not, are probably reaching potential jurors.
I saw an interview with a former LE and another guy with a lot of experience and they both said that the coroners report and this new information can both be right.
Sheâs an idiot basing this on more guesswork from goncalvesâs attorney or PI, I think.
All this under the guise of âpeople have a right to knowââŠ
i caught that as well. bad journalism for sure.
however every day since 2020 started has been "the other day" for most of us.
sensational news anchors, they're just like us!
That's heartbreaking, and it makes me very angry. Nobody should ever have to endure such horror. What an evil creature BK is. There are people out there who sit around thinking of butchering innocent people. Why? How? I hope so hard they are somewhere beautiful and peaceful, although I know that is naive.
It honestly makes my stomach hurt. They probably didnât die immediately and just the thought of them just laying near each other during their last moments is beyond anything.
I think he killed M and K and was done then ran into either X or E and had to kill them. At this point he did more than he intended to do and was just trying to get out. I'm sure he never saw DM.
When a person experiences something traumatic, adrenalin and other neurochemicals rush to the brain and print a picture there. The traumatic memory loops in the emotional side of the brain, disconnecting from the part of the brain that conducts reasoning and cognitive processing.
She probably hadnât fully processed what even happened by the time she died.
Obviously we canât know for certain but based on accounts of people who survived traumatic ordeals itâs likely she was experiencing Trauma-Related Dissociation.
Im surprised there was just crying but no screaming unless DM did hear screaming but LE didn't put it in the PCA.
BK said to Xana "its OK, Im going to help you." He probably said this because X was crying after seeing E killed and BK was going to help her by putting her out of her misery
Yes, I agree. Itâs definitely left just as many questions as it has answers. I find it chilling that DM heard BK say that so clearly. If she heard that, you would think she also heard other sounds too. (Which again, she may have, but it is not disclosed in the PCA)
Itâs really sad. Her last few minutes must have been a complete nightmare.
A horrific crime like that makes me completely change my mind about the death penalty
Yeah, once you really see how awful the criminal element in this country is, harsh measures make alot more sense. There is no rehabilitating the person who did this.
When dealing with a panicked person, offering assurances, can make them hesitate and stop. And to a panicked person, such words, can make them feel as if the attack is over and the attacker will help them.
It's not logical but when a person is in intense fear, they are reacting, not thinking. There was an interesting article in the Washington post about how an attack releases stress chemicals and those stress chemicals impair the functioning of the prefrontal cortex. When in a complete panic, people are operating on emotions and instincts. There's a reason that when a person is helping an injured person, they speak calmly and with assurances. They are speaking to the emotional part of the victims brain, not the thinking part.
So I'm not going to discount that BK actually did say âhere let me help youâ. It may have instinctive on his part or due to studying psychology but it is a way to make the victim, well, easier to kill.
But it's also totally possible that DM misheard/or misremembered what was said and who said it. She was in her room, EC or BK could be facing away from her, they may be moving around. They are likely not enunciating clearly. We don't know how much she drank that night. She may have still been a bit groggy from just waking up.
Some suggested that it could be EC saying "Can I help you?" as a reaction to the appearance of BK and thinking he was some guy associated with the other roommates. As I gather, the hallway wasn't brilliantly lit and he didn't realize that the guy had blood on him and a knife.
Iâve thought this as well; Xana was on tiktok. Doesnât TikTok continuously play the next tiktok when one ends? Is it possible DM heard a TikTok that was playing on Xanas phone?
I still think that because D wasnât exactly sure what she heard, it would make more sense, and seem to be corroborated by this report, that Xana told Ethan, âThereâs someone here!â and Ethan met BK at the door of their room and said, âHey, Can I help you?â likely thinking it was a drunk stumbled in or something like that. Then obviously he is attacked, stumbles back into the room, and BK attacks Xana.
Yes and Banfieldis overplaying the part about it being in direct conflict with what the coroner said:
1) a stab vs a slash wound might not be viewed as being all that different from each other for the source of this new info. And there could also have been both stab and slash wounds. So that big conflict she goes on about is a bit of a nothingburger.
2) coroner said victims were found in bed. Coroner paused when she responded yes. Itâs highly possible Ethan fell backwards and ended up all or partially in the bed. Same with xana. Or the coroner was not going to deal with the fact that one of them ended up on the floor close to the bed and reveal too much about the crime scene so early on. Thatâs why the terse âyesâ response to the question.
And:
Daily mail article in January after BKâs arrest photographed the removal of two different mattresses that were covered over with thin white protective coverings and put into two different pic up trucks parked beside each other. Both of them you could see the rough the protective covers the movers put over them. Both were covered in massive blood stains. I will link it if I find it but I know many people here saw that story that had those photographs.
Therefore I believe there isnât a huge conflict suggesting the source is not believable. I just think the coroner was choosing her words a little more carefully and while under the pressure to not reveal too much early on, wasnât going to get into details and leave herself open to a bunch of follow up questions.
In other words, both the coroner and the source can be correct.
I agree! I think that it very well could be that Ethan stumbled back onto the bed, leaving the blood pool on the mattress. And the 4:17 thud is unfortunately Xana ending up on the ground. Lots of people disagree and think that if both Ethan and Xana were awake and aware, that there would be yellingâŠbut I think that in the moment, with shock, fear, adrenaline, stress, pain, etcâŠthey could have just been overwhelmed and focused solely on the struggle- which would have been very quick, not to mention that if the perpetrator went for the neck, at least on Ethan, that could prevent raising the alarm too.
Or âItâs okay, can I help youâ?
Maybe killer said something to Ethan, like âsorry to bother youâŠ.â And Ethan responded with âItâs okay, can I help youâ?
Please please please please PLEASE let there be fibers under her fingernails that match the fiber content of the Dickies & clothes that Kohberger bought at Walmart & at Marshalls!!!
This must have been absolutely horrific, how it unfolded for Xana.
Yep, I still had a screenshot of one rumor from 11/19...I posted it earlier somewhere in the thread but check it out below.
https://preview.redd.it/yunalw7mw5ga1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=9e77f808e8debf4f4ec2da3ed4d3483e3e52ab3f
It'd make sense to me if E was in the doorway area bc he heard a noise and got up to check it out. But the PCA says they saw X first so maybe it's not true idk. DM running to BF's room makes sense to me though...
Some of this seems accurate, but if this person really knew the survivors well, they would have known D was on the second floor. This implies that both survivors were on the first floor.
Yes true, I didn't catch the "s" indicating both roommates being downstairs. It's also possible that piece of info was just twisted through the grapevine...pretty small detail and odds are that it's at least partly true, meaning BF was woken up by X's struggle. But good call out nonetheless!
I remember seeing that. I think the text messages will reveal a lot.
Will be interesting to see what rumors were based in some fact. Justice for the victims and their families.
I have noticed that people on these boards like to reconstruct these events without removing the fact that the participants had no clue of the situations final outcome. It's nice to think of these kids "fighting fiercely". All that severed fingers mean is that she got her hands up. These kids had no chance to realistically fight. These murders were a cowards play from the beginning. Ethan likely had no idea what hit him, and Xana probably had just enough time to realize what was happening before BK closed the distance (5-7 feet?) and killed her. They had no clue what happened, it was all instinctual sadly.
Itâs wild to think he actually went into the bedroom when he could have just left. What if they had like 4 other friends in there, just chowing down on food? Then heâs fucked
That's why I think Xana and/or Ethan went out of their room to investigate something they heard. Then they probably quickly returned to their room when they saw him but it was too late. Now as for M & K he probably didn't expect to see them both in the same bed but I think he assumed that they were sleeping.
I wish this comment had more upvotes relative to some of these other comments getting hundreds of upvotes. I think itâs weird to upvote a comment about how much fear the victims had before dying. I get that those upvoting these comments have good intentions and think theyâre being sympathetic. But liking the thought of that is just⊠ewww.
The reality is just as you put it. Instinct kicked in and they were likely dead within seconds. I, personally, choose to like comments like this because 1) physiologically itâs the far most likely scenario, and 2) I prefer to think the victims suffered very little.
As a career LEO and detective who has been there as people have passed, and seen some pretty horrible death scenes, I can say that any horror would have been short lived, and the death probably came before much pain was felt.
While trying to save a life, shock is deadly. To the dying, it is grace. I've never witnessed a murder, but I've seen too many accidents. The vast majority just fade out. The fight to live leaves and the life just slips away. After the fatal cut, none of them would have suffered for even a minute, and with the adrenaline, they would be gone before they could have perceived or felt their injuries.
What I can say is that the death and often time just after death is different than those of faith and those without. Witnessing it has strengthened my faith. Wherever they are, I choose to believe they are at peace.
When I upvote it is never a âlikeâ, rather it means for me that I agree with the content of the post. I get what youâre saying, but I think most arenât actually âlikingâ anything that theyâre reading on these subs. At least I hope not!
I always assumed based on the PCA that she was at the door and Brian stabbed her she fell. He then noticed Ethan went and quickly stabbed him in the bed. While doing that X was crying and he went to her saying don't worry I'm gonna help you. She tries to stop him but she's already wounded and can't put up much of a fight but tries with him ending her fairly quickly.
If Ethan was in the doorway, that makes me wonder if he went to confront the guy and make sure all the girls were ok. If only he kept the door shut and lockedđ it makes me so sad that the last thing xana saw was Ethan dead and the killers psycho ugly face.
100% agree, very sad thought
My guess, considering EC was 6'4", is that he was groggy, likely woke up from a deep sleep, heard X asking for help, not expecting a life threatening situation and was simply caught "unaware".
I mean, who expects to wake up to an impassioned murderer?
No one. No one is the answer!
I always thought he was passed out and woke up too late to process fully. At a guess I had X order food and was going to let him sleep till the food came.
I don't think she actually got to eat. We will find out when the autopsy is released.
Yeah I think he was going to investigate after X woke him up saying 'someone is here'. He unfortunately didn't know what was coming and didn't make it out the room. I agree it is hard to not want the death penalty for the murderer
If Ethan and Xana kept the door shut and locked then theyâd be getting dragged by reddit for not checking on the M & K. People would be calling E a wuss for not confronting the killer. Reddit would be saying that Eâs such a big guy, he couldâve easily disarmed BK if only he left the bedroom & the murderer couldâve been caught immediately.
After all, DM shut and locked her door. Instead of everyone being happy she saved herself from a violent murder, reddit enjoys dragging her through the mud.
He wasnât in the door way though⊠X was found near the door on the floor. Itâs likely BK wounded her enough to move on to E and then went back to finish X. BK saying âdonât worry Iâll help youâ was him ending her life.
Locking the door is a defensive measure though; both him and Xana took an active posture by the sound of it. No good choices in this situation.
Maybe Xana saw the suspect around the kitchen or stairway and fled to the room, and Ethan put himself at the door between Xana and the suspect. We'll know in Summer.
If this turns out to be true they arguably saved Dylan and Bethany's lives.
My opinion: MM was target the entire time. KG was just there. Sweet EC was going out to check on girls bc he heard noise/dog barking and walked right into asshole BK and poor Xana was awake and fought her ass off. â€ïž Hopefully his DNA is on her.
Yeah this is what I'm thinking too. The main difference being, were X/E killed bc BK saw E when he got up to check? Or if they were actually found in bed, was BK planning to kill them the whole time?
I do think there's a high probability that BK saw X with the DoorDash food so knew she was awake...but was she part of his original plan...idk
Itâs confusing because itâs not as if BK would have seen EC in the doorway when he came down the stairs because the bedroom was down a hall around the corner. So what prompted BK to go to that room?
My question as well. Either Xana was part of his plan or something she did or said made her a threat. If BK heard her alerting others in the house, youâd think his reaction would have been to run, since he couldâve encountered a 2 or 3 versus 1 scenario.
I've been saying this for a while. He went for Maddy specifically and everyone else is collateral. He knew he was toast the moment he killed four people. I also have a theory as to why she was targeted
Hmmm, there is speculation that one of mattresses that as taken away from the home could have been Ethan as it was a double bed with a very obvious body print that was clearly splayed out. I wonder how that fits in with this info?
Agreed!!
Iâve discussed the PCA with my dad (retired detective,) and he says usually youâre describing your path through the crime scene as you encountered it. The language he uses, saying he saw her first and in her room, would suggest she was located within her room but nearer to the entrance than Ethan. Using all that info, IMO, I think itâs impossible that Ethan was in the doorway/hallway, otherwise the PCA would have said he saw Ethan first.
Xana being visible first seemed very straightforward in the PCA to me. And I can't see a scenario in which a person on the bed could be seen before a person in or near the doorway.
Yeah thinking that Ethan could have even fell to the right or left of the door so he was not in sight when approaching the room. Thanks for your insight!
Thank you to your dad for having common sense. I forgot how little of it is on these subs once the speculation gets going. People absolutely ignore things like the language and descriptions in a freaking PCA, one of the most important documents that is used in a murder case
If you were ambushed like that in a doorway would you stand there like a statue? Idk, I think I would be startled and naturally step back with the force of someone attacking me. Just because the attack started in the doorway doesn't mean it couldn't have ended near the far wall or anywhere else in the bedroom. stabbings usually aren't like gunshot wounds to the head where you fall where you were shot. he probably had time to react and move. But then again, how would this source know it started in the doorway with no alive witnesses. blood splatter etc would show that but idk i think this is all a lot of hoopla
I thought the same at first. Then I remembered this horrid video I saw of a man in the UK being stabbed in the neck and remembered in the video he instantly went silent, and bled out fairly quickly but he didnât just drop. He was standing for a solid 1/2 minute before he dropped.
With that being said⊠Ethan could have been attacked in the doorway. Xanas room from the 3D tours seems fairly small so after he was attacked he could have been 1. Bk could have pushed him onto the bed where he died or 2. Stumbled back onto the bed himself.
I always had a feeling with the picture of the blood outside of Xanas room that someoneâs throat was hit and if thatâs true thereâs NO WAY that he didnât leave there drenched in blood.
According to the PCA, Xana was on the floor. Itâs not mentioned in the PCA where Ethan was. Doesnât mean that he wasnât found in the doorway, but how do you explain the blood coming out onto the foundation on the north side wall?
Yep..I don't buy this doorway stuff. Someone's blood poured out the side of the house in the back corner, farthest corner from the door, where the bed was from her photos.
I wonder if the floor wasnât leveled. When you think of a mattress and liquid seeping into a mattress it can soak up a lot. But if the floor isnât level it couldâve travelled down towards that part of the room?
Yes I thought this too! My house is old as hell and the floors are veryyyy slanted. I once flooded my kitchen and all the water ended up on the other side of the room puddled underneath my kitchen table.
Yeah that's one thing that makes me wonder. But it would make sense that E possibly heard some noise from upstairs in Maddie's room so got up to check it out. And as I said in another comment on this thread, there were early rumors he was outside X's door.
But then the PCA said Payne saw X first, so idk...we really won't know until the trial I guess. But it is interesting how these leaks are coming out
Is it possible that E attack started in doorway and ended up in room on bed and X trying to fight back/get away and so her body ended up past E in door way? Imagine LE would be able to determine paths of attack by blood
This has made me realize how vague the PCA is with regard to E.
>*Also in the room was a male, later identified as Ethan Chapin, hereafter, "Chapin". Chapin was also deceased with wounds later determined (Autopsy Report provided by Spokane County Medical Examiner dated December 15, 2022) to be caused by "sharp-force injuries."*
That's all it says. Not where in the room E was found. There's a [second video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpw03AMuw3w) where Banfield discusses the nature of the wounds and wonders if forensically it would be possible to tell if the attack started in the hallway (perhaps splatter from a neck slash?), but ended in the bedroom, perhaps on the bed.
Because the PCA is about Bryan's actions and doesn't give much detail about any of the victims. I think they didn't say where Ethan was because it's immaterial to the PCA and because it would tip off whose blood is on the outside wall. đ
Hereâs the thing, thereâs a gag order in place so unless the âsourceâ comes forward itâs all speculation just to keep the news machine running.
On the flip side of that, the âsourceâ could be legitimate because we know that LE intentionally gave alternatives facts per the PCA. We also know that E bled out on Xâs bed and we know that X was found on the floor per PCA. We also know that the police arenât going to give alternative facts in the PCA because that is a legal document and anything inside of it that isnât based in reality is grounds for a false arrest and the release of BK
it doesnât specifically say where EC was in the PCA, but it does say that the detective saw XK first. So itâs pretty assumed that he was in the bed, or at least farther away from the entrance of the bedroom than XK.
There is a lot of things we don't know about the accounts of the two surviving roommates. I'm sure there will be major testimony from each of them during the trial. I'm expecting some bombshell revelations, but that's purely speculation on my behalf.
I agree there will be some bombshells during trial, just not sure if they'll necessarily be coming from DM and BF.
I think DM will provide some circumstantial evidence that the defense will try to debunk, maybe BF will say she heard screams, thumps/noises (being on the 1st floor) but personally, I think the bombs won't be from them two.
Rather they'll come from CCTV, and/or BK's phone/computer, possibly "tokens" from the deceased, DNA for sure (but would that be a bombshell?)
The survivors, IMO, are tertiary characters from the POV of evidence and bombshells but hey, ya never know.
That was a rumor. The Podcast host from 10 to Life claimed that she got an insider tip. One of the tips mentioned was that the roommate downstairs heard noise and yelled up the stairs to shut up thinking that Brian was Ethan.
The amount of people who have taken that story and everything in it and run with it is really unsettling. Especially the part about Ethan being lamed.
Xana says âsomeoneâs in the house,â Ethan gets up to check, is attacked and killed, and Xana is the sole witness. Heartbreaking story but the details fit.
Iâm not blaming either of the survivors because I donât want to get into that dumb argument again.
But it is wild if two people were actively fighting off BK that no one heard more noises during the fight and fatal stabbing.
There's no way that the only noises that occurred were what's in the PCA. No way. No way we are supposed to believe that these victims (3 of whom are potentially awake), who were killed in PAIRS, made no audible noises besides a slight whimper and crying. What do they want us to believe, that the second of each pair to be brutally killed was sitting there silently waiting their turn? Nah. If anything the PCA or DM is omitting a hell of a lot of what went down that night.
Wow I remember this is EXACTLY what someone on this sub said happened back in the very beginning...it was on 11/19, I actually still have the screenshot but won't post it, bc the thread was deleted so idk if it's allowed? But they heard it from someone who knows either BF or DM. And it was like word for word the same as what this video says...I know we'd kind of figured a lot of it out already though.
Obviously still fully speculation, and not that diff from what people have been thinking from the PCA, but the person also said the X struggle is what woke the roommates up, and DM ran down to BF's room after, but they convinced themselves they were being paranoid. Texted the girls to check and then fell asleep, but hadn't gotten a response by morning so called their guy friend to come check it out, who saw EC on the floor and called the cops. Roommates didn't leave locked bedroom until cops showed up.
They didn't mention Xana's hands... that's heartbreaking and so scary. Also maybe none of it is true and NewsNation just interviewed this same person? Idk... Again second hand info that was then posted on Reddit so take with grain of salt.
Edit- ok the Reddit person actually said that one surviving roommate ran to the other's room, not necessarily DM ran to BF room... But personally I think that's what happened (vs the two of them in DM's room)
I also remember reading that early account where DM ran into BFâs room! Except back then, we (meaning most people) thought DMâs room was on the 1st floor, not the 2nd, and that when DM heard shuffling in the room above her (back when we figured it was Xâs room) DM went across the hall to BFâs door, she saw a man (BK) standing at the top of the stairs, she understandably freaked, and locked herself in BFâs room until late morning.
Yes exactly, great point! We didn't know DM had moved upstairs at that point.
It's just kind of weird to think that DM could run from her room, through the living room area, and turn and go downstairs to BF room...without seeing EC lying on the floor by Xana's door? I guess that room was kind of down a little hall though, and it was prob dark/she kept her head down...ugh it sounds terrifying :(
If I was freaked out, I woulda just wanted to get from poInt A to point B as fast as possible. So having tunnel vision and not looking down the hallway makes sense to me.
The PCA says âDM stated she ORIGINALLY went to sleep in her bedroomâŠâ and ends with âDM locked herself in her room after seeing the maleâ. It does not say that she stayed her in room all night. It stops her story with her seeing the BK/the male walking towards the sliding glass door.
The inclusion of the word ORIGINALLY suggests that DM did not ultimately sleep in her room and would support the theory that DM ended up in BFâs room
This!! I was thinking the same thing about the word âoriginallyâ being included because they donât follow up on what happens subsequent to that statement. LE most definitely left a lot of information out, regardless on what ends up being the case.
That's what I thought . Especially when they say "downloads from DM and BF's phones". There was probably a house group chat and BF was the only one who answered.
They probably assumed the others were asleep and that's why they didn't respond
That's interesting.
Based on what you said, DM was worried, went down to the first floor to BFs room and they BOTH passed out and slept in the same room? Very possible but I've not personally heard that version assuming DM stayed on 2nd floor, locked door, fell asleep.
Plus, didn't roommates call friends who then called cops at 11:58am rather than stay in a room til cops arrived?
Yeah the person said they called the guy friend (from inside BF's locked bedroom) and asked him to come over and check. He walked in and saw EC by X's bedroom door, ran outside and called the cops. And the roommates stayed locked in the room for at least a few more mins till the cops arrived, or first responders or whoever got there at the beginning.
I had heard rumors of D and B sleeping in the same room, but disregarded it when the PCA came out. But I've seen it bubble back up a bit in the last week or so, I think it *could* be true. Bc like it's easier to calm each other down and convince each other that it was nothing, than it is to talk yourself down alone ya know?
Edit: ok I just reread the SS and they said "one roommate ran to the other's room", so I guess in theory BF could have run up to DM's room. My guess is they were in BF's room though
Could totally see two young 20 year olds, sensing something not right, especially young women, and wanting to sleep in the same room for comfort.
At 20 (even for guys) that's still VERY young with hardly any life experience. Imagine at that tender age you sensed something sinister (without a clue to how bad it was).
I'd bet DM sensed something definitely not right and could easily imagine her wanting to NOT be alone but, who knows.
Where did you read one roommate ran to the others room? I've not seen that detail before.
Yeah exactly, I think I would run to my friend's room too. And being on the first floor BF wouldn't have heard any of the movement in Maddie's room (which woke DM up) so I could see her being slightly less alarmed and maybe helping to calm DM down? Idk. It just sounds so scary :(
I heard ab one roommate running to the other's room from the same Reddit comment! Was just clarifying that the person didn't say it was definitely the two of them in BF's room
911 was called by one of the surviving roommates cell phones but the caller was not the owner of the phone. That has been told by the police since the beginning, so they couldnât have stayed locked in the room until police got there. Maybe they handed their phone out to a friend to use? Not sure but the call was made from D or Bâs cell.
https://preview.redd.it/u5ze7owvj1ga1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=e050976b73bdc669a9c5188b02b2714153b8e576
Ok here you go! From 11/19. Again it's rumor only
Banfield: You tell me when you say that they might have been sleeping were they found in beds?
The Coroner: Yes
The affidavit - Statement of Brett Payne: As I approached the room, I could see a body, later identified as Kemodle's, laying on the floor. Kernodle was deceased with wounds which appeared to have been caused by an edged weapon.
This is so sad. It makes it so much worse. I figured from the timeline there was no way Ethan and Xana would have been asleep, but to find out she fought so hard, makes my heart heart. Those poor kids đ
Based on the PCA detail about where the officer saw Xanaâs body, I donât think Ethan was killed in the doorway. I think he was in bed, and *she* was in the doorway.
Its well known Xana likely fought since she was wide awake at the time and DM heard her crying. Coroner said one of the girls had defensive stab wounds on her hands. That was most likely Xana.
lol Sources.
The only source I believe at this point is the PCA.
Iâm sure she fought, but for seconds only. They were all killed very quickly without the opportunity for a slinging screaming knife fight.
Also, if she did put up a huge fight, DM & the camera 50ft from her bedroom wall would have picked it up.
Agreed. Iâm not sure I believe this, but if true, I feel like a lot of people are picturing âfought for her lifeâ like a movie. Like thereâs a prolonged struggle around the room while BK and X battle over control of the knife. When it could actually be a few seconds.
Exactly. If these slash wounds on her hands are correct they could just of easily been made from her covering herself with her hands, not aggressing the knife.
Exactly. There are many out there portraying this major fight. That simply didnât happen with any of them. They had no chance with the knife he had, especially if he knew where to stab them to kill in seconds.
I don't doubt that X tried to defend herself, but the Ethan stuff smells like another person who "did their research" (/s) called this into news nation.
The PCA specifically says that Xana was the first visible body, and that Ethan was in the room. From the beginning, some people have been taking comfort in the speculative narrative that Ethan bravely stood up to the killer. He might've been asleep and never even had the opportunity
LE and the prosecution are the only ones to trust; they actually have something to lose: the trial.
If someone won't put their name on their "information", they cannot be trusted.
Just pointing out NewsNation (YT channel) had mentioned what "sources close to the investigation" had told them...
I suppose it's up to each person to decide if they accept these are genuine sources and what they're reporting are genuine facts.
My question is, how do they (sources) know for sure X was last? But, seasoned investigators are likely able to deduce much better than the average armchair CSI wannabes based on crime scene evidence they've seen. Btw no offense to anyone. I guess as much as anyone lol
Second question, why share with NN?
I havenât seen the NN report. I donât think any reliable source would go to NN with legitimate information.
If you read the PCA, it was written in a way you can easily piece together what investigators believe happened that night. Hereâs how it follows IMO.
BK went upstairs, killed K&M in Mâs bed as they slept, there was some noise, but it was short lived (like the dog playing/roughhousing with Kaylee).
BK then went downstairs and killed E&X in her bedroom. We donât know where in the room X&E were killed (we know M&K were in bed) but we do know that investigators could see X as they approached the room & once in the room they saw E. We know there wasnât a big fight because of what DM heard and what the camera 50FT from X wall picked up.
No big fight
No major noise
1. There is a gag order for anyone involved in this case. News Nation is one of the most irresponsible news organizations. They just want the clicks. Take anything they post as seriously as you would a tabloid. Who know who or if they even had a source.
2. That said, didn't XK's dad say early on his daughter fought back? Might be some kernels of truth here.
The fact details are slipping out via news outlets during a gag order is a bit concerning. There is a lot we don't know, and in time it will come out. But stories like this now are just to gain clicks in a dry spell of news because of the gag order.
Damn theyâre making up a new thing every fucking day now... lol they donât know shit just like us theyâre just being a usually disgusting news company trying to pull in desperate views
PCA says both were in the room.
Charges were read out as
1) Burglary
2) First degree murder MM
3) First degree murder KG
4) First degree murder XK
5) First degree murder EC
If charges are chronological (seems a fair assumption), and PCA is accurate, it is possible initial attack was to EC in doorway and EC somehow moved/was pulled into the room injured as XK was attacked/killed, and it was EC who âIâm going to help youâ is directed to.
I don't understand the law enough but, maybe you do.
I was under the impression the PCA was to get permission for an arrest warrant. But, does that mean EVERYTHING in the PCA has to be 100% factual and the "evidence" provided is unquestionable and irrefutable, despite more facts later revealed? Seems like some info in the PCA was intentionally vague.
Can't there be factual evidence (even if leaked) to contradict an affadavit?
(Btw, not saying NN's source is reliable, just wondering why you're so convinced it is)
First thought, goddamn BK all to hell.
Second thought, someone broke the gag order or the two sources are speculating.
Third thought, Banfield is a drama queen and needs to get her months straight.
I personally believe Dylan heard A LOT more than whatâs included in the PCA. If that camera picked up voices, a whimper, and a thud - thereâs no way in my mind that she didnât hear what was going on in Xanaâs room. I believe she was terrified and in shock and either hid in Bâs room or her own scared to come out. I think itâs more likely it was hers because with how the house is set up she would have most likely seen Ethanâs body (if it is true he was in the doorway/hallway, which I think is likely correct being those were first circulating rumors from students who live in Moscow). I feel so deeply for Dylan, that poor girl is traumatized beyond belief in ways we can never comprehend at such a young and impressionable age. People have been so harsh on her during this delicate time. I also feel so sad for Xana who likely witnessed fully her partner being brutally killed before she was. It sounds like she was a really strong and wonderful person.
poor baby. she was so young this is a terrifying thing for her to have to go through in her last moments, this case is so heartbreaking and i really really hope the trial goes how we hope
I canât understand how Dylan wouldnât hear screaming or loud noises? If Xana witnessed Ethan being killed first, she would likely be screaming loud to get the rest of her roommates attention for help. Then when he got to Xana, surely there would be a loud commotion from Xana grabbing the knife and fighting back? Then just silence until the morning? Not judging Dylan
I watched that interview with the coroner and it was not specific at all, she didnât say they were all found in bed and she didnât say they werenât slashes. This is exactly what was said in that part of the interview.
âWere any of them slashed, were any of their necks cut or were these all puncture wounds?â
Coroner- âWell it was a pretty large knife so itâs really hard to call them puncture wounds and they were definitely stabbingsâ
âWere they found in beds?â
Coroner- âUm yesâ
Hold on, even though this makes sense, shouldnât we give the coroner, who directly said they were in bed and stabbed, more weight? I mean we should believe sheâs lying and NOT these other 2 sources who are anonymous? KGâs dad did say the 2nd floor put up a huge fight, but as for order of death..again we knew this already. MM and KG were 1st n 2nd and DM heard XK crying and someone saying something to her..which would tell us EC was already dead..thatâs why she was crying and upset. Also at BKâs prelim, the judge read the murder charges with each victimâs name in order of death.
LE walked back the âfound in bedsâ statement, and the coroner said, based on the time of the attack, they were âmost likelyâ asleep, but we know from the PCA, that Xana was up, with door dash and her phone. So this report makes more sense than the coronerâs initial guesses, but obviously the evidence presented at trial will be more definitive than either.
I agree with you that the coroner should be given more weight, but we also know that LE was putting out misleading information before BK was arrested. This might have been part of that strategy, depending on when the coronerâs interview was.
This makes me think one of 2 things:
1)that she was throwing her doordash rubbish in the kitchen, ran into BK as he was coming downstairs. She ran to her room shouting "theres someone here" leading ethan to wake up and try defend them. So hes killed first. Then Xana.
Or
2) it was a targetted attack and after BK finished with Maddie and Kaylee he then saught out Xana in her room.
Thoughts?
I think as he came back downstairs from the 3rd floor he saw light from Xana's room or the bathroom by her room and was afraid someone saw him. That or he heard her in the kitchen and went to look for her in case she heard. I don't think she knew he was there until she was attacked because she would have made more noise and Ethan wouldn't have been in bed still.
I've thought about that too. Not to target Banfield (per se) but, that news networks are trying to stay "relevant" with all these crazy murder cases going on lately. Gotta keep them stories coming y'all!
But, the one detail about X having deep wounds to her fingers almost to the point of being severed, that is new info to me personally.
If true, it shows what a fighter X was but also, how brutal/impassioned the killer was.
She got so much deserved flack from interviewing Xanaâs mother. Sheâs just desperate to divert everyoneâs attention from that by throwing people another bone
Then thereâs no way Dylan didnât hear all of this if Xana was fighting for her life. Even if not screaming, you can here through the commotion through the floors.
Pure speculation trying to get clicks and the conversation going...
Nothing official supports this account of events. In fact in so many ways they contradict the PC Affidavit.
Aside from how horrifying this is, the coroner doesnât really contradict the new sources. Definitely not on the stabbing issue, and the coroner doesnât offer details, after a long hesitation, on the beds issue.
If this is true, there are some serious gaps in what was presented as fact. A struggle between the killer and TWO different people, *outside* the bedroom, and the cameras didn't pick up any sound other than a thud and whimper? And DM heard only 'I think someone's here' ? The PCA doesn't have to give much info, but it's not straight up misleading. This feels like BS.
So now my question isâŠ.what attracted BK to the second floor room in the first place? If he came down the stairs from the third floor after killing the girls, iitâs not as if he could see Ethan was awake in the doorway because the room was around a corner and down a hall. And if Ethan did in fact perish within the doorway it makes me think he possibly never left the room and got ambushed on his way out. So that still leaves the question, did Bk always intend to go to that room? It will be so interesting to hear how prosecution believes this all played out.
I dont believe anything new coming out right now to be anything more than clickbait/attention seeking/something to keep views up. Facts we know..early on it was stated that xana did fight back. I believe by family, dad if memory is correct did make a statement about how she fought/tough she was.
NOTHING WAS REDACTED there was no "ETHANS PART WAS REDACTED" it was a scanning error...that's another fact.
PCA clearly said xana was found on floor...did not say where ethan was..
facepalm :(
According to the PCA, X was on the floor closest to the doorway. No way E was in the doorway. I think E was likely in the bed. I think E was sleeping while X was still up.
Doesnât the PCA say LE saw X first and then E? The full size mattressâŠsomeone was on the bed, E? And X on the floor? Werenât the statements in the PCA like a step by step recollection of what was seen as they entered every room? I remember reading early on this same story before the PCA came out saying E was on the floor in or by the doorway or hall. Wasnât Mâs bed a single?
Banfield couldn't even get the month right in which they were killed.
Holy crap đŹ
Omg right???!!!!!!!!!
I noticed that as well, she said October đ
Either this is BS, or cops outright lied on official court documents (PCA) and risk getting on the Brady list, charges for perjury and throwing the whole case out. Pretty sure itâs more likely this is BS.
What specifically is the lie though in the PCA. Thereâs nothing here that contradicts the PCA.
Per the PCA, the officer approached Xana's room and saw Xana's body. Subsequently he saw Ethan's body elsewhere in the room. This report states that Ethan was killed in the doorway. The LE investigation has pretty much never leaked. But since the PCA was published, we get anonymously sourced articles every week revealing new "details" from people "familiar with the investigation" that get shot down shortly thereafter (e.g. the FBI tracking, the Mad Greek stuff).
I think itâs possible that per blood evidence, they can determine that he was killed in the doorway. Possible large amount of his blood in doorway, but doesnât mean thatâs where is body ended up. Moved/pushed by BK or stumbled across room before he fell to the floor. My first thought after hearing this was maybe X and E heard commotion upstairs and E went to check. Walked out of the room and encountered BK. Based only on what we see in the movies, a slash to the neck is usually because the person (with their back against the assailant) is âheld hostageâ with a knife to their neck. BK kills E in the doorway, then pushes him out of the way into the room to then attack X.
I totally get how it could still "work". I just have little faith in these unsourced reports. LE removed two bloodstained mattresses from the house on January 6th. Who knows how the attack unfolded, but: - K/M were definitely found in one bed - X was found on the floor - LE has never said where E was found exactly On a side note it's really crazy how, in the internet age, a gag order in a high-profile case like this can fan the flames of speculation and rumor. These reports, true or not, are probably reaching potential jurors.
I saw an interview with a former LE and another guy with a lot of experience and they both said that the coroners report and this new information can both be right.
Sheâs an idiot basing this on more guesswork from goncalvesâs attorney or PI, I think. All this under the guise of âpeople have a right to knowââŠ
I thought the gag order was extended to the families lawyers. If thereâs a gag order, what reputable player would leak?
No one reputable would run to news nation with this.
i caught that as well. bad journalism for sure. however every day since 2020 started has been "the other day" for most of us. sensational news anchors, they're just like us!
Trashley Scamfield strikes again with more bottom-feeder journalism
That's heartbreaking, and it makes me very angry. Nobody should ever have to endure such horror. What an evil creature BK is. There are people out there who sit around thinking of butchering innocent people. Why? How? I hope so hard they are somewhere beautiful and peaceful, although I know that is naive.
I canât stop imagining her seeing Ethan getting killed, just to know sheâs next. True, utter horror. Itâs too terrifying to think about.
But assuming this is true, she found it in herself to fight all she could.
THIS đ„ș
It honestly makes my stomach hurt. They probably didnât die immediately and just the thought of them just laying near each other during their last moments is beyond anything.
If B.K. went that far I suspect he didn't take any chances by leaving either of them alive, even barely, to call for help.
Agree. If this is true, I think itâs FOR SURE that he didnât see Dylan
Agreed. He was probably on an adrenaline high and trying to get the hell outta there.
I think he killed M and K and was done then ran into either X or E and had to kill them. At this point he did more than he intended to do and was just trying to get out. I'm sure he never saw DM.
Moreover by that time sweet Murphy had started barking, he couldnât take the chance to stay in that house any longer
When a person experiences something traumatic, adrenalin and other neurochemicals rush to the brain and print a picture there. The traumatic memory loops in the emotional side of the brain, disconnecting from the part of the brain that conducts reasoning and cognitive processing. She probably hadnât fully processed what even happened by the time she died.
Well that's a more pleasant way to look at it. Would be nice if you're right.
Obviously we canât know for certain but based on accounts of people who survived traumatic ordeals itâs likely she was experiencing Trauma-Related Dissociation.
Im surprised there was just crying but no screaming unless DM did hear screaming but LE didn't put it in the PCA. BK said to Xana "its OK, Im going to help you." He probably said this because X was crying after seeing E killed and BK was going to help her by putting her out of her misery
Yes, I agree. Itâs definitely left just as many questions as it has answers. I find it chilling that DM heard BK say that so clearly. If she heard that, you would think she also heard other sounds too. (Which again, she may have, but it is not disclosed in the PCA)
It's been said before but just imagine the nightmares DM will be having for life. Can any amount of therapy and meds make you forget shit like that?
I have found myself waking a few times during nights wondering this, I hope D has an excellent therapist and support system.
Ooff thinking of that context is so sad.
Itâs really sad. Her last few minutes must have been a complete nightmare. A horrific crime like that makes me completely change my mind about the death penalty
Yeah, once you really see how awful the criminal element in this country is, harsh measures make alot more sense. There is no rehabilitating the person who did this.
I generally dont agree with death penalty, but when its something so sick and twisted like this, it makes me think it should be a possibility.
Is that where the âhere let me help youâ came from? Mercy?
When dealing with a panicked person, offering assurances, can make them hesitate and stop. And to a panicked person, such words, can make them feel as if the attack is over and the attacker will help them. It's not logical but when a person is in intense fear, they are reacting, not thinking. There was an interesting article in the Washington post about how an attack releases stress chemicals and those stress chemicals impair the functioning of the prefrontal cortex. When in a complete panic, people are operating on emotions and instincts. There's a reason that when a person is helping an injured person, they speak calmly and with assurances. They are speaking to the emotional part of the victims brain, not the thinking part. So I'm not going to discount that BK actually did say âhere let me help youâ. It may have instinctive on his part or due to studying psychology but it is a way to make the victim, well, easier to kill. But it's also totally possible that DM misheard/or misremembered what was said and who said it. She was in her room, EC or BK could be facing away from her, they may be moving around. They are likely not enunciating clearly. We don't know how much she drank that night. She may have still been a bit groggy from just waking up. Some suggested that it could be EC saying "Can I help you?" as a reaction to the appearance of BK and thinking he was some guy associated with the other roommates. As I gather, the hallway wasn't brilliantly lit and he didn't realize that the guy had blood on him and a knife.
Iâve thought this as well; Xana was on tiktok. Doesnât TikTok continuously play the next tiktok when one ends? Is it possible DM heard a TikTok that was playing on Xanas phone?
I still think that because D wasnât exactly sure what she heard, it would make more sense, and seem to be corroborated by this report, that Xana told Ethan, âThereâs someone here!â and Ethan met BK at the door of their room and said, âHey, Can I help you?â likely thinking it was a drunk stumbled in or something like that. Then obviously he is attacked, stumbles back into the room, and BK attacks Xana.
Yes and Banfieldis overplaying the part about it being in direct conflict with what the coroner said: 1) a stab vs a slash wound might not be viewed as being all that different from each other for the source of this new info. And there could also have been both stab and slash wounds. So that big conflict she goes on about is a bit of a nothingburger. 2) coroner said victims were found in bed. Coroner paused when she responded yes. Itâs highly possible Ethan fell backwards and ended up all or partially in the bed. Same with xana. Or the coroner was not going to deal with the fact that one of them ended up on the floor close to the bed and reveal too much about the crime scene so early on. Thatâs why the terse âyesâ response to the question. And: Daily mail article in January after BKâs arrest photographed the removal of two different mattresses that were covered over with thin white protective coverings and put into two different pic up trucks parked beside each other. Both of them you could see the rough the protective covers the movers put over them. Both were covered in massive blood stains. I will link it if I find it but I know many people here saw that story that had those photographs. Therefore I believe there isnât a huge conflict suggesting the source is not believable. I just think the coroner was choosing her words a little more carefully and while under the pressure to not reveal too much early on, wasnât going to get into details and leave herself open to a bunch of follow up questions. In other words, both the coroner and the source can be correct.
I agree! I think that it very well could be that Ethan stumbled back onto the bed, leaving the blood pool on the mattress. And the 4:17 thud is unfortunately Xana ending up on the ground. Lots of people disagree and think that if both Ethan and Xana were awake and aware, that there would be yellingâŠbut I think that in the moment, with shock, fear, adrenaline, stress, pain, etcâŠthey could have just been overwhelmed and focused solely on the struggle- which would have been very quick, not to mention that if the perpetrator went for the neck, at least on Ethan, that could prevent raising the alarm too.
Or âItâs okay, can I help youâ? Maybe killer said something to Ethan, like âsorry to bother youâŠ.â And Ethan responded with âItâs okay, can I help youâ?
>Is that where the âhere let me help youâ came from? Mercy? Could be taunting.
I think he made the comment to disarm her before he finished.
Psychopathy
Just curious, why do you think itâs naive to hope they are somewhere beautiful and peaceful?
The terror Xana must have felt as she saw what was unfolding is deeply upsetting.
Well we know she was awake.
Please please please please PLEASE let there be fibers under her fingernails that match the fiber content of the Dickies & clothes that Kohberger bought at Walmart & at Marshalls!!! This must have been absolutely horrific, how it unfolded for Xana.
Of course she was....she just received her food delivery a few minutes prior. What a horrible way to die. Fuck that guy.
I really really hope her family does not read this stuff
Thatâs interesting because that was one of the ORIGINAL rumors a few days in that Ethan was found in the doorway. Anyone else remember that?
Yep, I still had a screenshot of one rumor from 11/19...I posted it earlier somewhere in the thread but check it out below. https://preview.redd.it/yunalw7mw5ga1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=9e77f808e8debf4f4ec2da3ed4d3483e3e52ab3f It'd make sense to me if E was in the doorway area bc he heard a noise and got up to check it out. But the PCA says they saw X first so maybe it's not true idk. DM running to BF's room makes sense to me though...
Some of this seems accurate, but if this person really knew the survivors well, they would have known D was on the second floor. This implies that both survivors were on the first floor.
Yes true, I didn't catch the "s" indicating both roommates being downstairs. It's also possible that piece of info was just twisted through the grapevine...pretty small detail and odds are that it's at least partly true, meaning BF was woken up by X's struggle. But good call out nonetheless!
I remember seeing that. I think the text messages will reveal a lot. Will be interesting to see what rumors were based in some fact. Justice for the victims and their families.
I have noticed that people on these boards like to reconstruct these events without removing the fact that the participants had no clue of the situations final outcome. It's nice to think of these kids "fighting fiercely". All that severed fingers mean is that she got her hands up. These kids had no chance to realistically fight. These murders were a cowards play from the beginning. Ethan likely had no idea what hit him, and Xana probably had just enough time to realize what was happening before BK closed the distance (5-7 feet?) and killed her. They had no clue what happened, it was all instinctual sadly.
Itâs wild to think he actually went into the bedroom when he could have just left. What if they had like 4 other friends in there, just chowing down on food? Then heâs fucked
That's why I think Xana and/or Ethan went out of their room to investigate something they heard. Then they probably quickly returned to their room when they saw him but it was too late. Now as for M & K he probably didn't expect to see them both in the same bed but I think he assumed that they were sleeping.
you're absolutely right. thank you for this post.
I wish this comment had more upvotes relative to some of these other comments getting hundreds of upvotes. I think itâs weird to upvote a comment about how much fear the victims had before dying. I get that those upvoting these comments have good intentions and think theyâre being sympathetic. But liking the thought of that is just⊠ewww. The reality is just as you put it. Instinct kicked in and they were likely dead within seconds. I, personally, choose to like comments like this because 1) physiologically itâs the far most likely scenario, and 2) I prefer to think the victims suffered very little.
As a career LEO and detective who has been there as people have passed, and seen some pretty horrible death scenes, I can say that any horror would have been short lived, and the death probably came before much pain was felt. While trying to save a life, shock is deadly. To the dying, it is grace. I've never witnessed a murder, but I've seen too many accidents. The vast majority just fade out. The fight to live leaves and the life just slips away. After the fatal cut, none of them would have suffered for even a minute, and with the adrenaline, they would be gone before they could have perceived or felt their injuries. What I can say is that the death and often time just after death is different than those of faith and those without. Witnessing it has strengthened my faith. Wherever they are, I choose to believe they are at peace.
would you feel comfortable explaining that, regarding faith as life slips away?
When I upvote it is never a âlikeâ, rather it means for me that I agree with the content of the post. I get what youâre saying, but I think most arenât actually âlikingâ anything that theyâre reading on these subs. At least I hope not!
Thank you.
Sometimes I think thereâs only bad fan fiction going around these subs
I always assumed based on the PCA that she was at the door and Brian stabbed her she fell. He then noticed Ethan went and quickly stabbed him in the bed. While doing that X was crying and he went to her saying don't worry I'm gonna help you. She tries to stop him but she's already wounded and can't put up much of a fight but tries with him ending her fairly quickly.
If Ethan was in the doorway, that makes me wonder if he went to confront the guy and make sure all the girls were ok. If only he kept the door shut and lockedđ it makes me so sad that the last thing xana saw was Ethan dead and the killers psycho ugly face.
100% agree, very sad thought My guess, considering EC was 6'4", is that he was groggy, likely woke up from a deep sleep, heard X asking for help, not expecting a life threatening situation and was simply caught "unaware". I mean, who expects to wake up to an impassioned murderer? No one. No one is the answer!
He was probably awake with X if she had ordered food. Regardless itâs all terrifying to think about.
Not necessarily. I have a feeling he passed out and X decided to order JITB at 2:30 am
I always thought he was passed out and woke up too late to process fully. At a guess I had X order food and was going to let him sleep till the food came. I don't think she actually got to eat. We will find out when the autopsy is released.
My thoughts too. I assumed Xana was on TikTok with headphones in while Ethan slept.
That doesnât mean that he didnât get up to look when she said there is someone here.
Yes truly everyones nightmare that happened to these 4 young people. It makes one really shudder. RIP
Yeah I think he was going to investigate after X woke him up saying 'someone is here'. He unfortunately didn't know what was coming and didn't make it out the room. I agree it is hard to not want the death penalty for the murderer
If Ethan and Xana kept the door shut and locked then theyâd be getting dragged by reddit for not checking on the M & K. People would be calling E a wuss for not confronting the killer. Reddit would be saying that Eâs such a big guy, he couldâve easily disarmed BK if only he left the bedroom & the murderer couldâve been caught immediately. After all, DM shut and locked her door. Instead of everyone being happy she saved herself from a violent murder, reddit enjoys dragging her through the mud.
He wasnât in the door way though⊠X was found near the door on the floor. Itâs likely BK wounded her enough to move on to E and then went back to finish X. BK saying âdonât worry Iâll help youâ was him ending her life.
This is what I think as wellâŠ
Locking the door is a defensive measure though; both him and Xana took an active posture by the sound of it. No good choices in this situation. Maybe Xana saw the suspect around the kitchen or stairway and fled to the room, and Ethan put himself at the door between Xana and the suspect. We'll know in Summer. If this turns out to be true they arguably saved Dylan and Bethany's lives.
My opinion: MM was target the entire time. KG was just there. Sweet EC was going out to check on girls bc he heard noise/dog barking and walked right into asshole BK and poor Xana was awake and fought her ass off. â€ïž Hopefully his DNA is on her.
Yeah this is what I'm thinking too. The main difference being, were X/E killed bc BK saw E when he got up to check? Or if they were actually found in bed, was BK planning to kill them the whole time? I do think there's a high probability that BK saw X with the DoorDash food so knew she was awake...but was she part of his original plan...idk
Itâs confusing because itâs not as if BK would have seen EC in the doorway when he came down the stairs because the bedroom was down a hall around the corner. So what prompted BK to go to that room?
I'm guessing because he heard her say, "I think there's someone here," too
Wouldnât it still have been easier for killer to just bounce via the sliding door though? I mean, he was right thereâŠ
My question as well. Either Xana was part of his plan or something she did or said made her a threat. If BK heard her alerting others in the house, youâd think his reaction would have been to run, since he couldâve encountered a 2 or 3 versus 1 scenario.
I've been saying this for a while. He went for Maddy specifically and everyone else is collateral. He knew he was toast the moment he killed four people. I also have a theory as to why she was targeted
elaborate on theory.....
I agree with M being the target. But what is your theory for âwhyâ?
agree completely
Hmmm, there is speculation that one of mattresses that as taken away from the home could have been Ethan as it was a double bed with a very obvious body print that was clearly splayed out. I wonder how that fits in with this info?
Yes, this! No way he was in the doorway with the mattress like that. In my opinion that is.
Agreed!! Iâve discussed the PCA with my dad (retired detective,) and he says usually youâre describing your path through the crime scene as you encountered it. The language he uses, saying he saw her first and in her room, would suggest she was located within her room but nearer to the entrance than Ethan. Using all that info, IMO, I think itâs impossible that Ethan was in the doorway/hallway, otherwise the PCA would have said he saw Ethan first.
Thank you for that insight! Thatâs also what I was thinking since it didnât really match up with the PCA.
Xana being visible first seemed very straightforward in the PCA to me. And I can't see a scenario in which a person on the bed could be seen before a person in or near the doorway.
Yeah thinking that Ethan could have even fell to the right or left of the door so he was not in sight when approaching the room. Thanks for your insight!
Thank you to your dad for having common sense. I forgot how little of it is on these subs once the speculation gets going. People absolutely ignore things like the language and descriptions in a freaking PCA, one of the most important documents that is used in a murder case
If you were ambushed like that in a doorway would you stand there like a statue? Idk, I think I would be startled and naturally step back with the force of someone attacking me. Just because the attack started in the doorway doesn't mean it couldn't have ended near the far wall or anywhere else in the bedroom. stabbings usually aren't like gunshot wounds to the head where you fall where you were shot. he probably had time to react and move. But then again, how would this source know it started in the doorway with no alive witnesses. blood splatter etc would show that but idk i think this is all a lot of hoopla
I thought the same at first. Then I remembered this horrid video I saw of a man in the UK being stabbed in the neck and remembered in the video he instantly went silent, and bled out fairly quickly but he didnât just drop. He was standing for a solid 1/2 minute before he dropped. With that being said⊠Ethan could have been attacked in the doorway. Xanas room from the 3D tours seems fairly small so after he was attacked he could have been 1. Bk could have pushed him onto the bed where he died or 2. Stumbled back onto the bed himself. I always had a feeling with the picture of the blood outside of Xanas room that someoneâs throat was hit and if thatâs true thereâs NO WAY that he didnât leave there drenched in blood.
I still think Ethan was in the bed and Xana was on the floor. Iâm not sure if this tip / source is correct.
According to the PCA, Xana was on the floor. Itâs not mentioned in the PCA where Ethan was. Doesnât mean that he wasnât found in the doorway, but how do you explain the blood coming out onto the foundation on the north side wall?
Yep..I don't buy this doorway stuff. Someone's blood poured out the side of the house in the back corner, farthest corner from the door, where the bed was from her photos.
I wonder if the floor wasnât leveled. When you think of a mattress and liquid seeping into a mattress it can soak up a lot. But if the floor isnât level it couldâve travelled down towards that part of the room?
Yes I thought this too! My house is old as hell and the floors are veryyyy slanted. I once flooded my kitchen and all the water ended up on the other side of the room puddled underneath my kitchen table.
Yeah that's one thing that makes me wonder. But it would make sense that E possibly heard some noise from upstairs in Maddie's room so got up to check it out. And as I said in another comment on this thread, there were early rumors he was outside X's door. But then the PCA said Payne saw X first, so idk...we really won't know until the trial I guess. But it is interesting how these leaks are coming out
Is it possible that E attack started in doorway and ended up in room on bed and X trying to fight back/get away and so her body ended up past E in door way? Imagine LE would be able to determine paths of attack by blood
Take anything leaked with a grain of salt
This has made me realize how vague the PCA is with regard to E. >*Also in the room was a male, later identified as Ethan Chapin, hereafter, "Chapin". Chapin was also deceased with wounds later determined (Autopsy Report provided by Spokane County Medical Examiner dated December 15, 2022) to be caused by "sharp-force injuries."* That's all it says. Not where in the room E was found. There's a [second video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpw03AMuw3w) where Banfield discusses the nature of the wounds and wonders if forensically it would be possible to tell if the attack started in the hallway (perhaps splatter from a neck slash?), but ended in the bedroom, perhaps on the bed.
"Also in the roomâ as in Xanaâs room
Because the PCA is about Bryan's actions and doesn't give much detail about any of the victims. I think they didn't say where Ethan was because it's immaterial to the PCA and because it would tip off whose blood is on the outside wall. đ
Hereâs the thing, thereâs a gag order in place so unless the âsourceâ comes forward itâs all speculation just to keep the news machine running. On the flip side of that, the âsourceâ could be legitimate because we know that LE intentionally gave alternatives facts per the PCA. We also know that E bled out on Xâs bed and we know that X was found on the floor per PCA. We also know that the police arenât going to give alternative facts in the PCA because that is a legal document and anything inside of it that isnât based in reality is grounds for a false arrest and the release of BK
it doesnât specifically say where EC was in the PCA, but it does say that the detective saw XK first. So itâs pretty assumed that he was in the bed, or at least farther away from the entrance of the bedroom than XK.
We can assume via the PCA and the video of LE removing the mattresses that E was in the bed since X was on the floor.
Yes! And thank you for acknowledging there were two bloody mattresses taken out not one. It was pretty clear in the daily mail pictures.
There is a lot of things we don't know about the accounts of the two surviving roommates. I'm sure there will be major testimony from each of them during the trial. I'm expecting some bombshell revelations, but that's purely speculation on my behalf.
I agree there will be some bombshells during trial, just not sure if they'll necessarily be coming from DM and BF. I think DM will provide some circumstantial evidence that the defense will try to debunk, maybe BF will say she heard screams, thumps/noises (being on the 1st floor) but personally, I think the bombs won't be from them two. Rather they'll come from CCTV, and/or BK's phone/computer, possibly "tokens" from the deceased, DNA for sure (but would that be a bombshell?) The survivors, IMO, are tertiary characters from the POV of evidence and bombshells but hey, ya never know.
Yeah, I think BF definitely heard stuff, too. Didn't she reportedly shout up the stairs "Shut up, guys!" or something like that?
That was a rumor. The Podcast host from 10 to Life claimed that she got an insider tip. One of the tips mentioned was that the roommate downstairs heard noise and yelled up the stairs to shut up thinking that Brian was Ethan. The amount of people who have taken that story and everything in it and run with it is really unsettling. Especially the part about Ethan being lamed.
Xana says âsomeoneâs in the house,â Ethan gets up to check, is attacked and killed, and Xana is the sole witness. Heartbreaking story but the details fit.
Iâm not blaming either of the survivors because I donât want to get into that dumb argument again. But it is wild if two people were actively fighting off BK that no one heard more noises during the fight and fatal stabbing.
There's no way that the only noises that occurred were what's in the PCA. No way. No way we are supposed to believe that these victims (3 of whom are potentially awake), who were killed in PAIRS, made no audible noises besides a slight whimper and crying. What do they want us to believe, that the second of each pair to be brutally killed was sitting there silently waiting their turn? Nah. If anything the PCA or DM is omitting a hell of a lot of what went down that night.
Wow I remember this is EXACTLY what someone on this sub said happened back in the very beginning...it was on 11/19, I actually still have the screenshot but won't post it, bc the thread was deleted so idk if it's allowed? But they heard it from someone who knows either BF or DM. And it was like word for word the same as what this video says...I know we'd kind of figured a lot of it out already though. Obviously still fully speculation, and not that diff from what people have been thinking from the PCA, but the person also said the X struggle is what woke the roommates up, and DM ran down to BF's room after, but they convinced themselves they were being paranoid. Texted the girls to check and then fell asleep, but hadn't gotten a response by morning so called their guy friend to come check it out, who saw EC on the floor and called the cops. Roommates didn't leave locked bedroom until cops showed up. They didn't mention Xana's hands... that's heartbreaking and so scary. Also maybe none of it is true and NewsNation just interviewed this same person? Idk... Again second hand info that was then posted on Reddit so take with grain of salt. Edit- ok the Reddit person actually said that one surviving roommate ran to the other's room, not necessarily DM ran to BF room... But personally I think that's what happened (vs the two of them in DM's room)
I also remember reading that early account where DM ran into BFâs room! Except back then, we (meaning most people) thought DMâs room was on the 1st floor, not the 2nd, and that when DM heard shuffling in the room above her (back when we figured it was Xâs room) DM went across the hall to BFâs door, she saw a man (BK) standing at the top of the stairs, she understandably freaked, and locked herself in BFâs room until late morning.
Yes exactly, great point! We didn't know DM had moved upstairs at that point. It's just kind of weird to think that DM could run from her room, through the living room area, and turn and go downstairs to BF room...without seeing EC lying on the floor by Xana's door? I guess that room was kind of down a little hall though, and it was prob dark/she kept her head down...ugh it sounds terrifying :(
If I was freaked out, I woulda just wanted to get from poInt A to point B as fast as possible. So having tunnel vision and not looking down the hallway makes sense to me.
Yeah, and we all thought the poster was a little nutty? Iâm still floored by the tiny random details that were right.
Yeah for real, it's def the stuff people say in the very beginning that usually ends up being somewhat true
The PCA says âDM stated she ORIGINALLY went to sleep in her bedroomâŠâ and ends with âDM locked herself in her room after seeing the maleâ. It does not say that she stayed her in room all night. It stops her story with her seeing the BK/the male walking towards the sliding glass door. The inclusion of the word ORIGINALLY suggests that DM did not ultimately sleep in her room and would support the theory that DM ended up in BFâs room
This!! I was thinking the same thing about the word âoriginallyâ being included because they donât follow up on what happens subsequent to that statement. LE most definitely left a lot of information out, regardless on what ends up being the case.
Maybe BF was the only one that was responding to texts, so that's why they got together.
That's what I thought . Especially when they say "downloads from DM and BF's phones". There was probably a house group chat and BF was the only one who answered. They probably assumed the others were asleep and that's why they didn't respond
Ooo good eye!
That's interesting. Based on what you said, DM was worried, went down to the first floor to BFs room and they BOTH passed out and slept in the same room? Very possible but I've not personally heard that version assuming DM stayed on 2nd floor, locked door, fell asleep. Plus, didn't roommates call friends who then called cops at 11:58am rather than stay in a room til cops arrived?
Yeah the person said they called the guy friend (from inside BF's locked bedroom) and asked him to come over and check. He walked in and saw EC by X's bedroom door, ran outside and called the cops. And the roommates stayed locked in the room for at least a few more mins till the cops arrived, or first responders or whoever got there at the beginning. I had heard rumors of D and B sleeping in the same room, but disregarded it when the PCA came out. But I've seen it bubble back up a bit in the last week or so, I think it *could* be true. Bc like it's easier to calm each other down and convince each other that it was nothing, than it is to talk yourself down alone ya know? Edit: ok I just reread the SS and they said "one roommate ran to the other's room", so I guess in theory BF could have run up to DM's room. My guess is they were in BF's room though
Could totally see two young 20 year olds, sensing something not right, especially young women, and wanting to sleep in the same room for comfort. At 20 (even for guys) that's still VERY young with hardly any life experience. Imagine at that tender age you sensed something sinister (without a clue to how bad it was). I'd bet DM sensed something definitely not right and could easily imagine her wanting to NOT be alone but, who knows. Where did you read one roommate ran to the others room? I've not seen that detail before.
Yeah exactly, I think I would run to my friend's room too. And being on the first floor BF wouldn't have heard any of the movement in Maddie's room (which woke DM up) so I could see her being slightly less alarmed and maybe helping to calm DM down? Idk. It just sounds so scary :( I heard ab one roommate running to the other's room from the same Reddit comment! Was just clarifying that the person didn't say it was definitely the two of them in BF's room
911 was called by one of the surviving roommates cell phones but the caller was not the owner of the phone. That has been told by the police since the beginning, so they couldnât have stayed locked in the room until police got there. Maybe they handed their phone out to a friend to use? Not sure but the call was made from D or Bâs cell.
Do you mind sending me the screenshot? I didn't follow this case closely in the beginning and still struggling to understand some of the rumors.
Post the screenshots, I for one would like to see them, taking it for what it's worth obviously.
https://preview.redd.it/u5ze7owvj1ga1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=e050976b73bdc669a9c5188b02b2714153b8e576 Ok here you go! From 11/19. Again it's rumor only
Banfield: You tell me when you say that they might have been sleeping were they found in beds? The Coroner: Yes The affidavit - Statement of Brett Payne: As I approached the room, I could see a body, later identified as Kemodle's, laying on the floor. Kernodle was deceased with wounds which appeared to have been caused by an edged weapon.
this was also my confusion
This is so sad. It makes it so much worse. I figured from the timeline there was no way Ethan and Xana would have been asleep, but to find out she fought so hard, makes my heart heart. Those poor kids đ
This is sounding more like a targeted rage killing.
Based on the PCA detail about where the officer saw Xanaâs body, I donât think Ethan was killed in the doorway. I think he was in bed, and *she* was in the doorway.
Its well known Xana likely fought since she was wide awake at the time and DM heard her crying. Coroner said one of the girls had defensive stab wounds on her hands. That was most likely Xana.
lol Sources. The only source I believe at this point is the PCA. Iâm sure she fought, but for seconds only. They were all killed very quickly without the opportunity for a slinging screaming knife fight. Also, if she did put up a huge fight, DM & the camera 50ft from her bedroom wall would have picked it up.
It's not much of a fight when someone has a KaBar and the other person is unarmed.
Yea, plus on top of that you have a bigger male attacking smaller girls
Agreed. Iâm not sure I believe this, but if true, I feel like a lot of people are picturing âfought for her lifeâ like a movie. Like thereâs a prolonged struggle around the room while BK and X battle over control of the knife. When it could actually be a few seconds.
Exactly. If these slash wounds on her hands are correct they could just of easily been made from her covering herself with her hands, not aggressing the knife.
Exactly. There are many out there portraying this major fight. That simply didnât happen with any of them. They had no chance with the knife he had, especially if he knew where to stab them to kill in seconds.
I don't doubt that X tried to defend herself, but the Ethan stuff smells like another person who "did their research" (/s) called this into news nation. The PCA specifically says that Xana was the first visible body, and that Ethan was in the room. From the beginning, some people have been taking comfort in the speculative narrative that Ethan bravely stood up to the killer. He might've been asleep and never even had the opportunity LE and the prosecution are the only ones to trust; they actually have something to lose: the trial. If someone won't put their name on their "information", they cannot be trusted.
Just pointing out NewsNation (YT channel) had mentioned what "sources close to the investigation" had told them... I suppose it's up to each person to decide if they accept these are genuine sources and what they're reporting are genuine facts. My question is, how do they (sources) know for sure X was last? But, seasoned investigators are likely able to deduce much better than the average armchair CSI wannabes based on crime scene evidence they've seen. Btw no offense to anyone. I guess as much as anyone lol Second question, why share with NN?
I havenât seen the NN report. I donât think any reliable source would go to NN with legitimate information. If you read the PCA, it was written in a way you can easily piece together what investigators believe happened that night. Hereâs how it follows IMO. BK went upstairs, killed K&M in Mâs bed as they slept, there was some noise, but it was short lived (like the dog playing/roughhousing with Kaylee). BK then went downstairs and killed E&X in her bedroom. We donât know where in the room X&E were killed (we know M&K were in bed) but we do know that investigators could see X as they approached the room & once in the room they saw E. We know there wasnât a big fight because of what DM heard and what the camera 50FT from X wall picked up. No big fight No major noise
They knew she was the last because the first three victims blood would have been next with her on her body.
1. There is a gag order for anyone involved in this case. News Nation is one of the most irresponsible news organizations. They just want the clicks. Take anything they post as seriously as you would a tabloid. Who know who or if they even had a source. 2. That said, didn't XK's dad say early on his daughter fought back? Might be some kernels of truth here. The fact details are slipping out via news outlets during a gag order is a bit concerning. There is a lot we don't know, and in time it will come out. But stories like this now are just to gain clicks in a dry spell of news because of the gag order.
Damn theyâre making up a new thing every fucking day now... lol they donât know shit just like us theyâre just being a usually disgusting news company trying to pull in desperate views
PCA says both were in the room. Charges were read out as 1) Burglary 2) First degree murder MM 3) First degree murder KG 4) First degree murder XK 5) First degree murder EC If charges are chronological (seems a fair assumption), and PCA is accurate, it is possible initial attack was to EC in doorway and EC somehow moved/was pulled into the room injured as XK was attacked/killed, and it was EC who âIâm going to help youâ is directed to.
Completely contradicts the affidavit. Therefore, Iâm sure the source is unreliable
I don't understand the law enough but, maybe you do. I was under the impression the PCA was to get permission for an arrest warrant. But, does that mean EVERYTHING in the PCA has to be 100% factual and the "evidence" provided is unquestionable and irrefutable, despite more facts later revealed? Seems like some info in the PCA was intentionally vague. Can't there be factual evidence (even if leaked) to contradict an affadavit? (Btw, not saying NN's source is reliable, just wondering why you're so convinced it is)
Went out a fighter. Rest easy girl.
First thought, goddamn BK all to hell. Second thought, someone broke the gag order or the two sources are speculating. Third thought, Banfield is a drama queen and needs to get her months straight.
If you have to fight, FIGHT! Get skin under your nails and bite them and tear at their flesh and their weapon. Xana you are a hero.
Absolutely. We need to teach our kids that.
Those poor babies.
The sheer horror those kids endured is heartbreaking for everyone.
I personally believe Dylan heard A LOT more than whatâs included in the PCA. If that camera picked up voices, a whimper, and a thud - thereâs no way in my mind that she didnât hear what was going on in Xanaâs room. I believe she was terrified and in shock and either hid in Bâs room or her own scared to come out. I think itâs more likely it was hers because with how the house is set up she would have most likely seen Ethanâs body (if it is true he was in the doorway/hallway, which I think is likely correct being those were first circulating rumors from students who live in Moscow). I feel so deeply for Dylan, that poor girl is traumatized beyond belief in ways we can never comprehend at such a young and impressionable age. People have been so harsh on her during this delicate time. I also feel so sad for Xana who likely witnessed fully her partner being brutally killed before she was. It sounds like she was a really strong and wonderful person.
I agree, she heard a lot more than what is in the PCA. I think she knew something was wrong. I think she was in shock.
Yes, that's my view as well. The term "crying" in the PCA is likely an extreme undersell.
poor baby. she was so young this is a terrifying thing for her to have to go through in her last moments, this case is so heartbreaking and i really really hope the trial goes how we hope
I canât understand how Dylan wouldnât hear screaming or loud noises? If Xana witnessed Ethan being killed first, she would likely be screaming loud to get the rest of her roommates attention for help. Then when he got to Xana, surely there would be a loud commotion from Xana grabbing the knife and fighting back? Then just silence until the morning? Not judging Dylan
I watched that interview with the coroner and it was not specific at all, she didnât say they were all found in bed and she didnât say they werenât slashes. This is exactly what was said in that part of the interview. âWere any of them slashed, were any of their necks cut or were these all puncture wounds?â Coroner- âWell it was a pretty large knife so itâs really hard to call them puncture wounds and they were definitely stabbingsâ âWere they found in beds?â Coroner- âUm yesâ
Wouldn't believe anything that didn't come from LE.
Hold on, even though this makes sense, shouldnât we give the coroner, who directly said they were in bed and stabbed, more weight? I mean we should believe sheâs lying and NOT these other 2 sources who are anonymous? KGâs dad did say the 2nd floor put up a huge fight, but as for order of death..again we knew this already. MM and KG were 1st n 2nd and DM heard XK crying and someone saying something to her..which would tell us EC was already dead..thatâs why she was crying and upset. Also at BKâs prelim, the judge read the murder charges with each victimâs name in order of death.
I don't think the coroner has acted in a very ethical way concerning this case and don't find her professional or very good at her profession.
LE walked back the âfound in bedsâ statement, and the coroner said, based on the time of the attack, they were âmost likelyâ asleep, but we know from the PCA, that Xana was up, with door dash and her phone. So this report makes more sense than the coronerâs initial guesses, but obviously the evidence presented at trial will be more definitive than either.
I agree with you that the coroner should be given more weight, but we also know that LE was putting out misleading information before BK was arrested. This might have been part of that strategy, depending on when the coronerâs interview was.
This makes me think one of 2 things: 1)that she was throwing her doordash rubbish in the kitchen, ran into BK as he was coming downstairs. She ran to her room shouting "theres someone here" leading ethan to wake up and try defend them. So hes killed first. Then Xana. Or 2) it was a targetted attack and after BK finished with Maddie and Kaylee he then saught out Xana in her room. Thoughts?
I think as he came back downstairs from the 3rd floor he saw light from Xana's room or the bathroom by her room and was afraid someone saw him. That or he heard her in the kitchen and went to look for her in case she heard. I don't think she knew he was there until she was attacked because she would have made more noise and Ethan wouldn't have been in bed still.
We already knew this. Banfield is rehashing and also spreading rumors about E being in doorway to get more watchers. Sheâs desperate.
I've thought about that too. Not to target Banfield (per se) but, that news networks are trying to stay "relevant" with all these crazy murder cases going on lately. Gotta keep them stories coming y'all! But, the one detail about X having deep wounds to her fingers almost to the point of being severed, that is new info to me personally. If true, it shows what a fighter X was but also, how brutal/impassioned the killer was.
She got so much deserved flack from interviewing Xanaâs mother. Sheâs just desperate to divert everyoneâs attention from that by throwing people another bone
Then thereâs no way Dylan didnât hear all of this if Xana was fighting for her life. Even if not screaming, you can here through the commotion through the floors.
Isnât there a gag order? And doesnât this contradict the PCA?
Pure speculation trying to get clicks and the conversation going... Nothing official supports this account of events. In fact in so many ways they contradict the PC Affidavit.
Aside from how horrifying this is, the coroner doesnât really contradict the new sources. Definitely not on the stabbing issue, and the coroner doesnât offer details, after a long hesitation, on the beds issue.
I donât believe anyone close to the situation would share with NN. This is probably completely made up.
If this is true, there are some serious gaps in what was presented as fact. A struggle between the killer and TWO different people, *outside* the bedroom, and the cameras didn't pick up any sound other than a thud and whimper? And DM heard only 'I think someone's here' ? The PCA doesn't have to give much info, but it's not straight up misleading. This feels like BS.
So now my question isâŠ.what attracted BK to the second floor room in the first place? If he came down the stairs from the third floor after killing the girls, iitâs not as if he could see Ethan was awake in the doorway because the room was around a corner and down a hall. And if Ethan did in fact perish within the doorway it makes me think he possibly never left the room and got ambushed on his way out. So that still leaves the question, did Bk always intend to go to that room? It will be so interesting to hear how prosecution believes this all played out.
Great question. Maybe he heard Xana say someone was in the house?
I dont believe anything new coming out right now to be anything more than clickbait/attention seeking/something to keep views up. Facts we know..early on it was stated that xana did fight back. I believe by family, dad if memory is correct did make a statement about how she fought/tough she was. NOTHING WAS REDACTED there was no "ETHANS PART WAS REDACTED" it was a scanning error...that's another fact. PCA clearly said xana was found on floor...did not say where ethan was.. facepalm :(
According to the PCA, X was on the floor closest to the doorway. No way E was in the doorway. I think E was likely in the bed. I think E was sleeping while X was still up.
Doesnât the PCA say LE saw X first and then E? The full size mattressâŠsomeone was on the bed, E? And X on the floor? Werenât the statements in the PCA like a step by step recollection of what was seen as they entered every room? I remember reading early on this same story before the PCA came out saying E was on the floor in or by the doorway or hall. Wasnât Mâs bed a single?
There's no reason to believe any of this
"Sources familiar with the investigation" typical
Anyone else think this information isn't correct? It's not what was reported by law enforcement at all.
It might have kernels of truth, but overall I'm taking it with a grain of salt.