A judge has ruled that graphic crime scene photos from the 2022 killings of four University of Idaho students will not be released.
Karen Laramie, the mother of victim Madison Mogen, sued the city of Moscow in August to prevent photos, videos or audio of Mogen’s bedroom and body from being released. Stacy and Jim Chapin, the parents of victim Ethan Chapin, also wrote declarations in support of the motion.
“Releasing these records will have minor effect upon those who continue to be perplexed by the facts or fixated on unfounded conspiracies whereas it has and will continue to have profound effect upon the decedents’ loved ones,” District Judge Megan Marshall said in her decision.
The families have put forth “undisputed evidence” that they have suffered extreme emotional distress because many records were released by the city, Marshall said in Wednesday’s court filing.
Since July, the city of Moscow has received nearly 1,200 public records requests for information related to the University of Idaho student killings. Many of the police reports, body camera footage and crime scene photos have been released.
Seeing images of blood soaked sheets, the outlines of bodies or blood splattered on the walls won’t illuminate the public, Marshall said in her ruling, “whereas the dissemination of these images across the Internet and in public spheres where plaintiffs may come upon them by happenstance, as has already occurred, causing them extreme emotional distress is an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.”
The city of Moscow must completely black out areas of video, photographs or other media that show the victims' bodies or the blood surrounding them, the judge ruled.
“This decision is a precedent that will afford future crime victims better justice,” said Stacy Chapin in a statement on her personal Instagram on Wednesday.
