Idaho Murders Update: Police Are Re-Interviewing People About New Tips

Moscow Police Chief James Fry said this week that investigators are re-interviewing some people following new tips about the investigation into the fatal stabbing of four University of Idaho students.

"We've actually re-interviewed people two or three times because we'll get tips, or we'll get information that we need to verify again, and sometimes we need to ask the questions just a little bit different to ensure that we're getting the proper information to continue on with this investigation," Fry said during an interview with Fox News' The Story. "So, that happens regularly in all investigations. We always have the option of re-interviewing."

On November 13, officers with the Moscow Police Department responded to a call of an unconscious person at a residence near the University of Idaho and discovered that four students were fatally stabbed. The four students were later identified as Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20.

The comments by Fry come shortly after Goncalves' mother expressed concern over how police cleared some people from the ongoing investigation very early on.

"I just feel like there have been a couple of individuals that were cleared very fast that maybe should not have been," Kristi Goncalves told NewsNation Now this week.

Former FBI profiler Mary Ellen O'Toole told Newsweek this week that in investigations like this one, "it is possible to take a second look at someone" that was previously ruled out or excluded.

O'Toole said that investigations "must be fluid," which gives investigators the opportunity "to come back and take a second look at someone if new information is developed about that person.

"That happens....so for example, if a person previously interviewed told investigators they had never been inside the victim's home and then forensic evidence comes back and puts that person at the scene [at some time; fingerprints, DNA etc.], that will require a follow-up interview by police," O'Toole said.

Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer also made similar remarks to Newsweek on Tuesday, saying that even after police say a person is not believed to be involved, there's a "possibility" they can re-interview them.

"When you interview somebody, you're trying to get every piece of information on anyone who may be involved," Coffindaffer said, adding that investigators do not "put on blinders" after one interview.

"Any good case agent, any good detective, people who have done these cases, who have gone down one road and then realized far down that it was the wrong road, are going to maintain a very open-mindedness and be open to any new evidence," Coffindaffer added.

Newsweek reached out to the Moscow Police Department for comment.