West experiences multiple tragedies in recent months

Hannah Jones|January 24, 2023

Before starting, the Bruin Post staff gives condolences to the friends and family of the people involved in these situations.

Within the last 3 months, there have been a lot of tragedies and killings that have been very big in the news, on TikTok, and other social media platforms.

 

University of Idaho Students

Image from @kayleegoncalves on Instagram. Madison Mogen on Kaylee Goncalves shoulders, Ethan Chapin, and Xana Kernodle next to him.

One that received a lot of media attention is the case of the four college students in Idaho. The case is known as a “crime of passion.”

On November 13, 2022, four college students at the University of Idaho were stabbed to death. Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were the poor victims of this gruesome crime. At the time of the event, two roommates are said to have also been home, but were not physically harmed. The suspect is 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger. He was arrested on December 30, at about 3 a.m. when police knocked on the family’s door. It is said that both the suspect and his parents were “very cooperative.” He was moved to Latah County Jail in Idaho on January 4. Kohberger was in school for a Ph.D. in criminal justice and criminology at WSU. Facing 4 counts of first-degree murder, Kohberger has been claiming that he is innocent. He has supposedly been very calm while in the courtroom and at the actual jail. People claim to have seen a car drive past the house multiple times just before the killings. The team working on the case was able to identify Kohberger as the suspect because of DNA left on part of the knife used. The trial for this case has not happened yet.

 

Haight Family

Image from Tausha Haight’s Facebook. Tausha Haight, Michael Haight, and their children.

On January 4, police went to the Haights’ home for a welfare check. Inside they found eight people who had been shot and killed. Police believe that the father, Michael Haight, 42, is the one responsible for these deaths and ruled it a murder-suicide. The victims were his wife, Tausha Haight, 40, Tausha’s mother Gall Earl, 78, and their children ages 17, 12, 7, 7, and 4. Tausha Haight had filed for divorce approximately two weeks before the incident and this could very possibly be Michael Haight’s reason for killing.

 

Patel Family

Image from Neha Patel’s Facebook. Showing Dharmesh Patel, Neha Patel, and their two children. (00051052b42d23caf442)

Recently in California, a family was driven off of a cliff in an attempt by the driver to end their lives. The cliff is located right over a body of water which would have ended the lives of this poor family if their car hadn’t gotten stuck on some rocks on the way down. The driver of the car was the husband/father of the Patel family, Dharmesh Patel, 41. Patel drove a Tesla off of Devil’s Slide which is about a 250-foot cliff located south of San Francisco by 20 miles. To public knowledge, everyone in the car is currently alive. Dharmesh Patel is in the hospital recovering from injuries sustained from the wreck but is getting charged with attempted murder and child abuse. In the car were his wife, 41, and two children, 4 and 7. Luckily, no one died from the wreck.