Moscow leaders reflect on homicides 

A stack of cards mailed to the Moscow Police Department sits in Chief James Fry’s office. Fry has seen many variations of “thank you” since the King Road homicides of four University of Idaho students. 

“These are just the last ones that I’ve gotten,” Fry said. “I had probably over 450 cards.” 

While Fry has been commended for his work since suspect Bryan Kohberger’s arrest, criticisms came in nationally during the investigation. 

Initial frustrations with the MPD came from a three-day gap before the department held its first press conference. As a small team, knowing how to properly communicate information to the public was difficult. 

“That’s no excuse for the fact that I should have had a press conference, probably the next day,” Fry said, describing it as a lesson learned. 

Throughout the case, local officers have known more than they have been able to say. 

“There’s things that you want to be able to tell the community, but there’s things you’re not going to tell the community, and it is to protect the integrity of the case,” Fry said.  

Fry has been working with the MPD since 1989 when he moved to Moscow, witnessing the town’s expansion firsthand. He made his way up to chief of police in 2016, with decades of experience to accompany him.  

For the seven weeks of the investigation, Fry estimated that he had four days off. His team worked similar hours, from morning till night. That kind of stress, he said, “ages you.” 

“Never thought I would be there in my life,” Fry said. “But in saying that, we also took an oath to do a job, we took an oath to put ourselves in those situations.” 

While dealing with this stress, the MPD found strong support from the community. Kind notes came in and food piled up in the office.  

“Now people don’t have to do that, people don’t have to be that way,” Fry said. “But they’re that way because that’s the type of community that we live in.” 

Counseling and other resources were brought into the department to support their team.  

“You don’t realize the stress when you’re in it,” Fry said. “It probably took me from December 29 till now … just to feel normal again.” 

While Moscow is a safe, small town, Fry believes there are factors outside of anyone’s control.  

Fry recalled when a shooter went through town in 2007, killing a fellow officer and three others.  

“I remember like it was yesterday, there are certain things you don’t forget,” he said. 

Moscow Mayor Art Bettge’s four-year term has not begun as a quiet one.  

Throughout the investigation, half of his days were spent trying to provide resources for both city administration and citizens. 

“It was extremely stressful on everybody, and I don’t think anybody slept particularly well. Because these are things that you care very much about and your ability to respond,” Bettge said. “You do the best you can but you’re always asking yourself, ‘is there something else I could be doing?’ … Just the sheer uncertainty of it all was absolutely wrenching.” 

During the other half of his days, he was faced with a bombardment of interview requests.  

He felt that some misrepresented him, citing a piece by The New York Times titled “4 University of Idaho Students Killed in ‘Crime of Passion.’” 

This piece was published a day after the homicides with little information having been released. Bettge was quoted for saying “crime of passion,” a phrase he said was taken out of context.  

“Passion means high emotion and that is the point there, you don’t go into somebody’s home and stab four people to death unless there’s a high emotional component involved,” Bettge said. “Everybody assumes it’s some kind of love thing. No, that is not the kind of passion we’re talking about here.” 

In other interviews, Bettge was met with speculative questions and reporters with false information. As a leader during the aftermath, Bettge heard community frustrations with journalists and believes that locals will be less willing to talk during the June 26 Moscow hearing.  

“People aren’t going to put up with it,” he said. “(Media) abused the privilege.” 

Regarding the pressure placed on the police, Bettge said he always kept faith in law enforcement, understanding their full capabilities. While some may misjudge Fry, Bettge said he shouldn’t be underestimated.  

“He knows what he’s doing, and people don’t expect that because he doesn’t look like some of the other police chiefs you see out there in the media, where things like this happen all the time,” Bettge said. “This is new for him too. But he relied on his experience and did the right things.” 

Both Fry and Bettge echoed reminders for residents to stay vigilant by staying alert and locking doors.  

“This is a very safe community. Matter of fact, our crime stats dropped over the last year,” Fry said. “But we still need to stay vigilant, we still need to pay attention, because even though we live in a great area, and it doesn’t happen very often, it can still happen.” 

Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq