The University of Idaho will refrain from tearing down the house where four students were fatally stabbed until October, a delay the school president described Wednesday as the “right thing to do.”
“We know that every action and decision around this horrific incident is painful and emotional,” University of Idaho President Scott Green said in a statement. “That’s why every decision we’ve made so far is with the families of the victims and our students in mind.”
A lawyer representing the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves criticized the planned demolition last month, saying school officials had asked the families of the victims for their opinions on what to do with the house, but “then had ignored these opinions and pursued their own interests”. .”
“Pending the demonstration of the King Rd house until the end of the trial, we would honor the wishes of the families and support the legal process if the house is needed in the future by the prosecution, the defense or the jurors,” attorney Shanon Gray said in a statement. “The house itself has enormous probative value in addition to being the largest and one of the most important pieces of evidence in the case.”
“Thank you to the University of Idaho for honoring the families wishes by not showing the King Rd home,” Gray said in an email Wednesday.
The owner of the three-story, six-bedroom house, located less than a mile from the school’s flagship campus in Moscow, had previously donated the house to the university after the murders.
Crews began removing students’ personal items from the house earlier this month in preparation for demolition, the school said.
“The university is working to make these items discreetly and respectfully available to families in the coming weeks,” the school said Wednesday.
Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Gonçalves, 21, were found dead on November 13.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested Dec. 30 in the murders and charged in May with four counts of first-degree murder. Kohberger, who was pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice at a nearby university at the time of his arrest, pleaded not guilty.
The trial is due to begin on October 2.
Prosecutors said last month that they plan to pursue the death penalty in the case.
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com