Xana Comes to the Door
In the aftermath of the Idaho Four killings, several FOIA requests retrieved bodycam footage from noise complaints at 1122 King road. One is nearly 45 minutes long1. Watch it, as it gives a great impression of the neighbourhood and the house. There is also some historic value, given the house is now demolished. More on that in another entry.
One noise complaint from September 2nd 2022 is in two parts; the 2nd has the officers returning having already verbally warned Madison Mogen a return visit would mean a ticket. This visit is noteworthy because it features Xana Kernodle. She’s clearly a little sloshed but generally shows all the normal behaviours of a 20yr old that thinks she is in some sort of trouble. She looks slightly afraid she is going to be nicked for under-age drinking, despite the officers telling her they’re not there for that. The police look like they’re very familiar with college kids doing college kid things, and honestly they’re pretty easy-going.
She hands over her driving license (In portrait, due to her age and Idaho law) without being asked, apologises for her language and generally just seems like a really decent kid. The outside is so dark, there’s barely any street lighting and the dull grey reflection of the siding in the officer’s flashlight contrasts against the warm glow from the windows. It was, at that time, the ‘party house’, the kind of place you’d love in your early twenties. The video is a time capsule, giving us a glimpse into the lives of these kids. Anyone with an interest in the case must be used to seeing the same images of the house; most of the lights off, the headlights of a police cruiser parked in the driveway, Xana’s window the only one with a neatly drawn blind to conceal whatever horror remains inside. It’s poignant hearing Xana speak during a completely unrehearsed moment.
Xana presumably goes to her room on the 2nd floor, to enjoy the end of another fun-filled day. She has 81 of them left.
The officer that speaks with Xana in the latter half of the video is, I believe, Brett Payne. He looks very young, but at my age they all do. As far as we know, the next time OFC Payne encounters Xana, it is described in the probable cause affidavit. Payne is the author, and he describes his arrival and walk-through of the crime scene. That driving license gets a mention too, in a sad little postscript.
OFC Smith and I entered the King Road Residence through the bottom floor door on the north side of the building. OFC Smith and I then walked upstairs to the second floor. OFC Smith directed me down the hallway to the west bedroom on the second floor, which I later learned (through Xana’s driver’s license and other personal belongings found in the room) was Xana Kernodle’s, hereafter “Kernodle” room. Just before this room there was a bathroom door on the south wall of the hallway. As I approached the room, I could see a body, later identified as Kemodle’s, laying on the floor.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you the police have an easy job.