The parents of Ethan Chapin – one of the four University of Idaho students murdered in November – are speaking out for the first time since their loved one’s death.
In a new interview with ABC News, Stacy and Jim Chapin announced they have started a foundation in honor of their murdered son while they work to heal his pain.
“We did something good that we know Ethan would love,” Stacy said while speaking about Ethan’s Smile, a new foundation that raises money for grants.
Ethan, his brother and sister’s eldest triplet, was found dead with his girlfriend Xana Kernodle at their home off the University of Idaho campus in November.
Kernodle and Chapin, along with Kernodle’s roommates Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, were brutally stabbed to death in the early hours of November 13.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested in December and has since been charged with the students’ murder. He has not yet submitted a plea.
The parents of Ethan Chapin – one of the four University of Idaho students murdered in November – are speaking out for the first time since their loved one’s death
“We did something good that we know Ethan would love,” Stacy said while speaking about Ethan’s Smile, a new foundation that raises money for grants
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20, were murdered at their off-campus home in November
In their new interview, Ethan’s parents said his younger siblings – Maizie and Hunter – are now coping with the loss of their older brother.
“As a triplet,” Stacy said, “you’ve been around other people your whole life.”
The Chapin family said Hunter, Ethan’s younger brother, now faces life without his “wingman.”
The loss was particularly shocking for the siblings, who also attend the University of Idaho, about 350 miles from their hometown of Conway, Washington.
The parents said after the murder they would stay private to mourn and care for their two remaining children.
Speaking to ABC, Stacy and Jim said they haven’t fully recovered but are finding new ways to remember and honor Ethan.
One of the ways is Ethan’s Smile, a family-run foundation that offers scholarships to Conway, Washington graduate students and University of Idaho undergraduates.
Chapin family: Maizie (far left), Ethan (left), Stacy (middle), Jim (right), Hunter (far right)
In a new interview with ABC News, Stacy and Jim Chapin announced they have started a foundation in honor of their murdered son while they work to heal his pain
Ethan (left) was the eldest of the Chapin triplets. He is pictured here alongside younger siblings Maizie (centre) and Hunter (right).
Ethan and Xana in a photo posted to Instagram before they were murdered in November
The parents chose to conduct the interview from Tulip Valley Farms in Washington, where Ethan, Maizie and Hunter had worked.
A new tulip bulb mix called ‘Ethan’s Smile’ was also introduced at the local farm.
The proceeds benefit the foundation.
The farm also currently sells a tulip bulb mix called ‘Forever Sisters’ in honor of Kernodle, Goncalves and Mogen.
In a February post, the local flower fields said the proceeds would also go towards the “creation of community memorial gardens and similar tributes honoring Ethan, Xana, Kaylee and Maddie.”
According to Stacy and Jim, nearly 80,000 flower bulb mixes have been sold to date.
“For everyone, it’s a tangible thing that represents them, and people can grow it in their yards and gardens,” Stacy said.
The grieving mother said she also often receives photos of people at Tulip Valley Farms where the Ethan’s Smile mix started flowering and that it was a huge influence on them.
Despite the progress made in the nearly five months since Ethan’s murder, the parents say the road ahead is fraught with difficulties that may never ease.
“I just miss him,” Ethan’s father said. “I think of him every day.”
“I loved hugging him,” his mother said. “I would give anything to hug him again.”
“I loved hugging him,” Ethan’s mom said. “I would give anything to hug him again”
The parents chose to conduct the interview from Tulip Valley Farms in Washington, where Ethan, Maizie and Hunter had worked
Tulip Valley Farms currently sells an Ethan’s Smile tulip bulb mix
A number of Ethan’s Smile Tulips have been planted at the Washington Flower Farm
According to Stacy and Jim, nearly 80,000 Ethan’s Smile flower bulb mixes have been sold to date
“I just miss him,” Ethan’s father said. “I think of him every day”
The interview with the family comes months after the students were murdered at their home in Moscow, Idaho, which was rented by the three young women and two other roommates.
On the night of November 12, Ethan took his sister Maizie to their frat party.
Afterwards, he went back to his Brotherhood house, Sigma Chi, before leaving and going to Kernodle’s house, where he was killed.
The four students were each stabbed, while the other two roommates survived unharmed.
In December, Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania.
Kohberger was a Ph.D. PhD student at nearby Washington State University.
After Kohberger’s arrest, investigators familiar with the case said the criminology student reportedly wrote directly to one of the victims before the murders.
“He slipped into one of the girls’ DMs several times, but she didn’t respond,” a police source said.
“Basically, it was just him saying, ‘Hey, how are you?’ But he kept doing it.’
This is the home in Moscow, Idaho, where four students were brutally murdered in November
The four students were found stabbed to death at the home in Idaho on November 13
The case drew national attention to the brutality and how long it took police to make an arrest
After Kohberger’s arrest, investigators familiar with the case said the criminology student reportedly wrote directly to one of the victims before the murders
Kohberger is said to have sent messages via Instagram to one of the victims
The unidentified roommate Kohberger allegedly sent the messages to may have been Goncalves, who expressed fears she was being stalked.
Experts have determined that Kohberger was likely motivated by “excitement” and “hate.”
“He would have been in a heightened state of arousal, and that means he was emotionally aroused or even sexually aroused when he killed those girls, and I suspect it was both,” retired FBI profiler Mary Ellen O’Toole said FOX.
“It’s a very dark mindset. It’s not very impulsive. It’s not reckless. It’s “I hate this person, they have to die,” she said.