James Patterson and investigative reporter Vicky Ward are working to turn the tragic deaths of college students Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves into a non-fiction title.
In November 2022, the four University of Idaho students were violently murdered in their homes. Dubbed the “Moscow Murders,” the infamous attack gained a quick following online as internet sleuths on Reddit, Twitter, and other platforms gathered to try to find the killer and his motive.
The book is about the violence that rocked the college town and the subsequent investigation and arrest of suspect Bryan Kohberger. Skydance Television is trying to take up the book’s rights as part of their first-look deal with Patterson. Story Syndicate (“Stolen Youth: Inside the Cult at Sarah Lawrence”, “Harry and Meghan”) is in final negotiations to be the production partner with Skydance for the docuseries.
Through exclusive interviews, shoe leather reports and court transcripts, Patterson and Ward will delve into the details of the crime as they “honor the victims in a compassionate portrait of the lives the four lived before they were tragically cut short” , they said.
“The last time a true crime story haunted me so deeply was when I covered Jeffrey Epstein in ‘Filthy Rich,'” said Patterson. “The murders in Idaho have captured the imagination all over the world and I am as involved with them as anyone else. Since this all happened in such a small town, there are definitely echoes of ‘In Cold Blood’. It’s an exciting challenge and Vicky and I are both eager to explore it further.”
Ward added, “The story of the Idaho murders is as fascinating as it is chilling. You have a small town that is not used to locking its doors. You have a tight-knit group of popular, apparently fun-loving, good-looking students. And you have an alleged killer, who looks like a sphinx and is a crime student. He knows something we don’t know. What is it? While careful not to glorify the alleged killer, how could an investigative reporter not unravel this deeply disturbing, horrifying mystery.