Monday 21 November 2022 03:32 PM 'Sloppy' Idaho killer left a 'mess of evidence' at 'chaotic crime scene' ... trends now

An elderly couple's Mini Australian shepherd was found filleted and skinned just three miles away from where four students were brutally murdered weeks later, sparking fears the same warped creep may be behind both attacks. 

Pam and Jim Colbert's dog Buddy was killed and brutalized after being let out of the home she shares with her husband Jim in Moscow, Idaho, on October 21. 

Pam, 78, says her 12-year-old dog who'd been rescued from a puppy mill, only had fur left on his legs and face.

She has been left badly shaken by the attack on her animal, which was first discovered by the Colberts' neighbor Barbara Sayler. 

Pam and others now fear the warped creep who disemboweled her pet may also be behind the slayings of students Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21, a mile away on November 13. Cops haven't linked the dog slaughter to the murders, and are investigating both incidents separately.

Recalling the horrific discovery, Pam told DailyMail.com: 'We called the Sheriff's Department and the supervisor said that Buddy had been skinned. 

'It was like a deer someone had hunted,' Pam Colbert said. They cut him around the neck and just skinned him. His little legs had fur and his little face had fur, but the rest of him was just skinned. 

'The other side of him was as though they had filleted him like they were about to eat him. It was terrible. Unbelievable.

'They cut him like you filet a fish. We found his collar, but we didn't find the pelt.' 

A Latah County Sheriff's Deputy sent to take photos for a report confirmed Buddy's killer was human, 

Commenting on her pet's killing, and the quadruple murder, Pam added: 'Everybody is very nervous and scared. This is something awful and evil.' She and Jim, 73, have lived in their home for 39 years - and have now taken to locking their doors for the first time.