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Murder In Moscow: Ethan Chapin's Parent's Discuss Their Memories Of Their Son · Beyond The Horizon

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: And welcome back to the program. In this episode, we're
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: going to hear from Ethan Chapin's parents who are discussing
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: how they're honoring their son's memory. So let's just get
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  Speaker 1: right to it. Today's article is from King5. com and the headline,
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  Speaker 1: Ethan Chapin's parents share how they're honoring his memory one
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  Speaker 1: year after the Idaho murders. In this on-the-record interview, Stacey
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  Speaker 1: and Jim Chapin share Talk about Ethan's life, processing grief,
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  Speaker 1: and Stacey Chapin's new book, The Boy Who Wore Blue.
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: This article was authored by Joyce Taylor. Nearly one year
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  Speaker 1: after four University of Idaho students were murdered near the campus,
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  Speaker 1: their families were finding ways to remember them. Ethan Chapin
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  Speaker 1: was one of those students born and raised in Skagit County.
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  Speaker 1: His mother has written a new book, and the family
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  Speaker 1: has established a foundation honoring him through scholarships awarded in
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  Speaker 1: his name. This month, Chapin would have turned 21 years old.
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  Speaker 1: I sat down with his parents to talk about how
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  Speaker 1: the family is doing, what comes next, and Stacey Chapin's
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  Speaker 1: new book, The Boy Who Wore Blue. And it has
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  Speaker 1: to be tough every day, right? Without your son around,
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  Speaker 1: knowing that your son was murdered. But it has to
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  Speaker 1: hit different during the holidays. It has to hit different
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  Speaker 1: during their birthday. You know, the days where you celebrate
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  Speaker 1: them or celebrate with them. So it has to be
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  Speaker 1: just extra painful whenever these milestones approach. And let's not forget,
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  Speaker 1: we're approaching the one year mark of the murders themselves.
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  Speaker 1: Stacey Chapin. I just needed people to have a true
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  Speaker 1: story of him. For people who know him, it's a
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  Speaker 1: little bit of a memoir. And I think for people
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  Speaker 1: who don't know him, it's literally the message of how
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  Speaker 1: Ethan lived his life. And this is in interview format.
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  Speaker 1: So I'll say the name of the person who is
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  Speaker 1: talking and then their commentary will come next. Taylor, tell
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  Speaker 1: us about him. Jim Chapin. Ethan was truly one of
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  Speaker 1: a kind. He was. Stacey Chapin. He was an exceptional
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  Speaker 1: kid from the day he was born. Jim Chapin. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: he just lived life to the fullest. He kept everybody
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  Speaker 1: in check. Taylor. And not just because he was 6'4.
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  Speaker 1: Jim Chapin. No, no. There was just a way about
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  Speaker 1: him that he had a good message. Just be yourself,
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  Speaker 1: have fun, and do good for everybody. You know, if
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  Speaker 1: we could all live by that mantra, how much better
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  Speaker 1: would the world be? Stacey Chapin. I just miss him
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  Speaker 1: walking into a room and giving you a hug and
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  Speaker 1: making some funny comments. And he was just, he was
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  Speaker 1: just amazing. And how many of us have lost somebody
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  Speaker 1: to a disease or a car accident or whatever, and
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  Speaker 1: we felt the same pain? Maybe not exactly like Stacey Chapin,
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  Speaker 1: because unless you lose a child, forget it. You'll never
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  Speaker 1: understand that pain. But when you lose somebody and there's
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  Speaker 1: that hole in your life, it's very difficult to navigate
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  Speaker 1: the new path that you're on. I know that when
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  Speaker 1: I lost my uncle, who I was very, very close with,
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  Speaker 1: it took me quite some time to get right. I
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  Speaker 1: had to actually go to like grief therapy because it
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  Speaker 1: was so hard for me to deal with his death.
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  Speaker 1: And he didn't die in a violent manner. He died
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  Speaker 1: of natural causes, but it was unexpected. And whenever you
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  Speaker 1: have an unexpected death, it just leaves a gaping hole
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  Speaker 1: in your life. And then you add to that misery.
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  Speaker 1: Somebody actually did this to you. Somebody murdered your son.
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  Speaker 1: I cannot even begin to imagine what a parent must
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  Speaker 1: feel like. Taylor, is there anything that you miss the most?
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  Speaker 1: Stacey Chapin hugging him. Oh, I would give anything. Yeah,
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  Speaker 1: that's it. I would give anything to hug him again
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  Speaker 1: in his blue coat, his blue puffy Patagonia coat. You
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  Speaker 1: know what I take from that, folks? Later on today
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  Speaker 1: or tomorrow or whatever, when you see your mom and dad,
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  Speaker 1: give him a big hug. I don't care how old
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  Speaker 1: you are. I don't care how old they are. Give
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  Speaker 1: them a big hug because you know what? Life happens
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  Speaker 1: fast and it's all over in a minute. So we
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  Speaker 1: have to try and take the time to tell the
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  Speaker 1: people that we care about that we care about them.
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  Speaker 1: And it gets lost in the shuffle sometimes. I know
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  Speaker 1: we're all busy. We all have stress. We all have
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  Speaker 1: other things going on. But life is fleeting. And we
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  Speaker 1: have to make sure that the people we care about,
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  Speaker 1: we let them know that we care about them. Taylor,
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  Speaker 1: how are you almost a year after? Stacey Chapin, it's
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  Speaker 1: shocking it's been a year. We spent, I call it
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  Speaker 1: a period of time, there was about five months that
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  Speaker 1: I'm in, I call it the depths of hell. I mean,
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  Speaker 1: we went there. We've been there. I think you have
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  Speaker 1: to go there in order to start the journey out.
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  Speaker 1: That is the process of healing and figuring out how
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  Speaker 1: you live your life without this person that's been in
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  Speaker 1: it forever. I have a place kind of where Ethan
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  Speaker 1: lives in there, and it's a safe spot. Um, you know,
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  Speaker 1: I think overall, under all these circumstances, I think we're
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  Speaker 1: doing well. This thing took one of our kids, but
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  Speaker 1: it can't take the rest of us. Taylor, I think
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  Speaker 1: about Maisie and Hunter a lot, because I'm a multiple,
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  Speaker 1: and there's a unique special connection that multiples have that
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  Speaker 1: other siblings do not have. And so I've thought about
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  Speaker 1: them often, having lost a piece of themselves, yes, in
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  Speaker 1: losing their brother. Stacey Chapin. Jim and I can sit
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  Speaker 1: here and tell you what it feels like to lose
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  Speaker 1: a child. I honestly cannot tell you what it must
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  Speaker 1: feel like for Maisie and Hunter to lose literally a
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  Speaker 1: piece of them. It's profoundly different for them than it
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  Speaker 1: is for the rest of us. And we all know
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  Speaker 1: that if you have a twin, forget it. There's that
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  Speaker 1: special bond, right, between you and your twin? And then
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  Speaker 1: to have that bond just completely severed with one of
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  Speaker 1: the twins being murdered like this, I can't even imagine
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  Speaker 1: the sort of effect that has on a twin, or
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  Speaker 1: in this instance, triplets, Jim Chapin. They came home in mid-May,
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: after school's out, and they spent all summer at our
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  Speaker 1: Idaho home and both worked. And it seems like they
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  Speaker 1: healed a lot during that period of time. It's just
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  Speaker 1: going to take time. Take time for all of us.
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  Speaker 1: And that's an understatement. They're never going to get over this, right?
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  Speaker 1: They're going to figure out a way, hopefully, to navigate
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  Speaker 1: their new reality. But the hole that has been left
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  Speaker 1: by this murder is never going away. And it doesn't
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  Speaker 1: even matter what happens as far as Brian Kohlberger, right?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, even if he's put to death, justice has
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  Speaker 1: been served if he's convicted. But does that bring Ethan back?
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  Speaker 1: And how far does that go to really give the
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  Speaker 1: parents some comfort? I know if it was my child...
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  Speaker 1: It wouldn't go that far, honestly. Sure, it would feel
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  Speaker 1: good in the moment, and I'd want Brian Kohlberger to
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  Speaker 1: get the death penalty. But after it was said and done,
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  Speaker 1: my kid is still gone. Taylor, when we send our
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  Speaker 1: kids off to school, to college, we think it's one
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  Speaker 1: of the safest places that they can be. Jim Chapin, yes.
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  Speaker 1: Stacey Chapin, I mean, Moscow, Idaho. Taylor, not in your
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  Speaker 1: wildest imaginations, dreams, or nightmares even, right? Could you imagine
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  Speaker 1: something like this? Jim Chapin, literally the week before, and
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  Speaker 1: just had the best time of the kids. And we
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  Speaker 1: would never think something like this would happen. Stacey Chapin, ever.
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  Speaker 1: It was the best weekend. We were in the King
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  Speaker 1: Street house that weekend. I mean, you know, you just,
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  Speaker 1: we were like, what? These kids are living their best life.
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  Speaker 1: And I think that's what all of us were feeling
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  Speaker 1: when we got the news that this happened. Now, why
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  Speaker 1: in the hell would anybody go into a house off
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  Speaker 1: of a campus and murder four kids? And still, we
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  Speaker 1: don't have those answers, right? We have a suspect, but
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  Speaker 1: we have no answers. Taylor, and then a week later,
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  Speaker 1: your son calls you. Stacey Chapin, we got stuck in
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  Speaker 1: traffic in Everett, and we're literally sitting there. That's what
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  Speaker 1: I remember. And what do you do? Taylor, trying to
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  Speaker 1: get to Idaho. Stacey Chapin, trying to get to Idaho.
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  Speaker 1: Trying to get to Mazie and Hunter. Taylor, and you're
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  Speaker 1: not knowing what is happening. You put a post on social,
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  Speaker 1: you sent it to me that you spent no time
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  Speaker 1: being angry because that would not be energy well spent.
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  Speaker 1: And that's been the Chapin family's mantra pretty much throughout
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  Speaker 1: this whole thing. They've been pretty level-headed about this and
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  Speaker 1: they haven't really exhibited any sort of like anger in public.
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  Speaker 1: bring him back. And when you know, when you start
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  Speaker 1: to feel angry, it literally can take you down a
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  Speaker 1: rabbit hole. That just isn't a healthy place to be. Well,
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  Speaker 1: she's not wrong about that. And I know that because
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  Speaker 1: I used to be one of the most angry people
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  Speaker 1: going and it never got me anywhere. It never did
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  Speaker 1: anything for me, but bring more pain and more misery. Taylor,
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  Speaker 1: so what does justice look like for you in all
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  Speaker 1: of this? Jim Chapin, the person who is in jail
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  Speaker 1: right now, That it's going to? It's going to take
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  Speaker 1: care of itself. You know, nothing we can do or
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  Speaker 1: say or anything is going to change. What's going to
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  Speaker 1: happen to that individual? Stacey Chapin. Yeah, I guess that
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  Speaker 1: would be my answer. Justice for me is that the
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  Speaker 1: system will work how it's supposed to. Taylor. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: you have no plans of even going to the trial
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  Speaker 1: to even be in the courtroom from start to finish.
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  Speaker 1: Jim Chapin. There's no closing for me. Whatever happens in
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  Speaker 1: that trial, there's no closure. The only closure I have
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  Speaker 1: is knowing that my family is good and healthy, and
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  Speaker 1: we move on with our lives and do what we
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  Speaker 1: were doing prior to this terrible thing that's happened to
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  Speaker 1: our family. Stacey Chapin, it's a choice, you know? You
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  Speaker 1: just have to tuck that kid somewhere in there, and
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  Speaker 1: I'm thankful for the 20 years that we had with him. Totally. 100%. Taylor,
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  Speaker 1: we are coming back up On Parents Weekend and a
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  Speaker 1: big birthday for your kids. 21. Jim Chapin. 21 was
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  Speaker 1: something that we talked about forever. Having these triplets turn
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  Speaker 1: 21 was going to be the greatest, the greatest night ever.
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  Speaker 1: That night cannot take away from Maisie and Hunter. So,
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  Speaker 1: you know, Parents Weekend, it'll be a little bit camouflaged
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  Speaker 1: in Parents Weekend. And then we'll go out and we're
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  Speaker 1: going to celebrate Maisie and Hunter. Good for them. I
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  Speaker 1: hope that they have the greatest time that they possibly can.
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  Speaker 1: If anybody deserves a little bit of joy, a little
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  Speaker 1: bit of solace, a little bit of peace, it's the
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  Speaker 1: Chapin family. Stacey Chapin. We cannot forget that that's the priority.
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  Speaker 1: Find something that you feel like brings you joy in
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  Speaker 1: a day. There is always something there, no matter how
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  Speaker 1: dark the day feels. We found it every single day.
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  Speaker 1: You know, maybe for an episode of Tales of Tenacity
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  Speaker 1: and Hope, We'll talk about the Chapin family because this
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  Speaker 1: is an inspiration for people. And the way that they've
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  Speaker 1: handled this tragedy with such class and with such grace,
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  Speaker 1: if you will, is something to really, really marvel at.
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  Speaker 1: You haven't heard any bad language coming from them, nothing.
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  Speaker 1: So it really shows you the character that they possess.
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  Speaker 1: As I've told you a million times, I wouldn't be
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  Speaker 1: able to have that kind of grace. I wouldn't be
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  Speaker 1: able to keep my mouth shut. And I'd be out
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  Speaker 1: here going bananas. Taylor, so you have a tattoo on
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  Speaker 1: your arm? Stacey Chapin, I do, yes. Jim showed up
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  Speaker 1: one day with Ethan's name, E-Dog. That's what I called him.
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  Speaker 1: So it's from a note Ethan wrote me, probably in
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  Speaker 1: the fourth grade, and he just signed it. I love you, Mom. Ethan.
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  Speaker 1: He would love the tattoo. He would be honored that
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  Speaker 1: we are honoring him in all these different ways. From
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  Speaker 1: the boy who wore blue. He was selfless, caring, generous,
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  Speaker 1: and warm. And wherever you went, The friends would all swarm.
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  Speaker 1: This tale, the story of the boy who wore blue,
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  Speaker 1: is a message for everyone, including you. Life is short.
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  Speaker 1: Give it your best. Jim Chapin. We want to pass
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  Speaker 1: on his positive energy to other kids. Taylor, that's his
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  Speaker 1: legacy for us. The Chapins have set up a foundation
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  Speaker 1: in Ethan's memory. Ethan's smile is a foundation honoring his
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  Speaker 1: love of life, people, and adventure. Money raised goes to
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  Speaker 1: post-high school scholarships for students from Conway, where he grew up,
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: and students at the University of Idaho. All right, folks,
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  Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this one. All of
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: the information that goes with this episode can be found
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: in the description box.