That wouldn’t surprise me at all. The chief of police answers to the mayor and city council and they answer to main street.
Pretty sure a comfy sinecure in a low crime college town attracts the political today type. I also doubt any officer bothered to go look at the dog carcass or the rabbit. Mini Aussies are smart and fast so doubt it would be surprised by a coyote and if it was, there’d be some noise and a bobcat or cougar would have cleaned out all the pets in the area. But an Aussie would approach a creeper hiding in the bushes and got shivved for his friendly nosiness.
And it could still be a targeted killing if one of the victims has more vicious stabbings than the others. I can envision a creeper going from room to room quietly killing until he finds his desired target and unleashes on her.
At this point, unless they find a DNA match with a potential suspect, this case is going cold.
This group of kids were very popular, their home has been described as a party house. I think the killer is a sociopathic loner who has in some way been rebuffed by these kids and he snapped. Also, it is interesting that this attack happened right before they would be going home for Thanksgiving, which means he wanted to do it before they left town. I hope the police check out who stays on campus during TG.