Haunting New Footage Reveals Survivor’s Tearful Account in Idaho Murders Case

Haunting New Footage Reveals Survivor’s Tearful Account in Idaho Murders Case

The University of Idaho murders shocked the nation in 2022, and nearly three years later, newly released police bodycam footage has reopened the raw wounds of that night. The chilling video captures one of the surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen, breaking down as she recalls hearing her roommate’s screams before coming face-to-face with the masked intruder who would later be identified as Bryan Kohberger.

The Night That Shattered Moscow

On the morning of November 13, 2022, Moscow police were called to 1122 King Road after a report of an “unconscious individual.” What they discovered was far worse than anyone could have imagined. Inside, four University of Idaho students, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, had been brutally stabbed to death.

The newly surfaced 52-minute video, obtained by Law & Crime, offers a harrowing glimpse into the aftermath. Police officers can be heard reacting to the sheer horror of the crime scene, while outside, college students huddled together in shock. Among them were Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, the surviving roommates, who clung to one another under blankets as the weight of what had just happened began to settle.

A Survivor’s Fractured Memory

In the footage, Mortensen’s grief and terror are laid bare. She sobs as she recalls hearing what she believed was Kaylee Goncalves screaming, before realizing she had come face-to-face with the killer.

“They were in the main room dancing and laughing,” she tells officers through tears. “Kaylee went upstairs, and then she screamed that someone was in the room. I kept calling her name, but she wouldn’t answer. Then I saw the guy… I locked the door and ran downstairs. We didn’t know what was going on.”

Investigators later clarified that it was likely Xana Kernodle, not Kaylee, whose cries Mortensen heard. Mortensen also remembered hearing a man’s unsettling voice telling her roommate: “You’re going to be okay. I’m going to help you.” She described the tone as chilling, “not in a nice way, but in a weird, cold way.”

Moments later, she opened her door and saw a masked man dressed in black. She remembered that he was taller than her, with a build she compared to a basketball player. In shock, she slammed the door shut and locked it.

Hours of Silence Before the Horrific Discovery

Despite the terror of what she had seen, Mortensen and Funke initially convinced themselves they had overreacted. In Moscow, Idaho, a quiet college town, nothing like this had ever happened. They stayed in their rooms until late morning, expecting their friends to emerge.

But as the hours passed, the silence grew heavier. None of the other roommates answered calls. Finally, the survivors contacted friends, who soon discovered the unimaginable, that their roommates had been slaughtered just feet away from where they slept.

The Path of the Killer

Prosecutors later revealed that Bryan Kohberger, then a PhD student at nearby Washington State University, had slipped into the home through a sliding glass door. He had stalked the area at least 23 times before the murders, usually at night.

Crime scene photos, released alongside the bodycam footage, show a home frozen in time: red Solo cups stacked for a beer pong game, Xana’s half-eaten DoorDash order still in its bag, a lone combat boot in the living room. A footprint in the snow traced the killer’s escape route.

Justice and Lingering Pain

In July 2025, more than two years after the murders, Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder, avoiding the death penalty but receiving life in prison without parole. He now resides in Idaho’s maximum-security prison, where he has already filed multiple complaints, claiming verbal and sexual harassment by other inmates. His requests for a transfer have been denied.

For the victims’ families, the guilty plea closed one chapter but could never bring true closure. Kaylee, Madison, Xana, and Ethan’s lives were stolen in a crime so senseless that even today, the details haunt all who followed the case.

For Dylan Mortensen, the haunting memory of opening her bedroom door to see a masked killer in her home will forever mark the night she narrowly escaped becoming a victim herself.


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