Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke's testimonies will have ‘invaluable’ impact on Bryan Kohberger trial, expert says
This article is based on sources and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently.
MOSCOW, IDAHO: Testimonies by roommates of the Idaho murder victims will have an "invaluable" impact on the jury because they knew the four college students allegedly killed by Brian Kohberger "more intimately than anybody else," a forensic expert believes. Kohberger, 28, a former criminology PhD student, is remanded in custody at the Latah County jail ahead of a preliminary hearing scheduled for June 26, 2023, which will decide if he stands trial for the brutal slayings.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in an off-campus rental home in the early hours of November 13. Their roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke survived the attack, with forensic expert Joseph Scott Morgan insisting their respective testimonies would be "invaluable" at Kohberger's potential trial.
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Mortensen and Funke knew victims 'intimately'
“I think that they’re gonna be invaluable," Morgan, a distinguished scholar of applied forensics at Jacksonville State University who is not working on the Kohberger case, told The Sun. “It gives insight into talking about the people that the victims were 'cause they lived with them, they knew them probably more intimately than anybody else." While Mortensen and Funke could help the jury better understand the victims, they could also potentially reveal any red flags they may have noticed in the days leading up to the murders. “From an evidentiary standpoint, they’re gonna be asked, what can you tell us about that day, that evening, or maybe the days proceeding," Morgan, who also hosts the true-crime podcast Body Bags, said. According to him, the roommates can be asked questions like, “Did you know of any kind of threat to your roommates? Had they said anything in passing? Had any comment been made about some weird person stalking them?”
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Morgan believes the jury may also identify with the roommates' living situation. “They’re going to have a lot of value and eyes of the jury 'cause the jury can identify with living under the same roof as somebody, they know what that's like," he explained. The forensic expert noted that the jury would also know what it's like to “divulge” things to people “in their family situation or home situation that they don’t tell anybody else."
Morgan said the roommates will also be questioned about the hours leading up to the quadruple homicide. “Then they’re gonna get into the specifics of the timeline," he told the newspaper. "What happened in those hours? What happened that evening? Do you recall what was said to you before this person left? Or if that person left? Or did they tell you where they were going? Why weren't you with them? What were you doing that evening? I know certainly the defense will ask those questions," he added. The forensics expert also pointed to some key pieces of evidence that would be crucial for the prosecution to make their case, including the knife sheath that was left at the crime scene.
Dylan Mortensen's account
During her police interview, Mortensen allegedly said she woke up around 4 am on the day of the murders, took a peek outside of her room, and heard who she thought was Goncalves say "there's someone here," per court documents. After looking outside of her room for a second time, she said she heard crying coming from Kernodle's room and a male voice telling her something like, "It's okay, I'm going to help you," court documents state.
Mortensen apparently left her room for a third time after hearing more screams, but remembered entering "a frozen shock phase" after seeing a male figure walk past her wearing "black clothing and a mask that covered the person's mouth and nose." She described the figure as an "athletically built" man, five feet ten inches or taller with "bushy eyebrows," per court documents. Investigators believe Kohberger was the man Mortensen saw on the day of the murders, The Sun reported.