New defense filings shed light on communications by roommates of killed University of Idaho students before 911 call

CNN

20-03-2025

New court filings in the University of Idaho case continue to fill out the timeline of communications by two surviving roommates in the hours between four other students were killed in their house and when they called 911.
The brutal killings of the four University of Idaho students – Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – took place at an off-campus residence in Moscow in 2022. Bryan Kohberger is charged with their murders, has pleaded not guilty and faces the death penalty in a trial that is set to begin in August.
In a court filing released Wednesday, defense attorneys for Kohberger took issue with what they say is the state prosecutors' selective use of phone records for surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke on the early morning of November 13, 2022.
They advocated for the judge to prohibit prosecutors from showing the prosecutor's selection of the roommates' messages to the jury – or for the judge to allow more phone records to be admitted at trial so the jury can see what they call a fuller picture of what transpired.
CNN previously reported that phone records show Mortensen and Funke exchanged panicked text messages when they couldn't reach their other housemates around the time investigators believe the killings occurred, between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
Mortensen texted Funke at 4:22, saying 'No one is answering.' Funke says, 'Ya dude wtf.'
Mortensen then texted Funke that she saw what looked like a masked man in their house, saying, 'I'm freaking out.'
Funke later texted Mortensen: 'Come to my room,' and 'run.'
The new defense filing says Funke accessed Snapchat and Instagram shortly after the text exchange and called her parents hours later.
Records previously released in a motion by prosecutors suggested Mortensen renewed her efforts to reach the others in the house at about 10:23 a.m. only after 'waking up and realizing that she had not heard from her roommates.'
But Kohberger's attorneys now say Mortensen joined Funke in her room and their phone activity was only dark for about three hours. According to the defense filing, Mortensen's phone records show that she was awake earlier than prosecutors claim she woke up.
The defense filing reveals a string of phone activity for Mortensen and Funke not previously made public.
Funke and Mortensen, identified by their initials in the court documents, were both using their phones by around 8 a.m., the new defense filing claims Funke first called her dad's phone at 7:30 a.m.
The defense's motion details the following call activity and social media access by the roommates, picking up hours after their text exchanges and Funke last accessing Instagram at 4:37 a.m.:
7:30 BF calls dad
8:00 BF calls dad
8:00 BF calls another number
8:01 BF calls home
8:02 BF calls mom
8:09 dad calls BF
8:05:43 – 10:00:45 DM on Instagram
8:41-8:42 BF takes photos
9:04:36 mom texts
BF 10:00:56 – 10:01:40 DM messages, incoming and outgoing (snapchat)
10:01:53 – 10:03:05 DM on Instagram
10:03:30 – 10:04:02 DM on Indeed
10:04:54 – 10:23:02 DM messages, incoming and outgoing (snapchat)
In the motion, Kohberger's attorneys dispute the prosecution's claims that Mortensen woke up to realize her roommates hadn't responded to her texts overnight.
Mortensen tried again to reach Goncalves and Mogen starting at 10:23 a.m., asking them if they were awake: 'R u up??'
The new defense filing says Mortensen used Snapchat, Instagram and TikTok and texted her dad hours before she reached out to Mogen and Goncalves again.
10:23:23 DM text MM
10:24:01 – 10:25:04 DM on Instagram
10:30:18 – 10:45:43 DM messages, incoming and outgoing (snapchat)
11:21:53 JM texts BF
10:56:49 – 11:29:08 DM on Instagram and messages on snapchat
11:29:27 DM text KG
11:29:41 – 11:32:45 DM on Instagram and messaging on snapchat
11:35:36 DM on Yik Yak
11:36:07 DM on Tik Tok
11:37:36 DM messages (snapchat)
11:39:09 -11:40:14 DM and dad text
11:49 BF calls JM
11:50:55 JM text DM
11:44:06 – 11:50:38 DM on Instagram
11:50:58 DM calls EA
11:51:01 JM texts DM
11 :54 :57-11 :55 :01 JM texts BF 3 texts
11:54:39 – 11:57:01 DM on Instagram
Funke eventually called 911 at 11:56 a.m. to report Kernodle unconscious at the residence, records show, and two other friends could be heard with them on the call.
A transcript of the surviving roommates' 911 call was also released with a filing earlier this month. The transcript shows the chaos as Mortensen and Funke pass the phone between them answering the dispatcher in fragmented responses.
The transcript does not identify the speakers by name but shows another unnamed friend with them also spoke to the dispatcher. Heavy breathing and crying can be heard throughout the call. CNN obtained an audio recording of the call after the transcript was released.
Prosecutors have indicated they expect both surviving roommates to testify at trial and want to use their text messages to illustrate the timeline of the night. Defense attorney Anne Taylor has pointed to what she described as inconsistencies in law enforcement interviews with Mortensen and Funke.
In the latest defense filing, Kohberger's attorney calls into question why the surviving roommates didn't call 911 sooner.
'Despite her stated fear of leaving her room she does so and joins BF downstairs. To get to BF's bedroom DM passed the front door of the residence. BF was steps from the front door. Neither of them left the house. Neither of them called friends, family or law enforcement for help,' the filing claims.
The defense brief was among dozens of court filings released Wednesday as the parties make their cases to the judge about what should and shouldn't be admissible evidence at trial.
In another defense filing released in the tranche, Kohberger's attorneys say, 'Many alternate perpetrators can be connected to the crime,' and they have evidence they want to show the court.
Prosecutors plan to call law enforcement witnesses to testify about a test run they conducted to show that it was possible to commit four homicides in a time frame of only minutes including time to walk to and from a car and remove blood-covered clothes, a defense filing says.
Kohberger's attorneys say they need an expert to testify about his developmental coordination disorder to show the jury he was not physically capable of committing the crime that they argue required such speed and coordination.