Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke: Idaho student murders survivors
The Idaho student murders – also known as The Idaho Four Murders – was a harrowing crime that saw four young university students stabbed to death. The students were killed by a man named Bryan Kohberger, but there were two other inhabitants in the house who survived the ordeal. These students were Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, and they have been instrumental in the murder case.
Join us here at Crime+Investigation as we dive deeper into the stories of Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke and how they escaped a terrible fate.
The Idaho student murders
On 13th November, 2022, between 4am and 4:30am, six students at the University of Idaho in Moscow were residing in an off-campus house. The students in the house at the time were the five roommates – Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Dylan Mortensen, Bethany Funke, and Xana Kernodle – and Ethan Chapin, Xana’s boyfriend.
Madison, Kaylee, Xana and Ethan were stabbed to death by 28-year-old Bryan Kohberger in the early hours. Dylan and Bethany were left unharmed, despite Kohberger coming face-to-face with Dylan.
Dylan and Bethany on the night of the murders
Dylan’s room was on the second floor of the house, close to Xana’s room, while Bethany’s was on the first floor. On the night of the murders, Dylan woke up when she thought she heard Kaylee and her dog. Dylan opened her bedroom door twice and heard various noises, such as what she thought was crying coming from Xana’s room.
The third time she opened the door, Dylan saw a person wearing all black, with their nose and mouth covered by a mask. Dylan told authorities that the man walked right past her and left by going through a door in the kitchen. Dylan’s shock turned into intense fear, as she locked herself in her bedroom. She later said that she was intoxicated and had not thought to call 911 straight away.
A series of text messages sent around the time of the murders between Dylan and Bethany showed that they had fear of an intruder. Bethany eventually texted Dylan telling her to run downstairs to her room. The two stayed there for the rest of the night and into the morning while attempting to contact the victims via text. They did not call 911 until after they called other friends to the home to help.
Why were Dylan and Bethany spared?
There has been no confirmation as to why Kohberger did not attack Dylan or Bethany, but there have been several theories. Bill Thompson, prosecutor in the case, believed that fear and uncertainty could have been why Kohberger left Dylan when he saw her peering through her bedroom door. In an interview Thompson stated,
'At that point, he’d been in the house probably longer than he planned, and he had killed more people than he planned… It wouldn’t surprise us that the killer was scared at that point and decided they had to leave, not knowing if law enforcement already had been called.'
This seems quite likely, as Kohberger had probably wanted to get in and out of the house as quickly as possible after he had murdered his chosen victim. This already seemed to have failed, as he killed both Kaylee and Madison as they were sleeping in the same bed. Evidence also suggests that Xana and Ethan were murdered when they overheard a struggle and investigated (though this has not been completely confirmed).
What does Dylan and Bethany’s survival tell us about the case?
Along with the emotional human element, Dylan and Bethany’s survival also tells us a lot about the murders as a whole. The first standout point is that it suggests Kohberger seemed to have a specific target. This was not a sudden loss of control or a rage-fuelled impulse. It suggests calculation and premeditation. Dylan was not part of the plan, but she did not actively block Kohberger either, which seems to have been the case with some of the victims.
The Idaho student murders was a senseless crime, and although Dylan and Bethany’s survival is something to be thankful for, the girls have clearly been severely affected. They are still alive, but they will forever be haunted by the loss of their friends.
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