In a new filing, Kohberger’s lawyers give more insight into the roommates’ actions before calling police … while prosecutors share a selfie the suspect took hours after the killings.
Lawyers on both sides of the Bryan Kohberger quadruple murder case entered new court filings this week — shedding light into the actions of both the suspected killer and the roommates of the victims before and after the slayings.
In the new filing, Kohberger’s lawyers argue more phone records need to be shown outside of the “select portion” previously highlighted by the state from the early morning hours of November 13, 2022 — the night Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin and Madison Mogen were killed.
The docs include additional cell phone activity from surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, after the pair frantically began messaging each other in the moments immediately after their roommates’ killer left their home.
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Prosecutors previously said Kernodle received a DoorDash order at 4am that morning, before a security camera near her room picked up “distorted audio of what sounded like voices or a whimper followed by a loud thud” at 4:17am. The attacker is believed to have left the home around that time.
Per the state’s original filing, just a few minutes later, at 4:19am, one of the two roommates — Dylan Mortensen, who saw someone in the home — tried calling three of the victims, but received no answer. At 4:22, Mortensen then began texting Bethany Funke, saying, “No one is answering. I’m rlly confused rn.”
She then texted victim Goncalves, asking, “Kaylee … what’s going on.” Funke then allegedly responded to Mortensen saying, “Ya dude wtf … Xana was wearing all black.”
“I’m freaking out rn,” said Mortensen, per the docs, adding, “No it’s like a ski mask almost.” After Funke allegedly said, “Stfu … actually,” Moretensen responded, “Like he had sometbinf over is for head and little nd mouth … I’m not kidding o am so freaked out.”
When Funke said she was too, Mortensen told her that her phone was about to die, prompting Funke to tell her to “come to my room.” Funke then added, “Run. Down here.” At 4:24, Mortensen then allegedly called victim Chapin, who did not answer, before texting Funke, “Im scRwd tho.” Funke responded by writing, “Ya IK but it’s better than being alone.”
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The state’s “selections” then jump to 10:34am, when Mortensen texted both Goncalves and Mogen — pleading with the former to “Pls answer,” while asking both of them, “R u up??”
It wasn’t until noon the same day that someone finally called 911 after Kernodle was found unresponsive.
In the filing, defense attorneys write, “The State claims [Mortensen] woke up and realized her roommates had not responded to her earlier texts. The State is wrong.”
“[Funke] and [Mortensen] texted each other a handful of times and then they were in the same bedroom. They were together with the ability to talk to each other,” the filing continued. “They were not asleep for 8 hours.”
“[Mortensen] was awake. She was messaging on Snapchat, she was on Instagram and she text with her dad: and this is not an exhaustive list of activity on her phone,” said the defense. “She was with BF who was also communicating with her parents and then later friends.”
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The full phone log for the pair shows additional attempts from them both to reach Goncalves around 4:30am, before Funke used Snapchat and Instagram. There’s then a 3-hour gap, before Funke calls her father around 7:30AM, mother at 8:02, before her dad called back at 8:09AM.
From there, there are records showing Mortensen on Instagram and TikTok, as well as texting with family, before texting both Mogen and Goncalves. After more texts between Mortensen and Funke, Funke called 911 at 11:56am.
“The State has asked the court to look at a timeline and Mr. Kohberger urges the court to look at everything that occurred during the timeline,” asks defense.
In their filings, the state, meanwhile, claims Kohberger purchased a military knife, sheath and knife sharpener over Amazon before the murders. They also included a selfie the suspect took on the morning of November 13, hours after the killings (above left). In it, he appears to give a thumbs up to the camera, standing in front of the shower in a button-down shirt.
Kohberger has continued to maintain his innocence. His trial is set for mid-August.
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