Revelations emerge about the conversations between the slain University of Idaho students' roommates prior to the 911 call, asserts the defense.
Update on University of Idaho Court Case:
The detailed timeline of communications by the two surviving roommates in the chilling hours following the brutal slaying of four students is becoming clearer. The senseless deaths unfolded at an off-campus housing in Moscow, Idaho in 2022. Bryan Kohberger, charged with these heinous murders, has pleaded not guilty and faces the death penalty in an impending trial slated for this August.
New court filings have shed light on the controversy surrounding the selective use of phone records for surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke on the fateful morning of November 13, 2022. Defence attorneys for Kohberger argue that the state prosecutors are only presenting a partial narrative and are urging the judge to either bar the presentation of their chosen roommates' communications to the jury or to allow more phone records to be introduced at trial for a more holistic view of the events.
CNN previously reported that Mortensen and Funke exchanged supposedly panicked text messages when they couldn't reach their other roommates around the time the killings are believed to have taken place, between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Funke texted Mortensen, "Come to my room," and "run." Mortensen reportedly saw a masked man in the house and texted, "I'm freaking out."
Funke accesses Snapchat and Instagram shortly after their exchange and calls her parents hours later. Records released earlier reveal that Mortensen renewed her efforts to reach the others in the house later, at about 10:23 a.m., only after "waking up and realizing that she had not heard from her roommates."
However, Kohberger's attorneys now argue that these timelines are incorrect. According to their claim, Mortensen was awake much earlier than prosecutors suggest. In fact, both Funke and Mortensen were using their phones by around 8 a.m., as the defence filing claims Funke called her dad's phone at 7:30 a.m. Phone activity details poured into the new defense filing in the subsequent hours, including calls, social media interactions, and direct messages across various platforms like Instagram, Snapchat, Indeed, and Yik Yak.
Indeed, Funke and Mortensen were not only online but apparently active within their home as well. The defense filing raises questions regarding the reasons behind the surviving roommates not calling for help sooner, given their supposed apprehension and fear after witnessing the alleged attack. However, they did not leave the house or seek outside help before calling the police at 11:56 a.m.
The surreal 911 call transcript, which was released earlier this month, showcases the chaos and distress experienced by Mortensen, Funke, and an unnamed friend, as they struggled to communicate with the dispatcher. Furthermore, prosecutors anticipate both surviving roommates to testify at trial and are considering using their text messages to clarify the sequence of events that night. Defense attorney Anne Taylor has pointed out what she described as inconsistencies in law enforcement interviews with Mortensen and Funke.
Meanwhile, Kohberger's lawyers have also requested for an expert witness to testify about his developmental coordination disorder, arguing that it would have rendered him physically incapable of committing the crime. Additionally, the defense revealed that they have evidence implicating multiple alternate suspects in the horrible crime.
The court filings are part of an ongoing battle to establish what evidence will be admissible at trial, as both parties prepare their cases before the judge.
Us, Dylan Mortensen, and Bethany Funke are at the center of the debate regarding the selective use of phone records by prosecutors in the University of Idaho court case. New filings suggest that Funke called her father as early as 7:30 a.m. on the fateful morning of November 13, 2022, raising questions about the timeline of events leading to the discovery of the killings. Additionally, the defense argues that Funke and I were active on Snapchat, Instagram, and other platforms around 8 a.m., suggesting that we may have been present within our home despite claims of fear and apprehension.
