{"id":31651,"date":"2025-07-23T18:13:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:13:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=31651"},"modified":"2025-07-23T18:13:58","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T18:13:58","slug":"idaho-murder-survivor-dylan-mortensen-who-was-spared-by-bryan-kohberger-sobs-as-she-faces-him-in-court-and-he-stares-her-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/?p=31651","title":{"rendered":"Idaho murder survivor Dylan Mortensen, who was spared by Bryan Kohberger, sobs as she faces him in court \u2014 and he stares her down"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The University of Idaho roommate who survived Bryan Kohberger\u2019s vicious massacre faced the killer for the first time since she saw him and his \u201cbushy eyebrows\u201d the night of the killing \u2013 and described him as an \u201cevil\u201d and empty coward during emotional impact statements.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is a hollow vessel, something less than human. A body without empathy, without remorse,\u201d survivor Dylan Mortensen sobbed she told the Boise courtroom during Kohberger\u2019s sentencing Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Kohberger stared Mortensen down with his characteristically cold expression as she spoke. Shackled and wearing an orange prisoner\u2019s jumpsuit, it was the same dead-eyed expression he had throughout the proceedings as friends and family described the horrors he wrought.<\/p>\n

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\"Dylan6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
The second roommate who survived Bryan Kohberger\u2019s University of Idaho massacre eviscerated the confessed killer during a heart-wrenching victim impact statement.AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing.AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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The second survivor, Bethany Funke, apparently could not face Kohberger in court \u2013 and had a friend read her statement.<\/p>\n

She described finding the bodies of her friends and roommates, and getting death threats from people who were obsessed with that case and thought she was responsible because she lived.<\/p>\n

Mortensen was in the Moscow home on November 13, 2022, when Kohberger stalked through its rooms with a Ka-Bar knife, killing Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20, as they slept.<\/p>\n

And she even caught a glimpse of the killer as he walked by her \u2014 with her description of a masked man with \u201cbushy eyebrows\u201d proving instrumental in linking him to the crime.<\/p>\n

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\"Photo6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Dylan Mortensen, Xana Kernodle, Bethany Funke, Kaylee Goncalves, and Maddie MogenMaddie Mogen\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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\"Two6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
Surviving roommate Bethany Funke (left) and victim Maddie Mogen (right).Maddie Mogen\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

But for some reason, Kohberger left Mortensen and Funke alive \u2013 and both said they\u2019ve grappled with crushing survivor\u2019s guilt ever since.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy me? Why did I get to live and not them?\u201d Funke said in a statement read by a friend after she was unable to face Kohberger.<\/p>\n

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Follow the Post\u2019s live updates on Bryan Kohberger\u2019s sentencing for the latest news<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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Funke recalled how she and Mortensen expected to be laughing \u201c\u2019til we couldn\u2019t breathe\u201d with her friends when they all woke up the morning of the attacks.<\/p>\n

But instead, she found her friends hacked to death by Kohberger \u2014 and she said she\u2019s been traumatized since.<\/p>\n

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\"Bethany6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
\u201cWhy me? Why did I get to live and not them?\u201d Funke said in a statement read by a friend after she was unable to face Kohberger.Bethany Funke\/Instagram<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI have not slept through a single night since this happened,\u201d she added, explaining that she constantly wakes up in a panic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fear never really leaves,\u201d Funke added.<\/p>\n

Mortensen said she\u2019s also been plagued by panic attacks since the night of the killings, and that every time she walks into a room she finds herself looking for exits and plotting escape plans.<\/p>\n

After taking a long moment to breathe and collect herself, Mortensen sobbed through her statement and evidently moved numerous people throughout the courtroom \u2013 except for Kohberger, who stared her down and barely blinked as she described what he\u2019d taken from the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of him, four beautiful, genuine, compassionate people were taken from this world for no reason,\u201d she said. \u201cHe didn\u2019t just take their lives, he took the light they carried into every room.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"A6<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/div>
And Mortensen said not only has her life been wrenched apart by Kohberger, but that the lives of countless friends and families have been obliterated.AP<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cHe took away the ability to tell them that I love them and that I\u2019m so proud of them,\u201d she added. \u201cAll of it is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Kohberger even remained unmoved when she described his fate as he faces four conservative life terms in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe chose destruction. He chose evil. He feels nothing,\u201d Mortenson said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The University of Idaho roommate who survived Bryan Kohberger\u2019s vicious massacre faced the killer for the first time since she saw him and his \u201cbushy eyebrows\u201d the night … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31652,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31651","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31651"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31651\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31653,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31651\/revisions\/31653"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31652"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31651"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31651"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usdailys.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31651"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}