The audio of a 911 call made after four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death has been released.
Authorities in Idaho released the call on Friday following the quadruple homicide that happened following in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13 2022.
In the call, which appears to have been made by someone who did not live at the address, a female caller can be heard hysterically sobbing.
The woman can be heard through deep sobs saying: ‘Something happened in our house’.
The phone was passed to another individual who mentioned that one of their housemates was unconscious, had been drinking the night before, and was unresponsive. They also reported seeing a man in their residence the previous night.
A male voice is also heard on the phone, saying hello and the dispatcher asked them to stop passing the phone around.
The male also told the dispatcher that the woman was not breathing. The call ended shortly afterward when police arrived.
Bryan Kohberger, 30, is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kayleen Goncalves.
Kohberger, a criminology PhD student, was arrested six weeks later and accused of the slayings. He denies involvement in the crime.
Investigators focused on Kohberger as the main suspect after discovering his DNA on a brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath located next to Mogen’s body at the gruesome crime scene.
During the time of the killings, Mogen, Goncalves, and Kernodle shared the three-story house in Moscow with two other housemates, Mortensen and Bethany Funke.
They were inside the home at the time of the murders but escaped unscathed.
Mortensen, whose bedroom was on the second floor, came face-to-face with a masked man in the immediate aftermath of the murders, according to court documents.
She told investigators that she had been woken by noises in the home at around 4am that morning and had heard a voice say ‘there’s someone here.’
She also heard what sounded like whimpering coming from Kernodle’s room and a man’s voice saying: ‘It’s ok, I’m going to help you.’
Mortensen told investigators she had opened her door and peeked outside three times.
The third time, she said she saw a masked man with ‘bushy eyebrows’ and dressed in black walk past her door and head towards the sliding back doors of the home.
The defense is now asking the judge to block any evidence referencing ‘bushy eyebrows’ and to block Mortensen from using those words to identify Kohberger when she testifies at trial.
Touch DNA found on the sheath was traced to the 30-year-old suspect using Investigative Genetic Geneaology (IGG), according to prosecutors.
A judge previously entered a not-guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf, prosecutors have said they are seeking the death penalty if he is convicted.
In a closed-door hearing in January, the Kohberger’s attorneys tried to have the DNA evidence tossed from his trial by claiming the use of IGG had violated his constitutional rights and that the state neglected to document its use of the investigative method correctly in search warrants.
In February, the judge turned down the defense’s request, allowing the state to present this key evidence to the jury.
Just days after the ruling was handed down, the defense underwent a major shake-up, bringing on board attorney Bicka Barlow, who is known for specializing in forensic DNA evidence.
A judge previously entered a not-guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.
Kohberger’s trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11 and expected to last more than three months.
He has so far offered up a vague alibi for the night of the murders claiming he was driving around at night looking at the stars.
No witnesses can corroborate where he was, his attorney Anne Taylor admitted in a court filing.
