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 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’.
Another individual who received the phone stated that one of their housemates was unconscious, hinting that she had been drinking the previous night and was unresponsive. They also mentioned seeing a stranger in their residence the night before.
A male voice is also heard on the phone – before the dispatcher asks 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.
Kohberger became the primary suspect in the case after investigators discovered his DNA on a brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath located near Mogen’s body at the crime scene.
During the time of the tragic events, 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, 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 August 11 and is 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.
