A surviving roommate of four University of Idaho students stabbed to death November 13 thought sounds she heard were from partying.
Dylan Mortensen asked the victims to quiet down and mistook the killer as a guest, according to a report from NewsNation that cited an unidentified source.
The report noted the NewsNation source spoke directly with Mortensen who allegedly yelled about the noises heard during the killings because she mistook them for partying. She reportedly first heard noises around 4 a.m., which prompted her to open her bedroom door and yell up to her roommates, “Calm down, you’re being loud” and “I’m trying to sleep.”
After yelling at her roommates, Mortensen reportedly closed her door and locked it.
She reportedly heard more loud noises later and opened her door again, according to the report.
The report noted she was not frightened as she saw the alleged killer walking down the hall toward her because she assumed he was a guest of the other roommates there, partying.
What the source told the news outlet presents a different version of events than what police reported in the probable cause affidavit underlying Bryan Kohberger’s arrest warrant. It details three instances experienced by a surviving roommate, who was identified only as “D.M.” by Moscow Police Officer Corporal Brett Payne.
Payne noted D.M. reported waking around 4 a.m. to what sounded like roommate Kaylee Goncalves playing with her dog. “A short time later, D.M. said she heard who she thought was Goncalves say something to the effect of ‘There’s someone here,'” according to the affidavit. Mortensen reportedly looked outside her bedroom again but did not see anyone.
She again opened her door after she heard crying from Xana Kernodle’s room and “a male voice say something to the effect of, ‘It’s ok, I’m going to help you,’” according to the affidavit. Again, Mortensen reportedly did not see anyone.
The third time D.M. opened her door, she told police she saw “a male figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her,” according to the affidavit.
Many remain baffled by why it took another eight or nine hours before someone at the King Road residence requested help from a 911 dispatcher.
Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer speculated Mortensen may have passed out from a combination of fear and intoxication, coupled with youth, after seeing an unknown man wearing all black and a mask inside her home late at night.
“Let’s talk DM: -21 -Late -Possibly under the influence -Face to Face with stranger in black feet away –Froze due to Fear -Locked herself in BR -I believe DM passed out from trauma/fear/stress -To think you could be killed is gripping; I know #idahosuspect,” she tweeted Jan. 6.
Beneath her caption, Coffindaffer linked to a report from Medical News Today about fight, flight or freeze responses.
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