Those who have followed along with the horrifically tragic Idaho murder case know that there have been many times when there have been more questions than answers. It’s been a journey with no shortage of twists and turns along the way.
Now, however, at least some of these answers may finally be revealed.
In November of 2022, four Idaho college students were brutally murdered in their off-campus home in Moscow. They included Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Two female roommates who were also in the home survived the attack uninjured.
The police eventually traced the murders to criminology student Bryan Kohberger. However, one of the biggest questions they wanted to answer was why Kohberger had spared the victims' roommate, Dylan Mortensen.
After hearing strange noises on the night of the murder, Mortensen peeked out of her bedroom door and ended up coming face-to-face with Kohberger. Shockingly, though, he decided to spare her.
Did he somehow not see her? Why would this blood thirsty killer, who had already taken the lives of four people in that home, decide to leave this young woman uninjured?
Idaho prosecutor Bill Thompson is now revealing what he believes is a likely explanation.
“From what Dylan described, I have a hard time imagining that the killer did not see Dylan,” he began.
“At that point, he’d been in the house probably longer than he planned, and he had killed more people than he planned," Thompson continued. "It wouldn’t surprise us that the killer was scared at that point and decided they had to leave, not knowing if law enforcement already had been called.”
As part of a plea deal, Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murder of all four victims. As a result, he avoided the death penalty and was instead sentenced to four consecutive life sentences and no chance of parole.
