[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
Certain details of University of Idaho Murder has been confounding because of the lack of transparency by the Moscow Police Department and other cooperating law enforcement agencies. (Though consider the efficacy of bringing the suspect Bryan Kohberger without incident, it’s hard to blame them for the way they handled it.) However, the more we learn, the more they all come into focus and tell a coherent story – even if that story is sometimes a tragedy of terrible mistakes…
One confusing detail? Roommates…
People of the house Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Magen, Xana Kernodleand Xana’s girlfriend Ethan Chapin, who was staying, were stabbed to death in bed on the morning of November 13. But there were two other girls living in the house who were not touched. That immediately begs a few questions – did the killer target one or more of these four in particular? Does he miss others? Is he running out of time? How did the two surviving roommates not hear the brutal murders that took place in the house??
Related: Pennsylvania Cold Case Under Review For Link To Bryan Kohberger!
This last question has now been answered by an unnamed source NewsNation on weekends. He claimed to be one of his roommates exercise heard everything that happened. He just didn’t know what he was hearing.
The insider said she immediately spoke to her surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen, and he told me that he thought the noises he heard were a party that night. In fact, he was so irritated by the commotion that he opened the bedroom door and yelled, “Quiet, you loudmouth!” and, “I’m trying to sleep!” He thought it was just typical college rowdiness. Imagine if he knew – he could have called the police at that point. Maybe even in time to save some victims. But being tired, he didn’t. He closed his door, locked it, and tried to go back to sleep.
What happened next was terrifying. We learned from the probable cause affidavit that one of the roommates saw the killer leave. (She did not recognize him at the time – it remains to be seen if she can positively identify the masked man she saw as Bryan Kohberger.) The roommate, who was identified as DM by the police, is clearly Dylan. Because the next part of his story explains that time.
Related: Goncalves Family Defends Roommate For Not Calling 911
He had yelled at his friends to be quiet. So when he heard another voice some time later, he opened the door to shout again. And that’s when he saw the killer walking towards him. The source said Dylan explained he wasn’t scared because he thought it was just some of his roommates leaving, walking down the hall to get to the sliding glass door. It makes perfect sense that he thought the noise was partying. Only night guests come out. Wear a mask for fear of the pandemic.
Why did the killer leave without trying to get her too? Or another living roommate?
That may have been explained last week with information from other sources NewsNation that Xana Kernodle was the last victim. The insider explained that Maddie and Kaylee, who were sleeping in bed as they often do, were killed first. Then the killer came up from his room and cut Ethan’s throat. However, Xana – as we’ve learned before – fights back. Hard. The source said he grabbed the killer’s knife repeatedly, sustaining deep cuts to his fingers in the process. And remember, he left his sheath behind – most likely because he tore it off in the struggle. And there is DNA in it. Maybe Xana took the blood before she died.
Since he was the last to kill, it makes sense why the killer didn’t go after the two roommates last. He made it so difficult for her, she probably thought she was running out of time. Heck, there’s no reason for him not to think the rest of the house is on alert and call the police. Of course he got out of there right away.
It means that Xana’s bravery saved her two friends, even though she couldn’t save her own life. And Dylan didn’t know – and was lucky enough not to know what happened until hours later.
[Image via Latah County Sheriff’s Office/Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram.]