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Bill Thompson, who put off his retirement to pursue the case, reveals why he believes Kohberger let Mortensen live -- despite having "a hard time imagining that the killer did not see Dylan."
The lead prosecutor in the Bryan Kohberger case is speaking out on why he believes the convicted killer spared the life of one of the roommates of the University of Idaho murder victims.
Both Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke survived, while Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were all brutally murdered in November 2022. Speaking with authorities, Mortensen said she saw a man with "bushy" eyebrows and a black ski mask in the house as she "peeked out of her bedroom" -- and now prosecutor Bill Thompson has shared his theory as to why she's still alive today.
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View Story"From what Dylan described, I have a hard time imagining that the killer did not see Dylan," Thompson said in an interview with The Idaho Statesman. "At that point, he'd been in the house probably longer than he planned, and he had killed more people than he planned. 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."
Mortensen told police the man was carrying a "container" when she saw him, something Thompson added was consistent with other interviews. It's unknown what he had in his hands.
Thompson also told the outlet he and investigators believe Goncalves or Mogen may have been the convicted killer's intended target, as he went immediately to the floor they were on. The order of their murders, however, remains a mystery to investigators ... as does the murder weapon.
Though authorities believe a knife was used in the slayings, it has never been recovered.
"There were injuries that appeared to have been caused by something other than the knife, although it could have been the knife,” Thompson said. "I don't think we can exclude the possibility that there was an additional weapon involved."
Mortensen was in court for Kohberger's sentencing earlier this month, giving a powerful victim impact statement in which she called him a "hollow vessel, something less than human, a body without empathy, without remorse."
"I couldn't be alone. I had to sleep in my mom's bed because I was too terrified to close my eyes. Terrified that if I blinked, someone might be there," Mortensen, 21, said, while describing the effects the murders had on her.
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View Story"It's far beyond anxiety," she said of panic attacks she's suffered in the wake of the killings. "It's my body reliving everything over and over again. My nervous system never got the message that it is over, and it won't let me forget what he did to them. People call me strong, they say I'm a survivor, but they don't see what my new reality looks like."
"Speaking today is to help me find some sort of justice for them, and I will never let him take that from me. He may have taken so much from me, but he will never get to take my voice," she continued. "He will never take the memories I had with them. He will never erase the love we shared, the laughs we had or the way they made me feel seen and whole. Those things are mine. They are sacred, and he will never touch them."
"I get to feel sadness. I get to feel rage. I get to feel joy even when it's hard. I get to feel love even when it hurts. I get to live, and while I will still live with this pain, at least I get to live my life," Mortensen concluded. "He will stay here, empty, forgotten and powerless."
Kohberger was sentenced to four life terms in prison without the possibility of parole, after pleading guilty in a plea deal that spared him the death penalty.
