BOISE, Idaho (TNND) — Panicked conversations between two surviving roommates in the University of Idaho murders case were revealed in a newly unsealed court filing.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21 and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were brutally killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022.
Bryan Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing the four friends in a rental home near their campus in Moscow, Idaho.
On the night of the murders, two of the victims’ surviving roommates were frantically trying to reach their friends, according to excerpted text messages included in court documents that were released on Thursday.
The roommates, identified in court documents only as DM and BF, appear to have been awake and texting about a masked man dressed in black in their house around the time police believe the victims were being killed.
One roommate texted after 4 a.m. that they were “freaking out” about possibly seeing a man in the house wearing what appeared to be a ski mask. The messages also said the roommate had tried calling their other roommates but none had answered their phones.
One of the survivors, identified by the initials D.M. in court documents, told the other surviving roommate identified as B.F. that no one was answering calls and that they were really confused.
“I’m freaking out,” D.M. then texted B.F., describing seeing a man with something over his head and mouth “like a ski mask almost.”
B.F. then told D.M. to run to their room.
Text messages between roommates, identified in court documents as DM and BF. (The National News Desk)
The next morning, D.M. sends the following text messages starting at 10:23 a.m. to Goncalves and Mogen.
D.M. to Goncalves: “Pls answer”
D.M. to Mogen: “R u up”
D.M. to Goncalves: “R u up??”
The texts shed more light on the timeline prosecutors aim to use in their case against the suspect.
FILE – Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court, May 22, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, Pool, File)
Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
A trial is expected to begin Aug. 11 and last for more than three months.
