Bryan Kohberger Case: Judge Rules Roommate Can Testify About Key Detail

A judge presiding over the case involving accused University of Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger has ruled that a surviving roommate can testify about seeing an “intruder” with “bushy eyebrows” inside the house the night of the murders.

Newsweek reached out to Kohberger’s lawyers via email Friday for comment.

Why It Matters

Kohberger, 30, is accused of fatally stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20, in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022.

Two roommates at the residence, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, were unharmed in the attack.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He has pleaded not guilty in the death penalty-eligible case and is set to stand trial in August.

Meanwhile, the college students’ deaths sparked outrage and consumed social media for months in the aftermath as the case unfolded.

What To Know

In a Friday order, District Judge Steven Hippler said that “D.M.’s testimony about ‘bushy eyebrows’ is highly relevant in this case. D.M. is the only eyewitness to the intruder responsible for the homicides. It is the jury’s task to determine whether Defendant is that person.”

The judge added that her testimony regarding the key detail about the intruder has been “consistent and clear” despite not being able to provide enough detail to create a composite sketch.

D.M. noted that the intruder was wearing a mask and the judge said not being able to provide enough for a sketch is “unsurprising.”

The judge concluded by denying Kohberger’s lawyers request about the specific testimony adding, “This is matter for cross-examination by Defendant and any concerns with D.M.’s ability to perceive and remember what she claims she saw may be tested in that manner.”

Kohberger’s defense has also argued to strike the death penalty from the case, citing Kohberger’s alleged autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

In a court filing last month, the state argued against removing the death penalty, saying in part: “Defendant argues that it would violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment to impose a sentence of death because he has ASD. His argument fails for multiple independent reasons.”

Bryan Kohberger can be seen listening to arguments during a hearing to overturn his grand jury indictment on October 26, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho.

Kai Eiselein-Pool/Getty Images

What Dylan Mortensen Previously Revealed

Mortensen told police the most descriptive information—since she encountered the suspected killer on his way out of the house.

Mortensen opened her bedroom door on the second floor of the house several times shortly after 4 a.m. Mortensen told police she was awoken by what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the third-floor bedrooms. Later on, Mortensen said she thought she heard Goncalves say something along the lines of “There’s someone here.” Mortensen peeked out of her bedroom again when she thought she heard crying from Kernodle’s room and a male voice saying something sounding like, “It’s ok, I’m going to help you.”

When Mortensen opened her door a third time, she saw a male figure clad in black clothing and wearing a mask over his mouth and nose.

Mortensen told police that she stood in a “frozen shock phase” as the figure walked past her and out the sliding door that allowed access to the second- and third-floor bedrooms. She described the man as having bushy eyebrows.

Former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer, who is not connected to the case, previously told Newsweek that Mortensen’s information was important to the investigation.

“She gives us insight as to the girls, meaning Maddy and Kaylee, being killed first and then Xana and Ethan later,” Coffindaffer said. “It makes it clear from her timelines and the reflections of what she shared and of course what she saw.”

Coffindaffer said Mortensen’s eyewitness account to the suspect also alerted investigators that there was one male perpetrator.

“[Mortensen] dialed down all those questions: one perpetrator, a male perpetrator, and gave a general description matching Bryan Kohberger,” Coffindaffer said.

What People Are Saying

Judge Steven Hippler in part in his Friday order: “Although she might have been intoxicated or tired or questioned her memory, the consistency of her descriptions suggest high degree of reliability. While Defendant may cross-examine D.M. about his concerns with her memory, his challenges to her competency and personal knowledge as basis for exclusion are unfounded.”

Legal analyst Neama Rahmani in a post on X, formerly Twitter, last month: “The biggest trials of 2025 are happening soon. Diddy may be the biggest, but Bryan Kohberger is right there. There hasn’t been a lot of evidence made public in the University of Idaho murders case because of the very broad (I think too broad) gag order and the parties (I think inappropriately) filing everything under seal. But the evidence is starting to trickle out, and we recently heard the 911 call of the surviving roommate who found the bodies…”