One of the victims in the 2022 University of Idaho murders told police that she believed someone was "staring at her" outside the home shortly before the attack that killed four students, according to newly revealed police interview footage. Kaylee Goncalves, one of the four students murdered, had made the claim to her roommate, Bethany Funke, when asked if any of the residents had been stalked.
"Once Kaylee said, when everyone was, like, gone, and it was only Kaylee, and she was taking [her dog] out, she said she swears she saw someone staring at her," Funke told investigators. The incident was disclosed in a Netflix documentary titled "The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare."
Bryan Kohberger, then 31, was accused of fatally stabbing Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xania Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in their off-campus residence on November 13, 2022. Kohberger had no known connection to any of the victims prior to the killings.
Another surviving roommate, Dylan Mortensen, recounted hearing Goncalves scream and then move to a bathroom in the early hours of the morning. Mortensen also told officers she heard an unrecognized male voice say, "You're gonna be okay. I'm gonna help you." Peeking through her bedroom door, Mortensen saw a man she did not recognize pass by before she fled to Funke's room.
The two roommates then locked themselves in Funke's room and eventually asked a male friend to check on the other students. Authorities were not contacted until eight hours after the initial events. Moscow Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger, speaking in the documentary, suggested that shock and trauma could be reasons for the delay in reporting the incident.
The documentary also features body camera footage from the initial police response to the crime scene, showing officers' reactions upon discovering the victims' bodies.
Kohberger, who was studying criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time of the murders, pleaded guilty to the charges. This plea agreement spared him from facing the death penalty and resulted in four consecutive life sentences. However, Kohberger has since filed a petition to withdraw his guilty plea, alleging ineffective assistance of counsel, as reported by The New York Times.