Surviving Roommate Bethany Funke Speaks Out at Kohberger Sentencing: ‘I Was Terrified He’d Come for Me Next’

Bethany Funke, one of the two University of Idaho students who survived the brutal 2022 killings, spoke publicly for the first time at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger, the man who murdered her four roommates.

Though she did not appear in person, Funke shared her emotional victim impact statement through her close friend, Emily Alandt, who tearfully read her words in court.

“I was scared the person who did this would come for me next,” Funke wrote.
“The fear never really leaves.”

Funke said she hasn’t slept through a single night since the murders and still lives in fear of losing the people she loves. Yet she also shared a powerful sense of resolve.

“Every day I remind myself to live for them,” she said, referring to her roommates Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin — all murdered in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022.

A Night That Changed Everything

Funke was asleep during the attacks and only woke after receiving a message from fellow survivor Dylan Mortensen. The two became alarmed when they couldn’t get a response from their roommates. Funke recalled thinking that if they went upstairs, they’d probably just be teased for overreacting.

Instead, she and Mortensen locked themselves in a room and spent hours texting the others, unaware that they had been killed. It wasn’t until nearly noon that the two went upstairs and made the horrifying discovery.

Until the sentencing, Funke and Mortensen were identified only by their initials — B.F. and D.M. — in court documents. This marked their first time addressing the court publicly about the killings.

Kohberger Sentenced to Life Without Parole

Bryan Kohberger, 30, appeared in a Boise courtroom on July 2 and formally admitted to the murders of the four students. He is expected to serve four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole.

During his sentencing, both Funke and Mortensen submitted victim impact statements, reflecting on the lasting trauma and fear they continue to carry.

Funke had previously tried to avoid being involved in the legal process altogether, even fighting a subpoena from Kohberger’s defense team. But on this day, she chose to speak — through tears, through a friend — and reclaim her voice in a case that shook the nation.

“This was the worst day of my life,” she wrote. “But I will not let it define my future.”