Idaho stabbings survivors break their silence
The surviving roommates in last month’s fatal, unsolved University of Idaho stabbings expressed devastation over the murders as they broke their silence with a pair of letters.
The letters by Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were read Friday at a memorial service for the four victims that wasn’t open to the media, the Idaho Statesman reported Saturday.
“I wish every day that I could give them all one last hug and say how much I loved them,” Funke wrote in her letter, which was read by a pastor at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls, Idaho.
Police say Mortensen and Funke aren’t considered suspects in the Nov. 13 attack at their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, that left students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle dead.
The victims, who were all in their early 20s, each likely suffered multiple stab wounds while sleeping, an autopsy determined. Authorities haven’t named a suspect, revealed a motive or recovered the murder weapon.
“They changed the way I look at life,” Mortensen wrote in his letter. “I know it’ll be hard to not have the four of them in our lives, but I know Xana, Ethan, Maddie and Kaylee would want us to live life and be happy. They would want us to celebrate their lives.”
It’s unclear if Mortensen or Funke attended the memorial service in person.
Moscow Police have repeatedly urged the public not to believe rumors about the case amid a lack of answers, saying in an update Friday, “Online reports of the victims being tied and gagged are not accurate.”
“We remain consistent in our belief that this was a targeted attack, but investigators have not concluded if the target was the residence or if it was the occupants,” police said.
Police previously said they haven’t been able to verify tips that Goncalves spoke about having a stalker.
Goncalves called her boyfriend seven times in under 30 minutes on the morning of the murders between around 2:30 to 3 a.m., and Mogen called him three times in that span, Goncalves’ sister says. The killings are believed to have occurred between 3 to 4 a.m.
“At 2:26 a.m., Kaylee starts to call Jack,” Alivea Goncalves told Inside Edition. “Kaylee calls Jack six times between 2:26 a.m. and 2:44 a.m. From 2:44 to 2:52 Maddie calls Jack three times, then Kaylee makes a final call to him at 2:52 a.m.”
Last month, police said “a male whom Madison and Kaylee had called several times” isn’t considered a suspect.
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