A roommate of four University of Idaho students who were killed in their home in 2022 says she has suffered years of harassment, threats and unfounded accusations and wants to ensure her face is blurred in soon-to-be-released investigative footage, court documents show.
Dylan Mortensen told police she saw a strange man with bushy eyebrows and a ski mask at her home the night her roommate was killed. She detailed the impact of the case on her in a Latah County court filing, saying her life has “changed in ways I never imagined.”
Mortensen said in her Oct. 29 affidavit that the “substantial amount of attention and hostility” she has received has “affected nearly every aspect of her life.”
She said it forced her and her family to move nine times while enduring “years of hateful messages and threats.”
Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty on November 13, 2022 and was sentenced to life in prison last year. His assassination traumatized the tight-knit community of Moscow, Idaho.
He is currently trying to withdraw the request.
It’s unclear what motivated the killings or why Mortensen and another roommate were spared.
Judge Megan Marshall ordered the records released last month after EWU Media, the company that produces the crime documentaries, sued the city of Moscow.
In Mortensen’s affidavit in support of her motion to intervene in the case, she asked Marshall to help ensure that her face is blurred out in any police interviews, body camera footage and other investigative recordings to be released.
She said her statement to law enforcement can be heard on a recording that has been released.
“Despite current privacy protections, I have been recognized and I am concerned that providing additional footage of my face will make it easier for strangers to recognize me in everyday life,” Mortensen wrote.
Marshall wrote in the Oct. 20 decision that the city had not demonstrated that specific records had been properly retained and ordered the city to disclose them because there was no applicable exemption from the Idaho Public Records Act.
Here are the latest reports about Bryan Kohberger:
Marshall said the bill does not broadly exempt witnesses in investigations.
The Associated Press reached out to the city for comment Tuesday via email and phone. The Associated Press also requested comment from EWU Media and Mortensen’s attorney via email.
A hearing on the motion is scheduled for next week.
Mortensen said she received “numerous unsolicited messages from strangers accusing me of involvement in my friends’ murders, blaming me for their deaths, and making brutal statements about what they believed should have happened to me.”
Mortensen said in the affidavit that she used a pseudonym at work and often introduced herself by a different name.
She said she doesn’t use her real name to deliver packages because she doesn’t want people to know where she lives.
She said that while she knew there were photos and videos of her online and that her identity was known to the public, she believed there were “significant differences between the photos and videos people have seen of me and the lengthy interviews and body camera recordings conducted by police during one of the most traumatic and vulnerable times of my life.”
Mortensen said releasing “extended footage” of how she speaks, reacts and expresses herself will not only make her more recognisable, but she also doesn’t want her facial expressions to be used as fodder for people to analyze, criticize or accuse.
“I want to be able to work, meet new people, attend concerts, celebrate important moments with friends, and enjoy ordinary experiences without having to constantly worry about being recognized or confronted,” she wrote.