The chief of police in an Idaho college town rocked by Bryan Kohberger's deadly home invasion stabbings is pushing back on reports that a surviving roommate overheard the killer referring to one of the victims by name.
The clarification comes amid reports that surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen overheard Kohberger mention 21-year-old victim Kaylee Goncalves by name at the time of the murders.
"I'm not quite sure where they got that, that report, but that doesn't seem accurate to me," Moscow Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger told Fox News' Paul Mauro this week.
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Dylan Mortensen gets a hug after speaking at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse, for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years ago. (Kyle Green/AP via Pool)
Dahlinger's department released hundreds of pages of documents on the case last month after Kohberger's sentencing. Then Idaho State Police released more than 500 additional pages over the weekend.
The disputed claim appears on page 91 of the state police documents, in a second-hand conversation:
"Sometime in the early morning hours, [Mortensen] was awoken and opened her room door and heard a male say 'It's OK Kaylee, I'm here for you' and crying," reads a narrative summary from Idaho State Trooper Jeffory Talbott, based on information he said he received from Moscow Police Sgt. Dustin Blaker.
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The reports are based on this excerpt from page 91 of more than 500 pages of documents released by the Idaho State Police this week. (Idaho State Police)
"The only thing that I believe was reported was that he said something – someone heard a voice say something along the lines of, ‘It's OK, I'm here to help you,'" Dahlinger said.
Mortensen, who came within 3 feet of Kohberger on the night of the massacre but escaped harm herself, overheard that utterance, according to court documents as well as recently released police records.
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She told police she thought she heard Goncalves, one of the four stabbing victims, but later said that it was probably Xana Kernodle, 20, another roommate killed in the attack.
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Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Prior to Kohberger's guilty plea, the defense attacked her credibility and alleged that her story had shifted over the course of multiple interviews with police.
Those claims proved irrelevant when he admitted to the crimes as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty, which prosecutors would have sought if the jurors convicted him at trial.
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The other two victims were Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho, for brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death nearly three years ago. (AP Photo/Kyle Green, Pool)
Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and another of felony burglary.
Idaho Judge Steven Hippler sentenced him to four consecutive life prison terms without the possibility of parole, plus another 10 years. Under the deal, he waived his right to appeal and to seek a reduced sentence.
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Authorities have maintained that they could prove Kohberger targeted the home at 1122 King Road – but not which roommate or roommates he was after. He stalked the location at least a dozen times before the murders and returned to the scene hours later.
Tune in for Mauro's full interview with Chief Dahlinger Thursday morning on "FOX & Friends."