Netflix's new three-part documentary The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare revisits one of the biggest unanswered questions surrounding the University of Idaho murders: why did surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke wait several hours before calling 911?
The delay has fuelled speculation online, with many questioning why emergency services were not contacted sooner after four students – Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – were fatally stabbed inside their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on 13 November 2022, by Bryan Kohberger.
Now, the documentary features new insight from Moscow Police officer Anthony Dahlinger, as well as friends and family members, who explain why investigators believe the two surviving roommates reacted the way they did.
Why did Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke wait to call 911?
According to investigators, the attacks took place between around 4am and 4.20am inside the three-storey home at 1122 King Road.
Court documents state that Dylan Mortensen woke several times during the night after hearing noises upstairs. She later told police she heard what sounded like Kaylee Goncalves saying, "There's someone here", before hearing crying coming from Xana Kernodle's bedroom and a man's voice saying, "It's OK, I'm going to help you."
Dylan then opened her bedroom door for a third time and saw a man dressed in black, wearing a mask covering his nose and mouth, walk past her towards the home's sliding glass door. Investigators later theorised that she entered into a "frozen shock phase" before locking herself inside her bedroom.
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The Netflix documentary reveals that Dylan immediately texted fellow surviving roommate Bethany Funke after seeing the masked man, telling her she was frightened and that her phone battery was running low. The pair remained inside the house together, attempting to contact the other roommates but receiving no response.
The series also reveals that, after Kaylee Goncalves' family gained access to her phone following her death, they discovered she had repeatedly tried to call her ex-boyfriend, Jack DuCoeur, during the early hours of the morning, but had not attempted to call 911. Jack was interviewed by police but had what investigators determined to be a solid alibi, having spent the evening with friends before going to bed and missing the calls.
Speaking in an interview shown in the documentary, Jack explains that Kaylee had often phoned him when she felt uneasy. "Kaylee has called me when walking home, if she thinks someone is watching or following her... to have someone on the phone," he says. "She got creeped out."
Bethany also recalls that around a month before the murders, Kaylee had confided that she felt a man had been watching her while taking her dog outside late one evening.
What happened before the 911 call?
Rather than immediately realising a quadruple murder had taken place, investigators believe the two surviving roommates were trying to make sense of an extraordinary and traumatic situation.
According to police, Dylan later joined Bethany downstairs, where the pair remained together while continuing to try to contact the other housemates. As the morning went on and nobody responded, concern grew.
The roommates eventually contacted friends, including Hunter Johnson, asking them to come to the King Road house. After arriving, Hunter discovered Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin and realised something was seriously wrong.
At 11:56am, Bethany called 911 to report what dispatch records described as an "unconscious person". When officers arrived, they found Xana and Ethan downstairs before discovering Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves dead upstairs.
What has Anthony Dahlinger said about the delay?
One of the documentary's most significant contributions comes from Moscow Police officer, Anthony Dahlinger, who addresses the eight-hour gap directly.
"Why did the roommates wait eight hours to call the police?" he says. "There are so many reasons why you may not. People are in shock, it's traumatic. I can't imagine being of that age and being able to comprehend that this horrific thing just occurred."
Elsewhere in the documentary, Dahlinger explains that the psychological impact of trauma should not be underestimated.
"Shock and trauma can do a lot of damage to people," he says. "It can impair judgment. It can impair thought processes."
Xana Kernodle's friend, Kacy Johnston, also defends Dylan and Bethany in the documentary.
"I don't blame them for making the phone call a little bit late," she says. "I can only imagine what was going through their minds. If it were me in their shoes, I would have never believed what occurred in that house that night."
The series also includes bodycam footage of officers discussing Dylan's account shortly after arriving at the scene. In the footage, one officer remarks that she had seen a masked man inside the house before another responds: "This girl's lucky to be alive."
Could an earlier 911 call have saved the Idaho college victims?
In The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare, Kaylee Goncalves' parents explain they asked the coroner that very question after their daughter's heartbreaking death.
"We asked the coroner if somebody had called 911, could anybody have been saved," Kristi Goncalves says. "The answer was no."
Their comments reinforce what investigators have consistently maintained throughout the case: despite speculation surrounding the delay, there is no evidence that calling emergency services sooner would have changed the outcome for Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle or Ethan Chapin.
Instead, the documentary argues that Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were two traumatised young women attempting to process an unimaginable event, and that the intense scrutiny they later faced online only compounded that trauma.
