Dylan Mortensen, one of two surviving roommates from the house where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in 2022, says years of online harassment, false accusations and threats have forced her family to relocate nine times.
Mortensen laid out the toll in an Oct. 29 affidavit filed in Latah County court, where she is asking a judge to ensure her face is blurred in investigative recordings set to be released publicly, including police interviews and body-camera footage.
“The amount of attention and hostility” she has received “has affected nearly every aspect” of her life, Mortensen said in the filing.
She told police she saw a man with bushy eyebrows wearing a ski mask in the home on the night her roommates were killed. Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the Nov. 13, 2022, killings and was sentenced to life in prison last year. He is now trying to withdraw that plea. No motive has been established, and it remains unclear why Mortensen and another roommate in the house were not harmed.
A Push for Privacy Amid a Public Records Fight
The case has reemerged in court after Judge Megan Marshall last month ordered the city of Moscow to release additional records, following a lawsuit by EWU Media, a company that makes crime documentaries. Marshall ruled on Oct. 20 that the city had not shown specific records were properly withheld under the Idaho Public Records Act, and she noted the law does not broadly shield the identities of witnesses in an investigation.
In response, Mortensen filed a motion to intervene, asking Marshall to require that her face be blurred in any newly released video. She said she is “already being recognized despite the privacy protections currently in place” and worries that additional footage “would make it even easier for strangers to identify me in everyday situations.”
“I am already being recognized despite the privacy protections currently in place, and I worry that making additional footage of my face available would make it even easier for strangers to identify me in everyday situations.”
Living Under an Alias
Mortensen’s filing describes the extent to which she has altered her daily life. She said she uses an alias at work, often introduces herself with a different name, and avoids using her real name for package deliveries so people cannot trace where she lives.
She said she has received “numerous unsolicited messages from strangers accusing me of participating in my friends’ murders, blaming me for their deaths, and making cruel statements about what they believe should happen to me.”
While she acknowledged that photographs and videos of her already circulate online and that her identity is publicly known, Mortensen argued there is “a significant difference between the photos and videos people have already seen of me and the lengthy police interviews and body-camera recordings taken during one of the most traumatic and vulnerable periods of my life.”
She said extended footage showing how she talks, reacts and expresses herself could make her easier to recognize, and she does not want her facial expressions “used as fodder for people to analyze, criticize or make accusations.”
“I want to be able to work, meet new people, attend concerts, celebrate important moments with friends, and enjoy ordinary experiences without constantly worrying about being recognized or confronted.”
The Associated Press sought comment from the city of Moscow, EWU Media and Mortensen’s attorney but did not immediately receive responses.
