A captivating and bizarre murder case. ~Sheila
Saturday, November 13th, 2022, Moscow Idaho. Four College students, Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen, return to their off-campus house around 2:00 am after an evening out. All lived in that house with two other roommates, except for Ethan, who was dating Xana and had come to stay the night. After a DoorDash order at 4 am, all were in their rooms.
Around this same time, a masked man entered the home through a sliding glass door. While both Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were also in the home at the time in their respective rooms, and both heard some noises, they also had been out drinking and didn’t think much of it. It wasn;t until the next morning, when their friends were not up yet that the 4 bodies were discovered.
The ability to trst the world around me had been taken away. What he did shattered me in places I didn;t know could break. I was barely 19 when he did this.
~ Dylan Mortenson survivig roommate – July 2025 at the hearing and sentencing of Bryan Kohberger
Recently looking for my next read (listen), I came across this title. With the trial scheduled for this month, and admittedly, not remembering much about the case, I chose this book.
Diving into the bigger picture, learning more about the student victims and who they were is an important part of this story. While some may say the back story is not needed as this is such a public case – I respectfully disagree. There are as we all know – many terrible things happening in our world, while many/most of us tuned into this tragedy in 2022, not all including myself, have kept up with all the goings on surrounding the case, including the upcoming trial – which happened to take place while I was listening to this book on audio.
The telling of the back story, the students, and information on who Bryan Kohberger is and was at the time of the crime, is well done and gives you a foundation of the back story as the book moves into the investigation that leads to Kohberger’s arrest.
Now, of course, knowing what happened just a few days ago – I have great empathy for the families that have lived with this the past few years and will live with this the rest of their lives. Knowing first hand the loss of a child, I can imagine the relief of the trial – and perhaps at least a sense of some sort of closure – although not knowing the why… would certainly be something that would personally haunt me.
Overall, a well-written account of the murders, and worthy of your time for those who would like to know more about the beginning. I also just learned that there is a documentary, One Night in Idaho: The College Murders” exclusively available on Prime Video.
Fox News Families Confront Bryan
Rated: 3.5 out of 5
Read Author Before: Patterson? Of course!
Read Author Again: Yes
Where Read: Audio – mostly in car and home
Book Journey 