Never-before-seen interview reveals Bryan Kohberger said victim's name on night of Idaho murders

Newly released documents could shed some light on the killings of four Idaho University students.

In November 2022, Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, were all murdered in their shared home.

Bryan Kohberger went on to be identified as the killer, and he was recently sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for his four first-degree murder counts, narrowly avoiding the death penalty after agreeing to a plea deal with prosecutors.

His plea deal meant that the high-profile case did not go to trial.

While Kohberger has been jailed for his crimes, questions still remain about why he carried out the murders — something he has so far refused to disclose.

Bill Thompson, the lead prosecutor on the case, believes Kohberger's intended target was either Mogen or Goncalves, however.

Bryan Kohberger admitted to the killings of four Idaho students (Ted S. Warren-Pool/Getty Images)

Goncalves had reported seeing an 'unknown male' to her friends staring at the house in the weeks leading up to their killings.

Despite this, prosecutors said that they did not have 'evidence that he had direct contact with [the home]' and had nothing to suggest that Kohberger knew his victims; but a newly released interview with one of the survivors may suggest otherwise.

Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were also in the home at the time of their friends' tragic deaths, but fortunately were not targeted by Kohberger.

The pair were key witnesses in the investigation, and Mortensen was under the impression that she heard Kohberger say Goncalves' name.

Per unsealed documents obtained by PEOPLE, Idaho State Police (ISP) Tpr. Jeffory Talbot wrote in his report following an interview with Mortensen: "Sometime in the early morning hours, [Mortensen] was awoken and opened her room door [redacted] and heard a male say, 'It's okay Kaylee, I'm here for you,' and crying."

Mortensen admitted to police that she was still in shock after the incident and was trying to process the situation, but she was certain she heard the killer use Goncalves' name.

"She advised she knows what she heard, especially about hearing who she believed was Kaylee crying and the male voice telling her he was there for her," Det. Victoria M. Gooch wrote in a separate report.

It's thought that Mortensen's life may have been spared as a result of her seeing Kohberger on the night of the killings.

Documents have been unsealed in the case (Instagram)

The case's lead prosecutor previously suggested: "From what Dylan described, I have a hard time imagining that the killer did not see Dylan.

"At that point, he’d been in the house probably longer than he planned, and he had killed more people than he planned.

"It wouldn’t surprise us that the killer was scared at that point and decided they had to leave, not knowing if law enforcement already had been called."

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