The accused Idaho student murderer’s defense team sent a subpoena to a survivor of the massacre. 

Bethany Funke, one of the two survivors of the heinous murder of four University of Idaho students, is fighting the subpoena requiring her to testify in favor of murder suspect Bryan Kohberger. 

On Friday, April 21, Funke filed a motion to dismiss the subpoena, citing that she has no information that could exonerate Kohberger and that the defendant’s claims are unsubstantiated. Kohberger’s lawyers argue that Funke’s testimony is essential to the trial and could clear their client of the murder charges. They claim that no other witness can testify to her information as it is unique to her experience. They filed for the subpoena in Washoe County, Nevada, Funke’s home state.

Funke’s attorneys contend that the court has no authority to summon a witness from Nevada to Idaho for a preliminary hearing. It is not clear what Funke knows about the murders that could exonerate Kohberger as the main suspect. Funke lived on the house’s first floor with fellow survivor Dylan Mortenson, who allegedly encountered the killer during the attack.

The surviving roommates found the victims, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, stabbed to death in the upper levels of their home. Authorities have not publicly said where the two surviving housemates were in the hours before the slayings, but they arrived home just after 1 am, one hour before the rest of their slain roommates. 

Mortenson woke up around 4 am after hearing voices and saw a figure in black clothes with a mask covering the bottom half of his face walking towards her. The man walked past her and out the back door. Mortenson then locked herself in her room, and one of the surviving housemates reported the killings to the police later in the morning.

Investigators have said that the surviving housemates were cooperative throughout their investigation, and quickly ruled them out as suspects.

Kohberger’s hearing will begin on June 26.