"Yes, seriously!": Perez Hilton shocked by reports that Bryan Kohberger’s defense wanted surviving roommates to testify in court

Podcaster Perez Hilton discussed a new revelation associated with Bryan Kohberger's witness list in his recent blog.

Kohberger is currently serving four life sentences without the possibility of parole for the murder of four University of Idaho students. The former criminology student killed Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in November 2022 in their off-campus Moscow home. Bryan Kohberger was arrested a month later.

However, he had not pleaded guilty to his crimes for so long. He was reportedly planning to fight the charges. However, in July this year, he accepted a plea deal in exchange for no death penalty. Kohberger pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and, consequently, no trial took place.

Recently, some unsealed documents related to the case were obtained by People that revealed Kohberger's defense witness list. Perez Hilton covered the findings in his October 25 blog. Citing the People's report, the blogger noted that two surviving roommates of the victims were also on the list. Hilton was shocked to discover Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke's names on the witness list.

"The former criminology student had a total of 138 people on his witness list — including the two surviving roommates! Yes, seriously!" the blogger wrote.

Perez Hilton reminded that Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were present at the home where the murders took place. The podcaster had earlier covered the emotional statements from the surviving roommates. During the sentencing hearing, Dylan Mortensen expressed her trauma caused by the incident.

"I was barely 19 when he did this... I should have been having the college experience and starting to establish my future. Instead, I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable... I couldn’t be alone. I had to sleep in my mom’s bed because I was too terrified to close my eyes... He is a hollow vessel, something less than human. A body without empathy, without remorse," Mortensen said during the sentencing.

Perez Hilton wondered why Bryan Kohberger "expected to use" Bethany and Dylan, who had been "traumatized" by him, in his defense.

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Perez Hilton talked about other witnesses Bryan Kohberger’s defense intended to call at trial

Further in his blog, Hilton shared that Emily Alandt and her boyfriend, Hunter Johnson's names were also present on the witness list. For context, Dylan Mortensen called them in the morning after she suspected something unusual. Johnson was the first to spot the slain bodies.

Hilton noted that after finding out about the murders, Johnson asked the other roommates to leave the home immediately so he could check if the killer was hiding inside the home.

The blogger added that one of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves's ex-boyfriend, was also on the list. However, he wondered why Ethan Chaplin's siblings' names were not on the list, as they also visited the Moscow home after the murders.

Perez Hilton reported that 53 people were listed as mitigation witnesses. The defense intended to call during the "penalty phase" if the former criminology student was convicted by a jury. Bryan Kohberger's parents and sisters were named in this list.

The podcaster mentioned that Bryan Kohberger's legal team also included his former college professor, John Snyder, in the mitigation witness list. For the unversed, Snyder slammed Bryan Kohberger in an interview with The New York Post. Hilton reacted to Snyder's statement in one of his August blogs. Finding Snyder's name under this list left Perez Hilton pondering.

"Huh? It is unknown why Snyder would take the stand for Kohberger since he complained about him following a verbal altercation between them, resulting in the criminology department issuing a warning about the 30-year-old’s conduct," Hilton wrote.

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Bryan Kohberger accepted the plea deal on July 2, and his sentencing took place on July 23. He is currently serving four life sentences at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.

Edited by Anuj Singh Kushwaha