‘Best friend’ found murdered University of Idaho student Ethan Chapin

February 15, 2023

The best friend of one of the murdered University of Idaho students found his pal stabbed to death in bed, then called 911, rather than one of the surviving two roommates in the house, according to a report.

NewsNation reported Wednesday that Ethan Chapin was found dead in bed with his girlfriend Xana Kernodle by a longtime buddy, who went as far as to check his pulse before calling 911, according to their sources.

Chapin and Kernodle, both 20, were killed on Nov. 13 in a knife attack along with friends Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, at their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.

It had been previously reported that the phone of Dylan Mortensen, 21 — who survived the attack alongside Bethany Funke — was used to call the police almost eight hours after the slayings happened in the early hours.

NewsNation withheld the name of Chapin’s best friend, but said they were the one who used Mortensen’s phone to make the call.

Photo of the couple — Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, who were dating, were found stabbed to death in the same bed.

Mortensen had come face-to-face with the killer on the night of the murders, telling police she saw an unknown “figure clad in black clothing and a mask” walking past her, toward the home’s rear exit, just after 4 a.m.

A police affidavit reads: “Mortensen described the figure as 5′ 10″ or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows. The male walked past [her] as she stood in a ‘frozen shock phase.’

“The male walked towards the back sliding glass door. Mortensen locked herself in her room after seeing the male.”

Dylan Mortensen with Kaylee Goncalves — Dylan Mortensen (right) was a surviving roommate in the Moscow, Idaho, off-campus house.

It was another eight hours before the alarm was raised to the cops, with sources saying Mortensen went into shock after the encounter.

“She was scared. She was scared to death, and rightly so,” Shanon Gray, a lawyer for victim Kaylee Goncalves’ family, told Fox News. “This guy had just murdered four people in the home.”

Here’s the latest coverage on the brutal killings of four college friends:

Bryan Kohberger, a PhD student at nearby Washington State University Pullman, was arrested in December after a multistate manhunt and charged with the quadruple murder, but has indicated he will plead not guilty when he is arraigned later this year.

The four University of Idaho students who were found dead in off-campus housing were identified as Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right. — The four University of Idaho students who were found dead in off-campus housing were identified as Madison Mogen (top left), 21, Kaylee Goncalves (bottom left), 21, Ethan Chapin (center), 20, and Xana Kernodle (right), 20.

Mortensen allegedly called out to her friends to quiet down as the murders were taking place, believing they were partying, NewsNation previously reported.

Dried blood dripping down the side of the wall. — Dried blood stains the foundation under the bedroom where Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found stabbed to death

Police and forensics units came to remove bedding, blood-stained mattresses, furniture and personal items.

Moscow Idaho — Kohberger stalked the victims months before their death.

The delay by Mortensen and the other surviving roommate, Bethany Funke, in notifying authorities puzzled investigators, an Idaho law enforcement source told The Post, saying police weren’t sure if it was “an issue of intoxication, or of fear.” Neither was ever considered a suspect in the case.