Roommate of Idaho murder victims seeks facial blur in new video release

Dylan Mortensen told Latah County Superior Court that she wants her face blurred in police interview tapes and body-camera footage set to be released soon. Her motion comes after a judge ordered the city of Moscow, Idaho, to disclose investigative records following a lawsuit by EWU Media, a crime documentary production company.

The case stems from the Nov. 13, 2022, stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in their Moscow apartment. Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to life in prison. He is currently attempting to withdraw that plea. No motive has been identified for the killings, and it remains unclear why Mortensen and another roommate survived the attack.

Mortensen stated in an Oct. 29 affidavit that the volume of attention and hostility directed at her has affected nearly every aspect of her life. She reported that she and her family have moved nine times. The relocation was driven by years of hateful messages and threats. She described receiving numerous unsolicited messages from strangers who accused her of participating in her friends' murders or blamed her for their deaths.

To protect her privacy, Mortensen said she uses an alias at her job and often introduces herself with a different name. She avoids using her real name for package deliveries to keep her residential address private. She acknowledged that her identity is publicly known and that photographs of her exist online. However, she argued that a significant difference exists between those images and the lengthy police interviews recorded during a traumatic period of her life.

She warned that releasing extended footage of how she talks and reacts would make it easier for strangers to identify her in everyday situations. Mortensen expressed concern that her facial expressions in the new recordings would be used as fodder for analysis and criticism. She wrote that she wants to work, meet new people, and attend concerts without constantly worrying about being recognized or confronted.

Judge Megan Marshall issued an order on Oct. 20 requiring the city to disclose the records unless an applicable exemption under the Idaho Public Records Act applies. Marshall noted that the act does not broadly exempt the identity of witnesses in an investigation. The Associated Press contacted the city, EWU Media, and Mortensen's attorney for comment on Tuesday. A motion hearing is scheduled for next week.