He Idaho murder victims The surviving roommate likely did not ask for help after coming face-to-face with accused murderer Bryan Kohberger because she may have been paralyzed with fear and confusion, experts told Fox News Digital.
The roommate, one of two who survived the attack, faced swift backlash after it was revealed in an affidavit on Thursday that she woke up on November 13 and looked directly at the suspected killer as he fled, then he locked himself in his room.
“When a person goes through trauma, they will experience fight, flight, or freeze,” said Dr. Katherine Kuhlman, an Arizona-based police and public safety psychologist. “Most people in their entire lives will not have to deal with this type of trauma and will not mentally prepare for it.”
The roommate, whose name Fox News Digital is withholding, met with Kohberger shortly before 4:20 a.m. after he allegedly murdered Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20.
TIMELINE OF MURDERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO: WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE KILLING OF FOUR STUDENTS
Bryan Christopher Kohberger is charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students.
(Washington State University/Instagram)
After hearing the crying coming from Kernodle’s room, the roommate opened the door to her room, which is on the same floor.
“[The roommate] she saw a figure dressed in black clothing and a mask covering the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her,” the affidavit reads. The man walked by [the roommate] while in a ‘frozen shock phase’.”
ROOMMATE OF IDAHO MURDER VICTIMS HEARD CRYING, SAW MAN IN A MASK THE MORNING OF THE MURDERS
The man she described as having “bush eyebrows” walked past her and out the second-story sliding glass doors, she told police.
The roommate was first awakened at 4 a.m. by what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog, Murphy, then heard her say, “There’s someone here,” according to the affidavit.
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After the intruder took off, it was nearly eight hours before a 911 call was made on the cell phone of one of the surviving roommates reporting an unconscious person. Police have not revealed who made that call.
Kuhlman, who works primarily with special responders who have been through mass casualty incidents, says a young woman may not notice the obvious signs of a crisis situation.
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“Trauma becomes more difficult to process when it’s something that’s so far out of our awareness that it doesn’t seem to make sense to us,” he said. “In this case, no one thinks that this man will enter his house and brutally stab his roommates.”
The other surviving roommate slept through the attack.
Map at left showing the movement of Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger on the morning of November 13 after four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in his home. To the right is the crime scene at 1122 King Road. Inset is Kohberger’s stock photo.
(Latah County Sheriff’s Office/Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
Alanna Zabel, 50, the owner of a yoga studio in Santa Monica, California, knows this phenomenon all too well. In 1992, she lived in a three-story house with five sisters from the Chi Omega sorority at the University at Buffalo.
Zabel found her college roommate near death at 9 a.m. on September 5 after an intruder severely beat the young woman and raped her.
MURDERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF IDAHO REACTIVATE HORRIBLE MEMORIES OF SIMILAR 1992 ATTACK IN BUFFALO
“I didn’t see blood,” Zabel said. “I thought he choked on his vomit and I called 911 and said my roommate choked on his vomit.” It was only when paramedics arrived that he first realized that the entire room was covered in blood, he said.
Alanna Zabel found her roommate severely beaten and raped in 1992 in a rented house near the University at Buffalo campus.
(Courtesy of Alanna Zabel)
Six hours earlier, Zabel had returned to the house, walked past her roommate’s door, and called her name.
“I heard heavy breathing and I thought she might be there with her boyfriend,” she said. After getting into her own bed, she heard someone enter her room and then the front door close.
“I walked through the scene of the crime while it was happening without knowing it, and the rapist walked through my bedroom while I was there, before leaving our house,” Zabel told Fox News Digital. “I’ve lived with the guilt of not calling 911 sooner my whole life.”
Bryan Kohberger arrives at the Monroe County courthouse prior to his extradition hearing on January 3, 2023. He is charged with four counts of first degree murder for the murder of four University of Idaho students.
(The direct image for Fox News Digital)
Zabel said the surviving roommate may have thought it was someone pulling a frat prank and went into shock. “It’s a real defense mechanism for survival,” he added.
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Mary O’Toole, a retired FBI behavior profiler, said each person reacts differently to trauma based on their background and experiences.
“She was probably scared beyond belief,” O’Toole said. “She chose to hide in her room, and she probably saved her life.”
Victims of the November 13 massacre at the University of Idaho.
(Instagram @xanakernodle / @maddiemogen / @kayleegoncalves)
If she had confronted the shooter or run upstairs to see what all the commotion was, she could have been the fifth victim, O’Toole said.
Kuhlman said the roommate may have survived but will have a long road to recovery.
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“It’s a triple whammy for her,” Kuhlman said. “She has the pain of losing her friends and roommates, the trauma of witnessing and experiencing the consequences, and the survivors’ guilt of being someone she saved herself.”
Ashley Papa contributed to this report.
