Idaho roommate seeks face blurring in released footage

Dylan Mortensen, a roommate of four University of Idaho students killed in 2022, has asked a judge to make sure her face is blurred when investigative recordings from the case are released. She filed a motion to intervene on Oct. 29 in Latah County court.

Mortensen told police she saw a stranger with bushy eyebrows and a ski mask in the Moscow, Idaho, home on the night her roommates were killed. Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty in the Nov. 13, 2022, stabbing deaths and was sentenced to life in prison last year. He is now trying to withdraw that plea. No motive has emerged for the killings, and it is not clear why Mortensen and another roommate were spared.

In her affidavit, Mortensen said the attention and hostility she has received affected nearly every part of her life. She said she and her family have moved nine times and endured years of hateful messages and threats. She said strangers have accused her of taking part in her friends' murders and blamed her for their deaths.

Judge Megan Marshall ordered the city of Moscow last month to release records after EWU Media, a company that produces crime documentaries, sued for them. Marshall wrote in an Oct. 20 decision that the city had not shown the records were properly withheld and that the Idaho Public Records Act does not broadly exempt the identity of witnesses. Mortensen said people can already hear her statements to law enforcement through recordings that have been released.

Mortensen said she is already being recognized despite the privacy protections now in place and worries that more footage of her face will make it easier for strangers to identify her in everyday situations. She said she uses an alias at work, often introduces herself under a different name and does not use her real name for package deliveries so people will not know where she lives. She also does not want her facial expressions used for others to analyze, criticize or make accusations.

"I want to be able to work, meet new people, attend concerts, celebrate important moments with friends, and enjoy ordinary experiences without constantly worrying about being recognized or confronted," she wrote.

The Associated Press contacted the city of Moscow by email and phone Tuesday for comment and also emailed EWU Media and Mortensen's attorney. A motion hearing is set for next week.