Bryan Kohberger’s defense is going to ‘jump on’ surviving Idaho roommate Dylan Mortensen at trial: expert

The University of Idaho student who survived the grisly quadruple homicide that captured the nation’s attention last year should prepare to be “jumped on” by suspect Bryan Kohberger’s defense when she testifies, a trial expert told The Post.

Dylan Mortensen survived the Nov. 13, 2022, massacre that left her friends — Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin — dead.

She came face-to-face with the killer just moments after the bloody slaughter, telling authorities she saw a “figure clad in black clothing and a mask” walking towards the home’s back exit just after 4 a.m., according to a police report.

Another roommate, Bethany Funke, also survived the horror.

But Court TV producer Ted Rowlands told The Post he believes Mortensen’s testimony will be central to the trial, which kicks off later this month.

“I think Dylan is going to be big because the defense is going to jump on her,” Rowlands, 57, said Friday.

“If she was so scared, and she locked her door and stayed in the room, and was frozen like she told investigators, then why didn’t someone call 911 for 12 hours? She’ll be pivotal.”

Rowlands, who produced a Court TV documentary on Kohberger airing Sunday, said at the “end of the day, her story will be riveting” and he believes she’ll sway the jury to her side.

“Her story is right out of a horror movie,” he said.

“What she went through was off-the-charts traumatic… She’s a kid that has been put in a horrible position. I think her story is going to help the prosecution a lot.”

As for Funke — who is fighting a subpoena that would force her to testify — Rowlands isn’t sure her story would have the same impact.

Both girls were home when Kohberger allegedly tore through the off-campus home, knifing the four others in their beds. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

The two girls, who were allegedly texting each other while the murders were happening, received an onslaught of hatred online — especially Mortensen after it was revealed no one called 911 for several hours after the quadruple murders happened.

“They have to have survivor’s guilt,” Rowlands said. “These two were so close theoretically to dying and they survived.”

Many have speculated that the 28-year-old criminology student’s defense will also pull out all the stops to remind the jury that the home was known to be a “party home” — explaining why his DNA was found there.

“I think that the fact that he was in that area 12 times over the five months prior to the murders, I would argue that he had been in that house before and that he had gone into those girls’ rooms before,” Rowlands said.

Criminal Defense Attorney Jack Rice said in Rowland’s documentary that he too believed the defense would take this angle.

“One of the most important parts of this case is that DNA, and what we know is that this is a party house,” Rice said in a clip, exclusively obtained by The Post.

“We know that there are hundreds of kids in this house — it could have even included him. And the thing is, if he was in this house, are you suggesting that these four know everybody who’s been there? I doubt that.

“All of sudden, you might have a completely different trial.”

Kohberger’s defense team has also alleged that the Pennsylvania native has an alibi — but has yet to reveal exactly what it is.

His attorney, Anne Taylor, said over the summer the alibi will more than likely be revealed during witness cross-examination.