Podcast Summary: Drop Dead Serious with Ashleigh Banfield

Episode: Idaho Student Murders: Police Interview Reveals Bethany Funke’s Trauma

Release Date: September 9, 2025
Host: Ashleigh Banfield

Episode Overview

This episode centers on the recently released witness interview of Bethany Funk, one of the surviving roommates from the tragic Idaho student murders at 1122 King Road. For years, the surviving roommates, Bethany Funk and Dylan Mortensen, were silent due to a gag order and have since faced intense and unfair scrutiny from the public. With the gag order now lifted, Ashleigh Banfield shares newly available details that shed light on Funk’s experience and trauma, aiming to combat misinformation and offer a compassionate perspective on what Bethany endured.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Wait for Bethany Funk’s Perspective

Ashleigh Banfield expresses relief and sadness that the public is finally able to hear Bethany Funk’s own words.
Banfield rebukes online “trolls” who have attacked the surviving roommates, emphasizing the baseless cruelty they have faced.
Quote:

“For Christ’s sake. It’s all bullshit. You guys are assholes. If you’re listening, I don’t even want you on this podcast. If you’re trolls, go away.” — Ashleigh Banfield (03:15)

2. Survivor’s Guilt and Trauma

Banfield highlights Bethany’s profound survivor’s guilt, as described in her victim impact statement (read in court by her friend Emily Allant), reiterating that Funk could have done nothing to change the outcome.
Quote:

“Oh God, Bethany, please, if you’re listening or if anybody could get this to her, you had no idea. You’re a kid in college ... Not that a quadruple murderer comes in and slashes your friends to death. That’s just not on the bingo card.” — Ashleigh Banfield (05:29)
Funk’s victim impact statement provides a glimpse into her ongoing struggles:
- Loss of her friends who were “like a sister.”
- Shock and disbelief the morning after, waking up with a toothache, calling her dad, and having “no idea what happened.”
- Persistent guilt for not calling 911, though she intellectually understands it "wouldn't have changed anything."
Quote (Bethany Funk, Read by Emily Allant):

“I still carry so much guilt for not knowing what happened and not calling right away, even though I understand it wouldn’t have changed anything, not even if the paramedics had been right outside the door.” (06:55)

3. Police Interview: Details and Emotional Tone

Banfield introduces the newly released, highly redacted interview between Bethany Funk and Detective Sergeant Dustin Blaker.
Funk is disoriented, overwhelmed, and concerned about procedural details, like her phone and contacting her mom.
The interview reconstructs the roommates’ comings and goings the night of the murders.

Night of the Murders: Timeline & Recollections

Bethany recounts socializing and hanging out, returning home around 1:00 am after seeing friends.
Details about which roommates and friends were home at what times, watched “Vampire Diaries” upon return.
After Maddie and Kaylee return from the club (approx. 1:45-2:00 am), they all hang out briefly, take Murphy the dog out around 2:30-3:00 am, and then go to bed.
Bethany describes being half-asleep:
- Hearing a sound “like a firework” and seeing “a spark under her door,”
- Murphy (the dog) barking,
- Attributing noises to friends being noisy in the kitchen, not suspecting foul play.
Quote:

“I just went to bed and then I woke up and I was like half asleep. And I thought I saw like a firework or something … and then Murphy barked … I thought people were just making like food, like, and Ethan was here or something and knocked something over because he’s usually loud in the kitchen upstairs.” — Bethany Funk (22:46)
Dylan later messages Bethany, saying she thinks she saw someone; Bethany invites her to her room and locks the door out of typical, not extraordinary, college fear.

Police Detective’s Approach

Detective Blaker repeatedly reassures Bethany, asks for details sensitively, and normalizes her memory gaps or confusion.
Funk provides information about her friendships, ex-boyfriends, household routines, but gives no indication of suspects or premonitions of danger.

No Forewarning, No Knowledge of the Extent

Bethany notes no history of stalking, aside from Kaylee mentioning seeing someone in the backyard a month prior.
Repeated emphasis: she heard no screams, nothing abnormal, attributing every oddity to routine college house activity.

4. Refuting the Public Backlash

Banfield takes a hard stance against those blaming or suspecting the survivors, demanding empathy and understanding.
Quote:

“To hold them responsible for being afraid of what went bump in the night, but not afraid that there was a murderer in their house...to hold them accountable is just cruel … You should be ashamed of what you’ve done to Bethany.” — Ashleigh Banfield (34:53)

5. Memorable and Poignant Moments

Banfield’s heartfelt plea for Bethany’s well-being and hope for her future, acknowledging the magnitude of trauma she now carries.
Quote:

“I am praying that she’s recaptured some sort of normalcy in her life, that she’s got a good, supportive family and that she can live to her fullest potential. Although ... her fullest potential was lost. I think that’s fair to say.” — Ashleigh Banfield (35:11)

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

On Survivor Guilt:

“I still carry so much guilt for not knowing what happened and not calling right away, even though I understand it wouldn’t have changed anything...”
— Bethany Funk via Emily Allant (06:55)
On Hearing Noises the Night of the Murders:

“I just went to bed and then I woke up and I was like half asleep. And I thought I saw like a firework or something, like just sparkle like under my door. And I thought I heard something kind of fall. And then Murphy barked ... I thought people were just making like food.”
— Bethany Funk (22:46)
Banfield’s Message to Critics:

“If you watch that and you still feel that that kid wasn’t just a scared little girl ... You should be ashamed of what you’ve done to Bethany.”
— Ashleigh Banfield (34:53)

Timestamps for Key Segments

[00:04] Introduction and context around surviving roommates, gag order, and trolls.
[05:59] Bethany's victim impact statement (read by Emily Allant).
[07:20] Banfield introduces the body cam and police interview.
[08:09 - 34:53] Bethany Funk’s police interview (with Detective Sergeant Dustin Blaker).
[34:53] Banfield’s impassioned closing segment defending the roommates and expressing empathy for Bethany.

Episode Tone and Takeaways

Ashleigh Banfield delivers the episode with her trademark mix of directness and compassion—pulling no punches in defending the surviving roommates from cruel speculation and urging the community to understand the innocence and trauma of those who lived through the murders. The full airing of Bethany’s own narrative—confused, traumatized, utterly routine—underscores the random horror of the crime and the inhumanity of public witch hunts.

Listeners are left with a clearer, more humane perspective on Bethany Funk and a deeper understanding of the lingering pain for all survivors of such tragedies.

Transcript

Detective Sergeant Dustin Blaker (0:00)

Foreign.

Ashley Banfield (0:04)

Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead serious. This is an episode that I've been wanting to bring to you for two years. And I didn't think I was going to be able to. There's such a hole in my heart when it comes to the surviving roommates of the Idaho quadruple murder, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funk. For so long, everything about them was held under the gag order. And now that the gag order has been lifted, dribs and drabs of information are coming out. We have heard interviews with Dylan Mortensen. Dylan saw this freaky black clad man walking through the house. Let's not forget it was a party house. There were people walking through all the time. She even said it. It's why she didn't freak out and call 91 1. But she just freaked out. Freaked out like a, you know, 19 year oldish student. Female student might like seeing a monster under your bed. Let me come sleep with you. It was that kind of fear she had. She didn't think a murderer was walking through her house, that's for sure. But we haven't heard from Bethany. She didn't even attend sentencing and instead opted to write out her victim's impact statement and give it to a friend to read. So we have not seen or heard from Bethany. Bethany Funk. At least we've seen this tiny little snippet from a body cam where the police Officers arrived at 1122 King Road the morning of the murders. And you heard a little bit from her. All redacted. Her face was covered. But now comes something that is very, very insightful. And look, I know that you guys are pretty much all in my little community and we all feel the same way about the trolls. We're all really upset and angry that they exist, that they're allowed to exist. We don't understand why they do what they do. They attack Dylan, they attack Bethany. They suggest that they're either lazy or idiots or somehow complicit in murder. For Christ's sake. It's all bullshit. You guys are assholes. If you're listening, I don't even want you on this podcast. If you're trolls, go away. You've caused immeasurable pain and suffering to kill kids who are already at their wit's end and whose lives have forever been altered. The rest of you, stick around. But now comes another release. Bethany Funk's witness interview. It was just released by the Moscow Police Department and honestly, guys, it really does pull back the curtain on the Truth of what this surviving roommate and the others at 1122 King Road were going through for years. For years, people have speculated so unfairly about these young women. Bethany Funk, Dylan Mortensen, some even suggesting that they had something to do with the murders because they, I don't know, survived, saw something weird in their house that night and got scared. That's not only cruel, it is just flat out wrong. And Bethany's own words now show what investigators have always said, that she was traumatized and terrified and caught in the middle of an unthinkable nightmare. Even as she's giving the interview, I do not think she really knows what happened. You know, she may have known at this point that four of her roommates, three of her roommates and. And Zanna's boyfriend were dead and murdered. But I do not think that she knows the extent of it. I don't think she knows what we all now know. There was an absolute slaughterhouse underway while she was on the basement floor of that house. I don't think she had any idea that someone took a Ka Bar knife. And you know what? For the YouTube audience, I'm going to show you that I've been keeping this here. It belongs to my friend Essie Cupp, who lent this to me during the duration of this case. For the last two and a half years, I've had this. It has the knife sheath. If you're listening on the podcast, I have it here. Maybe check out YouTube. You'll see it. But it's the knife sheath and the snap and the actual knife itself. Bethany had no idea that this monster took this knife and plunged it into her friends dozens and dozens and dozens of times and left a war zone behind. I mean, we've now seen evidence from the police of how awful the situation was that was left behind. You know, a lot of us choose not to show that. We didn't show it on News Nation on my show out of respect for the families. But during this interview, I just don't think that. That Bethany Funk knew the extent of the. Of the scene from In Cold Blood. And then later at Bryan Coburger's sentencing, in Bethany's victim impact statement, which was read in court by I told you, her friend Emily Allant, Bethany described the guilt, the guilt, the survivor's guilt that she carried for not calling police sooner. Oh, God, Bethany, please, if you're listening or if anybody could get this to her, you had no idea. You're a kid in college. The worst thing that happens is somebody passes out and barfs and maybe oh, D's. Oh, God, that would be just. That would be the biggest news ever. Not that a quadruple murderer comes in and slashes your friends to death. That's just not on the bingo card. But she has it. She has the survivor's guilt for not having called the police, even though she now knows it would not have changed anything. Here's Emily Allant reading a little bit of her statement in court.