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.