'I investigated the Idaho murders. This is the detail everyone missed.'

Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.

These are the names of the four young University of Idaho students who were murdered in their Moscow share house on November 13, 2022.

Last month, criminology student Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the murders and was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole.

The quadruple murder has become one of America's most shocking criminal cases.

WATCH: The moment Bryan Kohberger was sentenced. Post continues after video.

Buried within the details of a case, which is coming into new light after police dropped hundreds of documents detailing their investigation, is a remarkable story of quick thinking and selfless protection.

Vicky Ward, co-author of The Idaho Four: An American Tragedy, sat down with Mamamia's True Crime Conversations podcast to share what she learned about the Idaho murders. She detailed how Hunter Johnson, Ethan's best friend, became an unlikely hero.

"I was very stunned to really understand what it was like to be Hunter Johnson the day after the murders," she said.

Listen to the full episode of True Crime Conversations: The Idaho Four College Murders. Article continues below.

The call that changed everything

When the surviving housemates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, called Hunter and his girlfriend Emily Alandt and asked them to come to the King Road house, they had no idea what awaited them.

Dylan wasn't sure if she was dreaming when a shadowy figure in all black walked past her room late at night. She recalled hearing strange noises and then a male voice say: "It's okay. I'm going to help you." At one point, she said they even made eye contact.

She ran to Bethany's room, and the next morning, still shaken, she reached out to her friends for help.

Ward said that when Hunter and Emily walked to the house, they didn't really think "anything that serious could've happened."

Emily, Xana's best friend, even joked about bringing pepper spray — thinking Dylan might have had a strange dream after a big party night. They thought it was just another college morning after a football game day at the University of Idaho.

When they arrived, it was Hunter who ventured up the stairs to the first-floor bedroom.

And so, it was Hunter who discovered the bodies of his friends Ethan and Xana.

Madison Mogen (21), Kaylee Goncalves (21), Xana Kernodle (20) and Ethan Chapin (20). Image: Instagram.

"None of us know what we would do in a situation like that, but this young man's first reaction is to stop his girlfriend, Emily, who's coming up the stairs behind him, from coming any further and to stop the others who are outside the house from coming in," Ward said.

"His first instinct is to protect them and make sure they do not see what he has just seen. And then he tells them to call 911 and protects them from what he already knows, which is that they're dead.

"

While processing the reality before him, Hunter maintained his composure, and re-entered the bedroom. He retrieved a kitchen knife and methodically checked his friends' pulses whilst searching closets to ensure the murderer wasn't still hiding in the house.

"Which is also an extraordinary, brave thing to do," Ward noted, highlighting how Hunter put himself at potential risk to ensure everyone's safety.

Hunter Johnson found the bodies of Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Image: Prime Video.

The author got to know Hunter and Emily well during the course of her investigation. She said the trauma they endured was immense.

"They're just great kids, who this horrible, horrible thing happened to. And I think, you know, sort of really hearing the story from their eyes was very revealing," Ward said.

"Emily is still terrified of the dark. Hunter Johnson, you know, didn't speak for a few days, weeks after that thing, the trauma was so immense. And then on top of the whole thing, they were accused online of being the murderers.

"They're college kids who were being college kids and it was a party house. You know, the idea that there were people going in and out late at night, is not so extraordinary."

When Kohberger was arrested, Ward said Hunter and Emily struggled with the news, as there appeared to be no connection between Kohberger and the tight circle of friends.

"They're just completely mystified as to what on earth the connection could possibly be between their friends and this guy," Ward said, pointing to the police documents that indicate Kohberger had staked the King Road house out multiple times.

"The deduction is that they think he was stalking, that he drove to Moscow 12 times and sat at the back of the house. Having followed his footsteps as it were … you do have a direct view into what was Maddie Mogen's bedroom.

"I mean, that's really the only room you could see, the only bedroom you could see actually properly into from the road."

Feature image: Instagram.