Bryan Kohberger gets four life sentences for Idaho murders after tearful testimony from victim families
Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison Wednesday for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, receiving the ruling after hours of emotional statements from family and friends of the victims.
Loved ones of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 honored the students in court and spoke about the anger and devastation they felt after the killings. Speakers teared up on the stand and occasionally addressed Kohberger directly, demanding answers about his actions.
“You’re a textbook case of insecurity disguised as control. Your patterns are predictable. Your motives are shallow,” said Alivea Goncalves, whose sister was murdered. “You are not profound, you are pathetic. You aren’t special or deep, not mysterious or exceptional. Don’t ever get it twisted again.”
When asked by the judge if he'd like to make a statement, Kohberger, 30, said "I respectfully decline."
Kohberger was given four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years for burglary and $270,000 in fines. His plea deal allowed him to avoid the death penalty.
The sentencing comes nearly three years after the students were found stabbed to death in a rental house near the University of Idaho campus, shocking the quiet college town of Moscow and the nation.
Before handing down the sentence, Judge Steven Hippler said that despite Kohberger's guilty plea, he has expressed no remorse or recognition of the pain he caused, calling him "the worst of the worst.”
“Truth be told, I am unable to come up with anything redeeming about Mr. Kohberger, because his grotesque acts of evil have buried and hidden anything that might have been good or intrinsically human about him,” Hippler said.
Prosecutor speaks out after sentencing
Prosecutors and police spoke out for the first time after Kohberger's sentencing now that a long-standing gag order in the case has been lifted.
While many people following the proceedings wanted Kohberger to publicly share his motives, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said he was glad the man didn't deliver a statement during the Wednesday proceedings. The prosecutor echoed the judge’s earlier remarks, citing the “fallacy of expecting that there would be some miraculous coming clean and disclosure."
“As a practical matter it would not be helpful,” he said. “It would give him a forum to share whatever he thought to control the dialogue. Not going to happen to our victims. We can’t allow that to happen.”
Thompson said he could have required Kohberger to give a “factual allocution” detailing his actions, but he didn't think the man would tell the truth in the courtroom.
“I don’t believe there’s anything that would come out of his mouth that would not further victimize the families,” he said.
Thompson acknowledged that both he and Hippler got emotional during the sentencing, saying the losses are “almost indescribable.”
“There’s no easy way to remain stiff lipped and dry eyed through this kind of tragedy,” he said.
Police say they found no motive
Investigators believe Kohberger had a specific motive for committing the murders, but they're not sure of it yet.
Moscow police Corp. Brett Payne said Kohberger may have been trying to hide in plain sight, given that there are often many people and vehicles in the area during the school year. But ultimately, officials have said they found no link between Kohberger and the victims or survivors.
“We don’t know who the target was, and we’re not going to speculate on that up here today, but we can tell you that for whatever reason Mr. Kohberger chose that residence,” Payne said.
Judge asks public to stop focusing on Kohberger’s motive
Hippler said he shared the desire expressed by many − including President Donald Trump − to know Kohberger's motive for committing the murders.
But he argued that “by continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr. Kohberger relevance. We give him agency, and we give him power.”
Hippler said that even if he could force Kohberger to speak, it’s not clear that he would be honest about his motives.
“Even if we could get truthful insight into his why, I suspect it would not in any way quench one’s thirst for actually understanding why," he said. "Because there is no reason for these crimes that could approach anything resembling rationality."
Hippler said that while criminal behaviorists should study Kohberger in hopes of preventing similar crimes, he hopes the man will be kept out of the spotlight, “consigned to the ignominy and isolation of perpetual incarceration.”
Prosecutor details how plea deal was reached
Thompson said that Kohberger's defense team approached him about a potential plea deal for the first time in June − after long maintaining his innocence. Thompson said he then reached out to the victims’ families, who disagreed on how to proceed, before proposing a deal.
“I respect the fact that of these fine, suffering people here, not everybody agreed with the decision we made,” he said.
Thompson shared photos of the victims, including one taken the day before the murders, as he asked the court to impose four consecutive life sentences on Kohberger.
“That is the closure that we seek, that all of these people, these loving friends and family deserve so we can move forward," he said.
Kohberger declines to speak at sentencing
After statements from victims and the prosecution concluded, Hippler gave Kohberger the opportunity to speak.
"I take it you are declining?" Hippler said.
"I respectfully decline," Kohberger replied.
'I have forgiven you,' victim's aunt tells Kohberger
Victim impact statements concluded with speeches from several members of Xana Kernodle’s family, including Kim Kernodle, her aunt. She offered forgiveness to Kohberger and asked him to reach out to her if he ever wants to explain his actions.
“Bryan, I’m here today to tell you I have forgiven you because I no longer could live with that hate in my heart. And for me to become a better person, I have forgiven you” she said.
Xana Kernodle’s uncle, Stratton, also spoke about the impact on Kohberger’s family, saying he has “contaminated, tainted their family name and pretty much made it a horrible miserable thing to ever be related to him."
“I know that that’s what he has to live with, and that has to be his pain,” he said.
‘You picked the wrong families,’ victim’s father says
Steve Goncalves described the way investigators and family members began working together immediately in the aftermath of his daughter's murder to track Kohberger down, calling him “careless,” “foolish,” “stupid” and “a complete joke.”
“Today, we are here to prove to the world that you picked the wrong families, the wrong state, the wrong police officers, the wrong community,” he said. “You tried to break our community apart. You tried to plant fear. You tried to divide us. You failed.”
Alivea Goncalves called Kohberger a “sociopath, psychopath, murderer” and fired off a barrage of questions about his crimes, demanding he "sit up straight" while she addressed him.
"How was your life right before you murdered my sisters? Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your apartment? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at this time. Why did you choose my sisters?" she asked, referring to Goncalves and Mogen.
'We will not waste words' on Kohberger
Scott Laramie, Mogen’s stepfather, told the court that he supports Kohberger’s plea agreement and “will remain united” with the families of the other victims.
“As for the defendant, we will not waste the words, nor will we fall into hatred and bitterness,” he said.
Kim Cheely, Mogen's grandmother, also expressed support for the plea deal and thanked prosecutors for “their dedication and painstaking work that forced the perpetrator to admit his guilt.”
“The plea deal the prosecution team reached this month is one that punishes the perpetrator of this horrendous crime, protects the public from further harm and allows all of us who knew and loved these kids the time to grieve without the anxiety of the long and gruesome trial, the years of appeals and potential for mistrials along the way,” she said.
Laramie described his “bright, beautiful, kind, empathic” stepdaughter, who loved music festivals and was working to become a marketing professional. Laramie said his wife, Karen, were overcome with grief at losing their only child.
“We speak of hope and healing and we do have hope and some healing, but the vast emotional wound will never fully heal,” he said. “Since Maddie’s loss there is emptiness in our hearts, home and family. An endless void.”
'I was grieving, numb': Sentencing begins with powerful statements from surviving roommates
The hearing began with a statement from Bethany Funke, one of the survivors who was in the house the night of the murders. In the statement, which was read by a friend, Funke recounted the confusion and fear she felt while calling 911.
“I was grieving, numb, and unsure what had happened was even real,” the statement said.
In the aftermath of the killings, Funke said she felt "sick with guilt” that she survived as she received death threats on social media and was harassed by the media.
“I have not slept through a single night since this happened, I constantly wake up in panic, terrified someone is breaking in or someone is here to hurt me or I’m about to lose someone else that I love,” she wrote. “The fear never really leaves.”
Funke also shared some of her favorite memories of her friends, from Halloween parties and movie nights to pranks and the “storybook love and true romance” between Kernodle and Chapin.
“I hope that they are remembered for who they are, not what happened to them because who they are, were so beautiful and they deserve to be remembered in the highest way," Funke wrote.
Dylan Mortensen, another surviving roommate, then tearfully described “the panic attacks, the hypervigilance and the exhaustion” she’s suffered in the wake of the murders.
“What he did shattered me in places I didn’t know could break,” she said.
“He may have shattered parts of me, but I’m still putting myself back together, piece by piece,” Mortensen later added.
Spectators, victim’s family and media arrive for sentencing
News crews and members of the public have gathered outside of the courthouse to await Kohberger’s sentencing.
Seating in the courtroom is available on a first-come, first-serve basis, and the hearing will be streamed in an overflow room in the courthouse, the court said. More than 50 people were already lined up outside the courthouse before dawn, including some who waited overnight, CBS News reported.
Denise Feldman-Ersland told CNN she arrived at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in hopes of getting a seat inside to show support for the families of the victims.
“Mostly, I want to see the families get some sort of closure,” she told the outlet. “I know it’s not the closure that many of them want. It’s not the closure I want to see. I think we should have gone to trial, but our legal system works in many different ways.”
Family members of one of the victims, Xana Kernodle, have also arrived at the courthouse, NBC News reported.
How to watch Bryan Kohberger's sentencing hearing
The public will be able to watch Kohberger's sentencing in person at the Ada County Courthouse and via livestream, according to the court's website.
Kohberger's sentencing hearing will begin at 9 a.m. local time and "is expected to last the day," with multiple breaks scheduled throughout, the court said.
President Trump wants to know Bryan Kohberger's motive
Questions have long swirled about what drove Kohberger to kill, and even the president has asked the judge to make Kohberger explain his motive.
But Kohberger's plea deal doesn't require him to explain his actions. And his attorney, Anne Taylor, previously told Paste BN his defense team will not comment or provide any information, even after the sentencing.
Prosecutors, police and others connected to the case may shed more light on his motive now that a long-standing gag order has been lifted. And sealed documents and more information about the high-profile case may also soon be made public.
Experts also told Paste BN a lot can be concluded about Kohberger's motives based on the evidence and his history.
Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, Christopher Cann and Michael Loria