Bryan Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty earlier this month to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Families of the University of Idaho murder victims and the surviving roommates spoke directly to the admitted killer, Bryan Kohberger, at his sentencing on Wednesday.
Judge Steven Hippler acknowledged Kohberger’s motive may never be known as he sentenced him to four consecutive life sentences on the four first-degree murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count.
The students — roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin — were stabbed to death at the girls’ off-campus house on Nov. 13, 2022. On July 2, weeks before the trial was set to start, Kohberger pleaded guilty to all counts. As a part of the plea deal, the death penalty was taken off the table.
Judge Steven Hippler called Bryan Kohberger a “coward” who “slithered through the sliding glass door at 1122 King Road” and “now stands unmasked.”
This “unfathomable and senseless act of evil has caused immeasurable pain and loss,” Hippler said. “No parent should ever have to bury their child. This is the greatest tragedy that can be inflicted upon a person.”
“We are now certain who committed these unspeakable acts of evil, but what we don’t know, and what we may never know, is why,” he said.
Hipper said he wants to know the motive, but that “by continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr. Kohberger relevance,” and the “spotlight, attention and power he appears to crave.”
Hipper said he cannot legally force Kohberger to speak, and said even if he did speak, there’s no way to know if he would tell the truth.
“Even in pleading guilty, he’s giving nothing hinting of remorse or redemption,” Hippler said, and said he will not speak of him further beyond sentencing him.
Hippler sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive life sentences and 10 years for burglary.
After listening to statements from victims’ families, Bryan Kohberger said in court, “I respectfully decline” to speak. Prosecutor shows victims’ photos as families weep
Prosecutor Bill Thompson said in court that the discussion about the plea deal had to stay secret to avoid tampering potential jurors if the trial went forward. He said he respected the fact that some of the victims’ relatives did not agree with the plea deal.
As the families wept, Thompson displayed a photo of each victim in the courtroom. He listed each count and read the names of the victims: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
“From today forward, our memories should be focused on these innocent victims whose lives were taken,” he said.
The victims not only had their own families, and not just their friends and sororities and fraternities, “but this family,” Thompson said, as he displayed the photo of the four victims and the two surviving roommates that was taken on Nov. 12, 2022, the day before the murders.
“You can see all six of these dynamic, vibrant, loving, special, innocent faces, taken together just across the street from their residence. And barely 12 hours before four of them would be brutally murdered in their sleep,” Thompson said.
Thompson said Kohberger will stand from his seat in belly chains and leg irons and will be taken into custody, where “the door will close behind him forever — that is the closure that we seek.”
By Agencies