A judge sentenced Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger to life in prison without parole after he faced victims’ families at Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, Wednesday.
Kohberger accepted a plea deal with the prosecution to avoid the death penalty, confessing to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022.
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He stabbed the four students under the cover of darkness and was later identified with the help of DNA found on the knife’s sheath. Kohberger was a college student at Washington State University studying criminology.
Idaho District Judge Steven Hippler said he doesn’t believe Kohberger’s motivation in the murder should be fixated on any longer because it lends him the spotlight.
“No conceivable reason could make any sense. … It’s time to end Mr. Kohberger’s 15 minutes of fame,” he said during sentencing.
Victims’ families gave impact statements at the sentencing on Wednesday. Among those murdered are Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.
The victims’ families and friends were highly emotional. Those who spoke expressed anger and grief. Kohberger sat with a flat, stoic expression as victims disparaged him. Many of those in the courtroom wept, except the killer.
Kohberger “respectfully declined” to make a statement.
Bethany Funke, one of the surviving college students from the house of the murders, had her impact statement read by a friend, who sobbed throughout reading it. “That was the worst day of my life … and I know it always will be,” Funke’s statement said. “I have to live for them.”
The other surviving roommate, Dylan Mortensen, gave her statement as well. She suggested Kohberger was inhuman.
“Sometimes, I drop to the floor with my heart racing,” she said. “He is a hollow vessel, something less than human.”
“He chose evil,” she added. “He may have taken so much from me, but he will never get to take my voice.”
Mogen was represented by her father, stepfather, and grandmother, who delivered victim impact statements.
“This world was a better place with her in it,” her stepfather, Scott Laramie, said. “Karen and I were ordinary people, but we lived extraordinary lives because of Maddie.”
Mogen’s father read her final Father’s Day card to him as he grieved her.
“I hope you have the best day, I can’t wait ‘til we can hang out again soon. … I love the birthday card you sent me, by the way. … I hope you’re doing well. I’m proud of how far you’ve come. Thank you for always encouraging me to do my best. Love you lots and lots,” she told him.
Goncalves’s father expressed anger, telling Kohberger: “Today, we are here to finish what you started. Today, you’ve lost control.”
“Your actions have united everyone in their disgust for you,” he said. “Nobody cares about you. … From this moment, we will forget you. … You picked the wrong family and we’re laughing at you on your trip” to prison, he concluded.
Goncalves’s sister shared her father’s rage.
“You didn’t win. … You’re a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser who thought you were so much smarter than everybody else,” she told Kohberger.
The final family present, of Kernodle, spoke before the ruling. Kernodle’s aunt Kim Kernodle said she forgives Kohberger and wants him to call her and explain why he murdered the students.
“I no longer could live with that hate in my heart. … Anytime you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number. I’m here,” she said.
The family of Chapin, one of the college students murdered by Kohberger, was not at the hearing.
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“The days do get better,” Stacy Chapin told the TODAY show. “I’m ready for my kids to move on. I’m ready for us to move on. I mean, it’s been almost 2 1/2 years, and it’s, just, it’s over,” her husband, Jim Chapin, said.
President Donald Trump demanded the judge make Kohberger explain his crimes earlier this week.