Former criminology student Bryan Kohberger has been sentenced for the 2022 killings of four Idaho college students; Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.
Kohberger has been handed a life sentence today (July 23), after changing his plea earlier this month to guilty on all counts.
Ada County Courthouse was gripped as families and loved ones read out their emotional victim impact statements, some of whom addressed the murderer directly.
Surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, said they'd suffered extreme trauma and anxiety ever since Kohberger crept into their home and murdered their friends as they slept.
Advert
Speaking directly to Kohberger, Kernodle's stepfather, Randy Davis said while shaking: "You're gonna go to hell. You're evil... You took our children... You are gonna suffer, man."
When given the opportunity to issue his own statement, the now convicted murderer said: "I respectfully decline."
The change of plea marked a sudden U-turn after the 30-year-old had previously insisted he was not responsible for murdering the four students in the early morning of November 13, 2022.
Advert
His decision to plead guilty came as part of a plea deal which took the death penalty off the table, but Kohberger assured the judge in the case he was pleading guilty 'because [he is] guilty'.
“Did you on November 13, 2022, enter the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, with the intent to commit the felony crime of murder?” the judge asked at the time, to which Kohberger responded: “Yes."
What did Bryan Kohberger do?
Kohberger is convicted of killing Chapin, Kernodle, Goncalves and Mogen after breaking into their off-campus home in the small community of Moscow, Idaho.
Advert
At the time of the killings, Kohberger was pursuing a PhD in criminology at Washington State University and living in Pullman, Washington - an area located just minutes from the murder site in Moscow.
Between July and November 2022, investigators found that Kohberger’s phone repeatedly pinged off the cell tower which served the Idaho house where Chapin, Kernodle, Mogen, and Goncalves were killed.
His phone reportedly pinged the tower 23 times between the hours of 10pm and 4am. However, there was no evidence that Kohberger had direct contact with the students on those occasions.
On the night of the murders, Kohberger's phone was shut down in Pullman at around 2am. It wasn't turned on again until just before 5am, when it was traced to the Moscow area.
Advert
Security footage also showed Kohberger's White Hyundai parked behind the students' house, prosecutors said, after which Kohberger is believed to have entered the home at around 4am through a sliding door in the kitchen.
He is then thought to have carried out the killings, first with Kornodle, followed by Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves.
Security footage later showed Kohberger's car leaving the neighborhood. He was arrested in Pennsylvania seven weeks after the murders.
Why has Bryan Kohberger not faced a trial?
Kohberger's case was set to go to trial, with prosecutors having confirmed that surveillance video of Kohberger's car and cellphone data would have been among the evidence presented.
Advert
However, by accepting a plea deal, he has chosen to forego a trial.
What is Bryan Kohberger’s sentence?
Having avoided the death sentence, Kohberger has been sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for his four first-degree murder counts, as well as the maximum penalty of 10 years for one count of burglary.
He will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
What did the judge say?
In his sentencing remarks, Judge Steven Hippler called Kohberger a 'coward' who 'slithered through the sliding glass door at 1122 King Road' and 'now stands unmasked.'
Advert
He continued: "[This] unfathomable and senseless act of evil has caused immeasurable pain and loss.
"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."
The judge added searching for a motive risks continuing to give Kohberger 'relevance' and the 'spotlight, attention and power he appears to crave.'
Advert
"Even in pleading guilty, he's giving nothing hinting of remorse or redemption," Hippler said before concluding he would not speak of the murderer any more.
Topics: Bryan Kohberger, Crime, US News, Idaho
Emily Brown