Bryan Kohberger sentencing underway for Idaho murders: A look back at the case

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.

Source: usatoday