Bryan Kohberger has been sentenced to life without parole for the murder of four University of Idaho students in 2022.
Pleading guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in a deal that saw him avoid the death penalty, Kohberger, 30, will serve four consecutive life terms without the possibility of appeal.
Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – four students who resided in the rented sharehouse targeted by Kohberger – were stabbed to death as they slept on the morning of November 13, 2022.
At the time, the crime sent shockwaves through the college town of Moscow, Idaho, and has since been the subject of a wave of podcasts, true crime docuseries and amateur sleuth investigations.
But while the murderer has finally been sentenced, the motive for his heinous crimes may never be known.
Acknowledging the shared pain of family members, friends and relatives of the late students present to hear the sentence being handed down, Judge Steven Hippler said: “I share the desire expressed by others to understand the why.”
“But upon reflection, it seems to me, and this is just my own opinion, that by continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr Kohberger relevance, we give him agency.”
“The need to know what is inherently not understandable makes us dependent on the defendant to provide us with a reason, and that gives him the spotlight, the attention and the power he appears to crave.”
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson agreed with the judge’s sentiment, telling the court that the vision of Bryan Kohberger being carried off in shackles through a prison door that would close behind him forever, was the “closure we seek.”
Dylan Mortensen, a roommate who survived the brutal killings addressed the court in a final statement that spoke of her strength and power to overcome the trauma she’d experienced.
She described how Kohberger “took the light they carried into each room,” adding that Kohberger is “a hollow vessel, something less than human.”
Afterwards, the sister of Goncalves took the stand to address the killer with a chilling final blow: “You didn’t win, you just exposed yourself as the coward you are,” Alivea Goncalves said. “You’re a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser.”
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