Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger gets life sentence, stays quiet on motive for 4 murders
At sentencing, ex-criminology PhD student Kohberger declined to explain why he murdered four University of Idaho students
A former criminal-justice doctoral student convicted in the 2022 stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, but declined to give a statement in court that might have shed light on a motive for the killings.
Bryan Kohberger, 30, received four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole or appeal under a deal with prosecutors sparing him the death penalty in return for pleading guilty earlier this month to four counts of first-degree murder.
Judge Steven Hippler gave Kohberger, shackled and dressed in orange jail garb, an opportunity to address the court before the sentence was pronounced.
“I respectfully decline,” the defendant answered quietly, the only words he uttered during the 2½ hour proceedings in Idaho’s Fourth District Court in Boise, the state capital.
Throughout the hearing he sat expressionless beside his lawyers as relatives and friends of the victims - Ethan Chapin, 20, his girlfriend Xana Kernodle, 20, and her roommates Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 - took turns venting their anger and anguish directly at him through the presentation of victim impact statements.