Bryan Kohberger, the man convicted of murdering four University of Idaho students, has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The 30-year-old former criminology PhD student was found guilty of fatally stabbing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves in the early hours of November 13, 2022, at their off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho.
The sentencing took place on Wednesday, July 23, in a courtroom in Boise. Kohberger is expected to be transferred to Idaho’s Maximum Security Institution—home to the state’s most dangerous inmates—CNN reported.
Before handing down the sentence, Judge Steven Hippler offered Kohberger the opportunity to speak. “Mr. Kohberger, you have an opportunity to make a statement. I take it you are declining?” Hippler asked.
Kohberger responded simply, “I respectfully decline.”
Judge Hippler acknowledged the silence, saying, “Even if I could force him to speak, which legally I cannot, how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth? Do we really believe, after all this, he’s capable of telling the truth or offering anything meaningful to the people whose lives he destroyed?”
The judge continued, expressing hope that the full truth will eventually come out—though likely, he said, in a “self-serving” way. “The time has now come to end Mr. Kohberger’s 15 minutes of fame,” Hippler added.
‘Unspeakable Evil’
In his remarks, Judge Hippler described the brutal killings as an “unspeakable evil.”
“On the morning of November 13, 2022, a faceless coward breached the peace of six young people and senselessly slaughtered four of them,” Hippler said. “For weeks, the identity of the killer remained unknown, but thanks to both his incompetence and exceptional police work, the person responsible now stands unmasked before this court and the world.”
The judge said Kohberger “slithered through that sliding glass door” to carry out a “horrific and senseless act of evil,” leaving behind immeasurable pain and loss.
“No parent should ever have to bury their child,” Hippler said. “Parents who once dropped off their children at college in trucks filled with moving boxes had to bring them home in hearses lined with coffins. That is the greatest tragedy anyone can endure.”
Kohberger showed no emotion during the proceedings and left the courtroom without making any further comment.
He will now serve the rest of his life behind bars, with no chance of parole.
