Idaho murder victim Ethan Chapin's family releases tragic statement after skipping Bryan Kohberger's sentencing
Stacy Chapin shared a heartbreaking message for her son as she spoke out for the first time after she chose not to attend Kohberger's sentencing at Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, last week.
'We've given a lot of thought to what we should say since 7/23 and have edited this a million times,' Stacy Chapin wrote in an Instagram post on behalf of her family on Thursday.
Advertisement
8 The family of Idaho murder victim Ethan Chapin (2nd from right) speaks out following killer Bryan Kohberger's life sentence.
Instagram / @stacychapin
'The entire situation has been a tough pill to swallow but at the end of the day, we believe the outcome is the right one.'
Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without parole after he pleaded guilty to killing the four college friends in Moscow on Nov. 13, 2022.
Advertisement
The grieving mom, who shared numerous photos of Chapin with his two siblings, Maisie and Hunter — with whom he was a triplet — and with the family.
'You were only with us for 20 years, but you touched the lives of so many people,' she wrote.
'From the time you were a baby to when we dropped you off at college, you were an absolute joy and the glue that held our family together. We remember your smile, your laugh, how you kept us in check, and the many ways you brought happiness and light to any situation. There will never be another you.'
8 Stacy Chapin and Jim Chapin arrive at the Ada County Courthouse for Bryan Kohberger's plea deal hearing on Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boise, Idaho.
AP
Advertisement
8 Stacy Chapin shared a heartbreaking message for her son as she spoke out for the first time after she chose not to attend Kohberger's sentencing at Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, last week.
Instagram / @stacychapin
'There would never have been enough time with you. We love you, miss you, and promise to continue honoring your legacy,' she added.
Stacy Chapin thanked investigators, prosecutors, University of Idaho staff, and loved ones for their 'ongoing support' since the 2022 murders and throughout the trial.
The Chapin family did not attend Kohberger's sentencing hearing, unlike the families of the other three victims — Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, — who were present.
Advertisement
8 Chapin with his girlfriend Xana Kernodle.
Xena Kernodle/Instagram
8 Final photo of the victims Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right.
Chapin's parents said they had already found 'big-time closure' in their son's death after his killer pleaded guilty to the murders.
'I really don't care what happens to the guy .. He's off the streets. He can't hurt any more kids,' Ethan's father Jim Chapin told 'TODAY' before Kohberger's sentencing.
The couple said the plea agreement sparing Kohberger of the death penalty will save their surviving children from potentially having to testify at trial and relay their brother's traumatizing death.
8 The grieving mom, who shared numerous photos of Chapin with his two siblings, Maisie and Hunter — with whom he was a triplet — and with the family.
Instagram / @stacychapin
'I'm ready for my kids to move on. I'm ready for us to move on. I mean, it's been almost 2½ years, and it's just, it's over,' Jim Chapin said.
The mother of Ethan Chapin's girlfriend, Kernodle, similarly found peace in the plea deal despite the lack of answers, telling Fox News before Kohberger's sentencing that she was 'upset' at first but realized 'God is protecting us from further torment and trauma.'
Advertisement
While the Chapin family expressed contentment with the outcome, the other victims' families disagreed with the plea deal, arguing it prevented proper justice.
8 Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse during his sentencing hearing, in Boise, Idaho, on July 23, 2025.
KYLE GREEN/POOL/EPA/Shutterstock
8 General view of an off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death on Nov. 20, 2022 in Moscow, Idaho.
James Keivom
Kohberger was slammed by the family members of his victims as they delivered blistering victim impact statements to the court during his sentencing hearing.
Advertisement
Alivea Goncalves labeled her sister's murderer a 'pedophile' and 'sociopath,' criticized his intelligence and arrogance, and ordered him to 'sit up straight' while scolding him for his heinous crimes.
'If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your f–king ass,' she confidently told Kohberger while staring him down in court.
Kernodle's mother, Cara Northington, did read a victim impact statement, telling the killer, 'Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter without you even being sorry or asking for this.'
Kohberger did not speak during the hearing.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Buzz Feed
5 hours ago
- Buzz Feed
Top Industries That Attract 'Terrible' People
If you've ever wondered if other people perceive your job negatively, this post is for you. In one Reddit thread (which you can see here), people discussed the career fields they think have the most "terrible" people, and there were some very interesting takes. I've rounded up 18 different answers – let's see if your industry made this list: "I think, while not all people in Human Resources are terrible, the field does attract the kind of people who are looking to lord it over others. Busybodies, gossips, insecure people who let a little bit of power go to their heads." "HOA Management. Almost cost me my sanity. Thank goodness I left that field." "Spammers and scammers." –Express_Gas2416 "Cops. Even most of my buddies who were good guys before becoming cops became douchebags." "Nurses are either the sweetest people on earth or the devil." "Fitness, especially those who think they are 'influencers.' Bunch of narcissists and fake personas." –Superb-Attitude9606 "Anti-union consultants." "I used to work in meteorology, and while I met some good people in the field, I met A LOT of condescending assholes. That's a big reason why I no longer work in that field. It was taking a huge toll on my mental health." "For a year, I worked in loan sales (predatory max-interest loans targeting people who can't get loans anywhere else), and about 75% of my job was collecting. Skip tracing, digging through their social media, calling family members, etc. They wanted me to take over my own branch, and the money would have been great. I just could not do it." "Paparazzi." –Gizm00 "My mom was a home nurse who was also sometimes sent to do elderly care at aged care facilities. She would frequently get upset at both some of the staff and some of the management because of how badly some elders were treated." "Corrections officers. A lot of them are narcissistic predators, especially in my experience as a former CO who worked in 2 different maximum-security state prisons." "Marketing. I've been working in the industry for more than a decade, have had roles all around the world, and the overwhelming majority of people I've worked with have been immature, insecure, conceited, irascible, narcissistic, antagonistic, and, above all, pathologically self-absorbed. An absolute nightmare to be around." "That girl from high school who slides in your DMs on Instagram with the 'hey girly!' trying to sell you her fit tea." "Surgeons. I say this as someone who wants to be one. You need the perfect mix of insanity and egomania even to think you'll make it there, and the prestige of the career only further attracts those people." "The money only adds to it, as does the reaction when you tell others what you do. I'd say the douchebaggery of a surgeon is 40% learned from the pressure and abuse of academia/training, 20% internal ego, 10% how others treat them, and maybe 30% totally justified."–RegionEducational366 "Real estate. Narcissism runs rampant." "Lawyer here. We're a bunch of pretentious assholes who really like to argue about minutia and get paid to do it. Here's a dirty secret: half of the time, we don't actually agree with our client. But since they pay us to argue for them, argue we will!" And finally, "Entertainment industry. Far too many stories of rich people with too much power subjecting young and weak individuals at the bottom of the barrel to sexual harassment and promising success based on lies and promises that they don't intend to keep." What else belongs on this list? Let me know in the comments!
New York Post
5 hours ago
- New York Post
3 escaped prisoners who killed elderly US couple in Grenada learn their fate
Three escaped prisoners from the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada who were accused of killing an elderly U.S. couple last year after hijacking their catamaran have been sentenced. Ron Mitchell, a sailor in his 30s who was accused of being the ringleader, received two life sentences late Wednesday in the killings of Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel. Atiba Stanislaus, a farmer in his late 20s, received 60 years for manslaughter and nearly 18 years for the rape of Brandel, among other sentences, for a variety of crimes, including kidnapping. Advertisement 4 Three escaped prisoners from the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada who were accused of killing an elderly U.S. couple last year after hijacking their catamaran have been sentenced. RSVG Police Force 4 Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel are pictured above. GoFundMe Trevon Robertson, an unemployed man in his early 20s, received 56 years for manslaughter and other sentences for different crimes, according to local media reports. The New Today, a local newspaper, reported that prosecutors said the men bound and gagged the couple before throwing them overboard, with Mitchell accused of steering the yacht over Hendry. Advertisement The two bodies were never found. Police at the time said the men had escaped in late February 2024 from the South Saint George Police Station. 4 The New Today, a local newspaper, reported that prosecutors said the men bound and gagged the couple before throwing them overboard.. AP Advertisement 4 Police at the time said the men had escaped in late February 2024 from the South Saint George Police Station. AP They hijacked the catamaran Simplicity on the following day and then headed to nearby St. Vincent, where they were arrested, according to authorities. The nonprofit Salty Dawg Sailing Association had said that Hendry and Brandel were 'veteran cruisers' and longtime members of the association, calling them 'warm-hearted and capable.' It said the couple was spending the winter cruising in the eastern Caribbean.
San Francisco Chronicle
6 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Rival anti-migrant and anti-racism protests face off outside a hotel housing migrants in London
LONDON (AP) — Anti-immigrant and anti-racism demonstrators faced off in London on Saturday in the latest in a series of protests outside hotels housing asylum-seekers. Several hundred protesters waving Union Jacks gathered outside the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in central London, calling for it to be closed as housing for migrants. Chants including 'Scum' and 'Britain is full' were directed at the hotel. Police separated the demonstrators from a larger group of counter-protesters chanting 'refugees are welcome here,' as people inside the hotel watched from windows. Protests against migrants have taken place in recent weeks in Epping, a town on the outskirts of London where an asylum-seeker was accused of sexual assault, and in a smattering of other towns in England. Protesters say they are concerned about the safety risk posed by the migrants, many of them young men who have recently arrived in Britain in dinghies across the English Channel. The demonstrations have drawn local people, but have also been attended, and in some cases organized, by far-right groups. The protests come a year after several days of anti-immigrant rioting across England and Northern Ireland. Crowds in more than two dozen towns attacked hotels housing migrants, as well as mosques, police stations and a library. Some rioters targeted non-white people and threw bricks and fireworks at police. The summer 2024 violence was sparked when three girls were stabbed to death at a summer dance class in the town of Southport, and online misinformation identified the attacker as a recently arrived migrant. In fact, killer Axel Rudakubana was a British-born 17-year-old. Experts and community groups warn that the mix of anger, fear, misinformation and political agitating that fueled that violence could erupt again, though protests this summer have been small and largely peaceful.
