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Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger speaks just three words when given chance to explain why he killed four Idaho college students
Killer Bryan Kohberger spoke just three words in court on Wednesday when he was given a chance to explain why he killed four University of Idaho students in November 2022. "I respectfully decline," Kohberger said, partially standing up. The 30-year-old was sentenced to four consecutive life terms without parole for the murders, plus 10 years for burglary and $290,000 in financial penalties to the victims' families. "The more we struggle to seek explanation for the unexplainable, the more power and control we give to him," Judge Steven Hippler said. "In my view, the time has now come to end Mr. Kohberger's 15 minutes of fame." Idaho Victims' Families To Address Killer Directly At Kohberger Sentencing Earlier this month, Kohberger pleaded guilty to the Nov. 13, 2022, murders of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Read On The Fox News App He admitted to sneaking into the students' off-campus house in the early morning hours and killing the friends with a Ka-Bar knife. Prosecutors said Kohberger killed Mogen and Goncalves in an upstairs bedroom before killing Kernodle on the main floor. He then attacked Chapin, who was asleep in a bedroom. Trump Weighs In On Bryan Kohberger's Plea Deal Ahead Of Crucial Idaho Murders Sentencing During a news conference Wednesday following Kohberger's sentencing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that if it were up to President Donald Trump, he would have "forced this monster" to explain himself. "We are so sorry for the grief and the pain that you have experienced at the hands of such a vicious and evil killer. Our nation grieves with you and we will never forget the precious souls who were lost in this horrific act of evil," she said. "If it were up to the president, he would have forced this monster to publicly explain why he chose to steal these innocent souls." "May God bless everyone affected by this unimaginable tragedy," Leavitt added. "Especially the parents who lost their children." Before the sentencing, prosecutors asked a Boise judge to extend the order barring Kohberger from contacting the victims' families for an additional 99 years. The current no contact orders expire Jan. 5, 2027. Fox News Digital's Sarah Rumpf-Whitten and Michael Ruiz contributed to this article source: Bryan Kohberger speaks just three words when given chance to explain why he killed four Idaho college students Solve the daily Crossword
Daily Mail
18 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Emotional courtroom moment that hinted at inner turmoil faced by Bryan Kohberger's mother
's mother was visibly emotional throughout his sentencing hearing despite the killer's stone-cold demeanor. MaryAnn Kohberger was in the courtroom alongside Kohberger's lookalike sister Amanda, as Judge Steven Hippler handed down four life sentences for the 'grotesque murders' of Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. At several points during the victim impact statement portion of the hearing, MaryAnn 'shuddered' with emotion. The killer's mom is understood to have quietly wept throughout court proceedings, and briefly sobbed when Mogen's grandmother spoke of her grief for the other victims' families, as well as the Kohbergers. She and her daughter sat quietly near the defense table, the only two people in the gallery there to support Kohberger. His father did not attend, but he was present when Kohberger pleaded guilty earlier this month. MaryAnn and Amanda were pictured slipping out a back door of the courtroom after Kohberger was told he would spend his life in prison with no possibility of parole. The shattered mom wore dark glasses to cover her face. Her hair was swept up in an updo, and she wore a black floral dress with dangly earrings. Amanda, meanwhile, looked straight down the lens of the camera as she exited first from the courthouse. She and MaryAnn had traveled from their home in Pennsylvania to witness the conclusion of one of the most infamous crimes of the 21st century. They were escorted from the courtroom by police after and did not make any statement. The family issued a statement just days after Kohberger's arrest, saying they would be standing by him. The statement said they 'care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children' and that they were cooperating fully with the investigation. They added that 'as a family we will love and support our son and brother.' Kohberger has never explained his motive for carrying out the murders. He sat in court Wednesday as he heard heart-wrenching statements from families of the four students he stabbed to death. He was asked if he'd like to address the court, but said: 'I respectfully decline.' Judge Hippler said the heartbroken families may never know why Kohberger killed their loved ones. 'The need to know what is inherently not understandable makes us dependent upon the defendant to provide us with a reason, and that gives him the spotlight, the attention and the power he appears to crave,' he said. 'In my view, the time has now come to end Mr Kohberger's 15 minutes of fame. 'It's time that he been consigned to the ignominy and isolation of perpetual incarceration.' Kohberger was studying for a doctorate degree in criminology at Washington State University in 2022 when he drove to the small town of Moscow, Idaho and broke into the victims' shared house. He went from room to room stabbing four of the six occupants to death. Kohberger was arrested at his parents' house in Pennsylvania thousands of miles away on December 30 that year, after DNA found on a knife sheath was traced to him. He continued to deny the charges, despite mounting evidence, and appeared set to go to trial until this month when a shock plea deal was announced - sparing him the death penalty. After the victim impact statements concluded on Wednesday, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson offered more details about how that plea bargain came about. On June 18, Kohberger's final motions were argued before the court - to delay the trial and to be able to accuse others of being alternate suspects. 'The following week, we were approached by the defense on a possible plea,' the prosecutor said. This was the first mention of a possible plea as the defense 'maintained from the beginning that he was innocent.' Thompson, the prosecutor, said his office met with the victims' families about the potential of a plea deal. 'We understand, recognise and acknowledge that there was a difference of opinion among representatives of the different families,' he said. His office decided to take the plea deal, but accepts that not everyone supported his decision. 'I accept that. It's my responsibility,' he said.
New York Times
18 hours ago
- New York Times
10 Takeaways From Idaho Killer's Sentencing Hearing
Bryan Kohberger sat in a courtroom in Boise, Idaho, for more than three hours on Wednesday, rarely changing his expression as he listened to emotional speeches from more than a dozen people condemning him for the murders of four University of Idaho students more than two years ago. Among the speakers were relatives of the victims, two roommates who survived the November 2022 attack, a prosecutor who built the case against him and the judge who sentenced him at the end of the hearing. Mr. Kohberger said almost nothing throughout the process. His sentence: four consecutive life terms with no opportunity for parole, a punishment that the lead prosecutor called 'a life and death sentence' because it ensured he would die in prison. Now 30, Mr. Kohlberger was a Ph.D. student at Washington State University at the time of the killings, which spread fear through the neighboring college town where they occurred, Moscow, Idaho. Investigators had been under a strict gag order for much of the time since he was taken into custody in December 2022, but it was lifted last week and they held a news conference for the first time on Wednesday, following the sentencing hearing, during which they disclosed some new details. Here's what to know. When asked toward the end of the hearing by Judge Steven Hippler if he would like to make a statement, Mr. Kohberger leaned forward in his chair and said just three words: 'I respectfully decline.' 'Coward,' someone from the courtroom audience cried out. Judge Hippler, in comments before delivering the sentence, said that while he shared the desire to know why Mr. Kohberger had murdered the four students, he did not believe that any answer the killer provided could be believed or would be satisfactory. The prosecutor, Bill Thompson, also said he believed that inviting the killer to explain his crimes would only allow him to shape his own narrative. Investigators said at the news conference after the hearing that they had never been able to identify a motive. In the sentencing hearing, the public heard for the first time from the two other people who were in the house in Moscow, Idaho, when Mr. Kohberger killed Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Much attention has focused on why neither had called 911 until more than seven hours after the killings — particularly since one, Dylan Mortensen, saw a masked man walking through the house around 4 a.m., roughly the time of the killings. Ms. Mortenson said she had been haunted ever since, afraid to even close her eyes at night. The other roommate, Bethany Funke, wrote a statement that was read in court by a friend in which she said she felt guilt over not doing more but had been unaware of what had taken place upstairs. 'If I had known, I, of course, would have called 911 right away,' she said. 'I still carry so much regret and guilt for not knowing what had happened and not calling right away, even though I understand it wouldn't have changed anything, not even if the paramedics had been right outside the door.' Judge Hippler called both roommates courageous and said 'uncaring people' had come up with absurd theories about their behavior that night. When Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, stood to give his victim impact statement, he grasped the lectern with both hands and turned it 90 degrees, so that he could speak directly to Mr. Kohberger. 'You tried to divide us,' he told him. 'You failed. Instead, your actions have united everyone in their disgust for you.' Several family members raised the possibility — or the hope — that other prisoners would assault Mr. Kohberger while he serves his sentence. But several said they had forgiven him. One was Cara Northington, the mother of Xana Kernodle, who also said she prayed for him. But she added, 'I am washing my hands of you.' Ms. Kernodle's uncle, Stratton Kernodle, focused on how the crime had 'tainted' Mr. Kohberger's family, making it a 'miserable thing to ever be related to him.' And Kim Cheeley, the grandmother of Madison Mogen, said that her heart ached for the surviving roommates, the families of the other victims — and for Mr. Kohberger's family. The family of Ethan Chapin, the fourth victim, said earlier this week that they would not be attending the hearing. They had previously expressed support for the plea agreement. The investigative team made extensive efforts to identify some pre-existing link between Mr. Kohberger and the victims, law enforcement officials said at the news conference, but were unable to find any. They dispelled two popular theories that have surfaced in YouTube discussions, media accounts and documentaries: that Mr. Kohberger might have interacted with some of the victims on social media or that he had met some of them at a restaurant. 'We have never to this day found a single connection between him and any of the four victims or the two surviving victims,' said Lt. Darren Gilbertson of the Idaho State Police. The investigators also said they had looked into every aspect of a widely circulated theory that Mr. Kohberger had initially participated in Facebook discussions on the case under the username Pappa Rodger, but had concluded that it was false. Also unanswered is a central question: Had Mr. Kohberger been targeting one of the victims? Prosecutors have said that when he entered the students' home, he first went to a bedroom on the third floor, where he killed Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. But the investigators said on Wednesday they did not know if he had any specific Brett Payne of the Moscow Police Department said it was possible that he chose the home because of its location or layout, but that investigators simply did not know. Crucial evidence has never been found. Investigators used phone records to trace Mr. Kohberger's path after the killings and hunted for a knife along those routes, taking soil samples and searching waterways — to no avail. 'It wasn't for a lack of trying,' Lt. Gilbertson said. He said the places where the knife could have been discarded were 'endless.' Family members of some victims had vehemently objected to a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table for Mr. Kohberger. Mr. Thompson contended that the agreement was the best possible outcome. He noted that it resulted in Mr. Kohberger admitting guilt on all charges and that he will now remain behind bars until he dies. 'I respect the fact that, of these fine suffering people here, not everyone agreed with the decision we made,' Mr. Thompson said. Mr. Kohberger's mother, MaryAnn, attended the hearing, sitting in the first row near her son. During some of the victims' family statements, she grew emotional, dabbing her eyes and nose with a tissue. Other times she looked over at her son. During a break, she briefly put her head down into her hands. When Ms. Cheeley expressed sympathy for her, Ms. Kohberger's body shuddered visibly. Mr. Kohberger and his mother had little interaction. At one point, as he entered the courtroom, he smiled at his mother. She nodded back at him.
Fox News
19 hours ago
- Fox News
Judge declares 'it's time to end his 15 minutes of fame' before handing down Bryan Kohberger's sentence
Before sentencing Bryan Kohberger to life in prison, Judge Steven Hippler rebuked the convicted killer's crime, telling the court, "In my view, the time has now come to end Mr. Kohberger's 15 minutes of fame" in Boise, Idaho on July 23, 2025.
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- South China Morning Post
Idaho killer gets life sentence, stays quiet on motive for deadly stabbings
The former criminal-justice doctoral student convicted in the 2022 stabbing deaths of four Idaho college students was formally sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison, but declined to make a statement in court that might have addressed the mystery of his motive for the killings. Advertisement Bryan Kohberger, 30, received four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole or appeal under a deal with prosecutors that spared him the death penalty in return for his guilty plea to four counts of first-degree murder. Judge Steven Hippler gave Kohberger, dressed in orange jail garb, an opportunity to make a statement before sentence was pronounced. The defendant, who sat expressionless beside his lawyers throughout the hearing, answered: 'I respectfully decline,' the only words he uttered during the proceedings. Cara Northington, mother of victim Xana Kernodle, cries during Bryan Kohberger's sentencing in Boise, Idaho, on Wednesday. Photo: AP During the proceedings in Idaho's Fourth District Court in Boise, the state capital, numerous family members and friends of the victims vented their anger and anguish directly at Kohberger through the presentation of victim impact statements.
