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Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Daily Mail
Families demolish 'pathetic loser' Bryan Kohberger as emotionless Idaho monster refuses to say why he slaughtered four students
If quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger felt anything as the friends and families of his victims excoriated him with a series of increasingly fiery witness impact statements, he did not show it. Kohberger was today handed down four consecutive life sentences plus ten years for felony burglary. The sentencing came at the end of a three-hour hearing during which the killer fixed each person who stood to address him in Ada County Courthouse with the same intense stare. It is two and a half years since Kohberger entered 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho shortly after 4am and stabbed 21-year-old best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Maddie Mogen and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin to death. Yet today he didn't flinch as he faced down the devastatio n his crimes have wrought - not even when Kaylee's father, Steve Goncalves, dragged the lectern from where it stood facing the judge and turned it, like a tank's gun tower, towards him. Goncalves had been vocal in his disagreement with the plea deal struck by Kohberger earlier this month - a move that saw him avoid trial and with it the threat of the death penalty. Now Goncalves trained his rage on the killer. 'You picked the wrong families, the wrong state, the wrong community,' he thundered. 'You tried to divide us. You failed. Your actions have united everyone in our disgust for you.' 'Today you have no name,' he told him, stripping Kohberger of the notoriety that, many believe the former criminology PhD student craved. 'A Master's degree? You're a joke. A complete joke. 'The world's watching because of the kids, not because of you. In time you will be nothing more than initials on an otherwise unmarked tombstone.' Seated between his defense attorneys, Anne Taylor and Elisa Massoth, Kohberger simply watched, his eyes hooded by his heavy brow. Last time he sat in this courtroom he looked every bit the former University of Washington teaching assistant that he once was – in dress pants, a white button-down shirt and tie. Today he suffered the ignominy of his imminent incarceration and his status as a guilty man. He wore an orange prison jumpsuit, his hands cuffed to a belly chain, his ankles shackled. A single sheet of paper sat on the table before him, on it a print of a dark heart. A pen sat on top of it. He neither touched nor looked at it for the duration of proceedings. His mother Maryann and sister Amanda were there, seated at the front of the gallery, away from the grieving families. At times Maryann visibly shuddered as the details of her son's crimes were rehearsed. The day opened with impact statements from the two surviving roommates – Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen. One of Maddie's best friends, Emily Alandt, read a letter on Funke's behalf. Alandt was the sorority sister who Mortensen called on the morning of the murders. She went to the King road house with her boyfriend Hunter Johnson and was among the first that day to learn the horrifying truth. Struggling to contain her emotions Alandt read Funke's words, 'I was afraid to go into my own back yard, scared the person would come for me next… I made my parents close all the blinds, barely left the house and made sure I was never alone. I slept in my parents room for almost a year and made my parents double lock every door.' She has not, she revealed, 'slept through a single night since this happened.' Prosecutor Bill Thompson put his hand to his forehead as Alandt continued, 'One day I realized I had to live for them. I do not take that for granted. Everything I do I do that with them in mind.' Xana, she wrote, was 'one in a million.' Kaylee could have 'ruled the world and been America's sweetheart.' Ethan was 'the sweetest and most genuine guy…the way he cared for Xana was proof that storybook love and true romance do exist.' As for Maddie she was, quite simply 'the older sister I would have always wanted.' Next came Dylan Mortensen – just 19 when the murders upended her life and the one roommate who set eyes on Kohberger as he stalked through the house that night. Overcome with emotion she could not stand but instead sat by the prosecutor's table. She struggled to steady her breathing, gulping and stifling cries. Judge Steven Hippler comforted her, 'just take your time.' Kohberger's eyes darted to the side, he breathed heavily. 'Because of him,' Mortensen said, 'four beautiful genuine compassionate people were taken from this world for no reason. 'He didn't just take away their lives. He took away the light they created in every room. He took away what they were becoming and the futures they were going to have… all the memories that we were supposed to make.' With his senseless violence Mortensen told Kohberger, 'You have shattered me in places I didn't know I could break.' To this day she suffers from panic attacks that 'slam' into her 'like a tsunami out of nowhere.' When that happens, she shared, she couldn't breathe, she dropped to the floor. 'It's far beyond anxiety,' she said. 'It's my body reliving everything... My nervous system never got the message that it's over.' Still, Kohberger sat – as impassive as stone. The only time he gave any slight indication that any of this was getting to him was when Mortensen said of him, 'He is a hollow vessel, something less than human. He chose destruction. He chose evil. He feels nothing.' His lips pursed, he blinked and shifted in his chair. Maddie's stepfather Scott, and mother Karen Laramie told how their daughter was taken away 'by a sudden act of evil.' Scott spoke for them both, 'We know the law allows us to comment on the defendant and the sentence. 'We support the plea. Society needs to be protected against this evil. As for the defendant we will not waste words. Evil has many faces, but evil does not deserve our time and attention.' Again, Kohberger's lips twitched. As the morning went on, the loved ones of his victims stood one by one and took their turn to diminish, ridicule and dismiss him as a failure, as foolish, as nothing. Xana's aunt Kim, offered him forgiveness. She said, 'I have forgiven you because I no longer could live with hate in my heart. 'And any time you want to talk and tell me what happened I'm here. Get my number because I have questions. I'm here, I'll be the one who listens to you.' Xana's mother, Cara Northington, who has struggled with addiction throughout her life and says she has found God and sobriety since the death of her daughter, said, 'Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter. 'Without you even being sorry or asking for this, because He who lives in me is greater than any evil in the world.' Her stepfather Randy Davies had no such compassion. 'I don't know what my limits are here,' he said. 'I'm really struggling. I want to be out in the woods with you so I can teach you about loss and pain. 'You are weak. God what I would just give for a moment in the f***ing woods. 'I'm shaking… I hope you feel my energy.' But in a morning filled with rage and loss and love perhaps the most powerful iteration of them all came from Kaylee's older sister Alivea Goncalves. Like her father she turned towards the killer and word by word she took him apart. 'I won't stand here and give you what you want,' she said, 'I won't give you tears. I won't give you trembling. 'Instead, I will call you what you are: sociopath, psychopath, murderer.' She turned his own research methods against him – echoing a questionnaire once written by Kohberger for his academic study. She peppered and mocked him with questions, 'Did you prepare for the crime? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling. Why did you choose my sister? Detail what you were feeling. 'Before leaving their home is there anything else you did? How does it feel to know that the only thing you failed more miserably at was trying to be a rapper? 'Why November 13? Did you truly think your amazon purchase was invisible because you used a gift card?' And then a chilling revelation and a hint of how her sister suffered, 'What was the second weapon you used on Kaylee. What were Kaylee's last words?' Kaylee was so badly beaten by Kohberger that, her father has claimed, she would have died of the assault if she had not died from her stab wounds – of which he has said there were more than 50. 'Do you feel anything at all, or are you exactly what you always feared? Nothing,' Alivea rounded. Her disdain rose as the court sat enthralled and all Kohberger could do was sit in his humiliation. 'There's a name for your condition,' Alivea said, 'Though your inflated ego just didn't allow you to see it. Wannabe. 'The truth is you're basic. Your patterns are predictable, your motives shallow. You're not profound, you're pathetic. 'Don't ever get it twisted again. No one is scared of you, no one is impressed by you. No one thinks that you are important.' And then the mic drop moment. 'Here's the one thing you hate the most. If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep, in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your f***ing ass.' The gallery erupted into applause as she retook her seat and the judge did nothing to stop them. Shortly after 11am prosecutor Bill Thompson stood to ask the court to impose the maximum sentence for each count and for those sentences run consecutively. He twirled his moustache and stroked his beard, folded his hands across his chest and choked back clear emotion – just as he had during the July 2 plea deal hearing. He said, 'We can never undo the horror of what occurred in early morning hours Nov 13, 2022 1122 King Road, Moscow, Idaho… even God cannot change the past. 'But everyone in this room has the ability to take themselves forward and we want the judicial system to afford them the opportunity today to do that. 'From today forward our memories should be focused on these innocent victims whose lives were taken on their families on their friends on their community.' Asked if they intended to offer any evidence the defense said no. Asked if he had anything to say Kohberger told the judge, 'I respectfully decline.' His voice was barely audible. As he sentenced him Judge Hippler described Kohberger as a once 'faceless coward,' who 'slithered' into 1122 King Road and 'senselessly slaughtered,' four of the six young people there that night. He lambasted the killer for his cruelty and for his 'incompetence' which, along with 'outstanding police work,' saw him brought to justice today. Judge Hippler said, 'Those speaking today and those who did not speak but carry the same burden of loss now carry the memory of these forever young people, these perpetual children. 'What we don't know and what we may never know is why? 'I share the desire to know the why, but it seems to me that by continuing to focus on why we give Mr Kohberger relevance, we give him agency, and we give him power. It makes us dependent upon the defendant to give us a reason.' He continued, 'Even if I could force him to speak, which legally I cannot, how can anyone truly believe that what he says is the truth? 'I suspect the so-called reason would be dished out in enticing self-serving and aggrandizing bits leaving people more desire for understanding. Even if we could get truthful insight into his way I suspect it would not quench anyone's thirst for understanding why.' The judge hoped that none would 'stoop' to provide Kohberger with a spotlight in future. Criminal psychologists should study him, he said, but 'there should be no reason for that to spill into the public eye.' As he brought proceedings to an end Judge Hippler said, 'His acts of evil have made him the worst of the worst. 'Even in pleading guilty he's giving nothing hinting of remorse or redemption or regret for the pain that he's caused and therefore I will not attempt to speak of him further other than to sentence him and remove him forever from society.'
Yahoo
03-07-2025
- Yahoo
Why an Idaho Victim's Dad Is Apologizing to His Late Daughter — and Saying He Feels 'Used' by Prosecutors
Idaho murder victim Kaylee Goncalves's father is livid over the prosecution's decision to offer Bryan Kohberger a plea deal sparing him the death penalty Kohberger's murder trial was scheduled to take place in August, but in a surprise move, he pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder on July 2 He is expected to be sentenced to four consecutive life terms in prisonSteve Goncalves apologized to his late daughter, Kaylee, for the prosecution's decision to offer now-convicted killer Bryan Kohberger a plea deal that spares him the death penalty. 'It's my mistake. I'm sorry Kaylee,' Goncalves said on Banfield on NewsNation on Wednesday, July 2. 'I'm truly sorry that I didn't get you a prosecutor who really believed what happened to you could only be fixed with life.' Hours earlier, Kohberger, 30, had pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing University of Idaho students Goncalves and her best friend, Maddie Mogen, both 21, and Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, at their off-campus rental house in Nov. 2022. Families of the victims gathered inside the courthouse on Wednesday to hear Kohberger plead guilty, coming face to face with the killer who viciously ended their loved ones' young lives. Related: Best Friends of University of Idaho Murder Victims Speak Out: What We Saw (Exclusive) Steve Goncalves and his family came to the courthouse, but did not go into the courtroom, NewsNation reported. 'It's a pointless exercise,' he said. During the tense plea hearing, the judge asked Kohberger, 'Did you on Nov. 13, 2022, in Latah County, Idaho, kill and murder Kaylee Goncalves, a human being?' Showing no emotion and answering in a matter of fact tone, Kohberger replied, 'Yes.' The judge then asked him, 'Did you do that willfully, unlawfully, deliberately, with premeditation and malice aforethought?' Again, Kohberger answered 'Yes' in an emotionless tone, and did so when he was asked about murdering the other three victims. Related: Bryan Kohberger Pleads Guilty, Confessing to Murders of 4 University of Idaho Students to Avoid Possible Execution Kohberger's murder trial was supposed to take place in August, but in a surprise move, he asked for, was granted and agreed to plead guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the Nov. 2022 deaths of the four students, according to a letter sent to victims' families from prosecutors, cited by ABC News, the Idaho Statesman, and The New York Times. Steve Goncavles and his family criticized the plea deal, writing on Facebook that the prosecution 'failed us." They noted that they met with prosecutors on Friday, June 27, about "the possibility of a plea deal and it was a hard no from our family.' Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. On Tuesday, July 1, the family wrote that prosecutors "vaguely mentioned a possible plea on Friday, without seeking our input, and presented the plea on Sunday." On Wednesday, July 2, Steve Goncalves told Banfield host Ashleigh Banfield he and his family feel 'used' by the prosecution. He also said that he wished Kohberger's fate had been decided by a jury of his peers, who could have decided whether or not to give him the death penalty. Related: 'Furious' Idaho Murders Victim's Father Wanted to Face Killer in Court. Plea Deal Was a 'Hard No' from Family When Banfield asked him what he would like to say to Kohberger, he replied that he would tell him he is 'a complete loser. 'I'm ashamed that we couldn't have ended you,' he said. 'You beat me on that. My bad.' Read the original article on People
New York Times
02-07-2025
- New York Times
Inside the Surprise Idaho Murders Plea Deal That Left Some Families Fuming
A criminal trial was approaching for the man accused of killing Ben Mogen's daughter, Maddie, and three of her friends at the University of Idaho. Then, last week, Mr. Mogen logged on to a Zoom call to find a group of prosecutors waiting to talk to him. The conversation covered logistics of the trial and how families of the victims would be able to leave the courtroom when potentially painful evidence was presented. There would be many such moments, the prosecutors warned, with horrific details and images of the crime scene to be shown as evidence. As the call wrapped up, the prosecutors asked Mr. Mogen a final question: How would he feel if they were able to reach an agreement with the defendant, Bryan Kohberger, to enter a guilty plea? Mr. Mogen, recalling the conversation, said he talked about how the case had been tormenting him and his family. They wanted to heal. They were dreading a trial. 'It's been this nightmare that's approaching in our heads,' he told them. Just a few days later, a plea deal emerged, with prosecutors agreeing to take the death penalty off the table in exchange for an admission of guilt and a lifelong prison sentence for the defendant. In it, Mr. Kohberger, 30, a criminology student at a nearby university at the time of the murders, agreed to plead guilty to fatally stabbing the four students at a home near their campus in Moscow, Idaho. It was a stunning turn in the case, and it followed more than two and a half years of legal battles between prosecutors and defense lawyers as they prepared for a trial in August. It also came over the objection of family members of at least two victims, with one family urging the judge to take the rare move of rejecting the deal. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
NBC News
14-05-2025
- NBC News
Watch the Dateline episode 'The Terrible Night on King Road' now
You know the victims. Four University of Idaho students. Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. Stabbed to death in the house at 1122 King Road. You also know the person accused of committing the crime. Bryan Kohberger. At the time, he was a doctoral student in criminology at Washington State University. Now he's awaiting trial, a not guilty plea entered on his behalf. What you didn't know is what we've learned in the past two years. And what we've seen. But you'll learn all about it when you watch the full episode 'The Terrible Night on King Road' available on Peacock now. You can also watch on the NBC app or listen to it on our podcast. When you're done with the episode, you can watch loved ones remember the four students who lost their lives that terrible night: Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. Plus, learn about the Made with Kindness Foundation, a nonprofit organization created in honor of Kaylee, Maddie, and Xana, aimed at empowering college students by promoting safety and awareness through workshops and scholarships. You can also listen to this week's episode of Talking Dateline with Keith Morrison and Blayne Alexander, in which they take you behind the scenes of filming the episode.
Daily Mail
10-05-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE She was supposed to be in Idaho murders house that awful night...until bizarre twist of fate saved her
A woman who lived in the infamous Idaho murders house was likely saved from being slaughtered alongside four of her friends by a hurricane. Ashlin Couch was the sixth roommate on the lease at 1122 King Road in Moscow. She had been due to be there in the early hours of November 13 2022, when Kaylee Goncalves, Madison 'Maddie' Mogen, Xana Kernole and Ethan Chapin were all brutally-slaughtered. Those plans were derailed because Couch's mother Angela Navejas, of Coeur D'Alene in Idaho, had been trapped in Florida by Hurricane Nicole. That meant Couch had to stay home to care for the dogs. She ended up missing a big campus football game that was a huge social event. Had she attended, she'd almost certainly have been sharing a bed with close friend Mogen, who met a terrible end as she slept, with suspect Bryan Kohberger soon to stand trial for the murders. 'Ashlin was supposed to be there that night,' her mom Angela Navejas tells 'You know college girls - they'd just stay together half the time… they'd split like a twin bed or something. They'd go out for the night, they'd eat their little snacks and then go to sleep,' she says. 'Ashlin would stay with Maddie in Maddie's room with her. And she was supposed to be there [that night].' The friends attended school together but grew even closer after deciding to study at the University of Idaho and joining its Pi Beta Phi sorority. Najevas explained: 'They shared a very small room together, and they just bonded,' Navejas says. 'It was like an instant friendship, and after that, they were inseparable. They did yoga together, they studied together, they would walk to class together… that was Ashlin's person, her best friend.' Couch also became good friends with Goncalves and Kernodle and, through her daughter, Navejas grew close to the young women too. She remembers they would often all come to stay at her family home in Coeur D'Alene when they wanted a few days away from the college town. In 2021, Couch and Mogen signed the lease for the three-story house at 1122 King Road with four other friends and moved in together. But Couch ended up graduating early and moved out in the summer of 2022, with Kernodle taking over her room. It was around this time that two other roommates called Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke also moved in. Both were at home the night of the murders but survived. Despite moving home to Coeur D'Alene, Couch would often return to Moscow to spend weekends with her friends. On November 13, 2022 - the morning after the big game - Couch started getting messages from friends that something bad had taken place through the night at 1122 King Road. Soon, the horrifying details emerged: Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle and Chapin had been stabbed to death inside the home. Mogen and Goncalves were both found dead in Mogen's bed in her room on the third floor - a room that Couch could also have been staying in. Navejas remembers her daughter 'froze' when she learned her friends had been murdered. 'She just laid in bed and just cried and cried and wouldn't stop crying,' she says. Bryan Kohberger goes on trial this August charged with the murders of the four students To this day, Couch doesn't talk about how that night could have turned out very differently had her plans not changed and isn't ready to share her story herself. 'To be honest, she doesn't think about [the fact she could have been there] and she doesn't talk about it… She's grieving in a different way,' Navejas says. But, as her mom, Navejas often thinks about how close her daughter could have come to meeting a terrible end. 'I honestly didn't even think about it when it happened. I think all I could think about was the girls, because they were like daughters to me. It wasn't just a tragedy that happened, we lost a part of our family,' she says. 'But as the years have gone by, I do think about that. And sometimes I feel guilty thinking about that because I still have my daughter and their families don't.' Couch has since moved away from the area for a new start. 'It was her and Maddie's plan to move to San Diego together,' her mom says. 'So she decided to move to San Diego because she wanted to live her dreams for her best friend.' Following the murders, the mom and daughter also launched the Made With Kindness Foundation in memory of their friends. Kaitlyn Widmyer, creative director of the foundation who employed Mogen at her fashion business, tells that the non-profit is about 'honoring their womanhood and their coming of age tale that they deserve to be safe and graduate college.' As well as honoring Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle, the organization focuses on protecting young women and promoting safety for women on college campuses. The foundation also runs scholarship programs and four signature events: the Make It Pink Gala, Maddie May Day, Kaylee Jade Day and XanaPalooza. The gala is being held June 13 on Lake Coeur d'Alene.
