Jul 23, 2025, 1:26 PM EDT
Kohberger declines to address court
After listening to statements from victims' families, Bryan Kohberger said in court, “I respectfully decline” to speak.
Bryan Kohberger updates: Judge sentences Idaho killer to life, 1st police reports released
Bryan Kohberger declined to speak at the sentencing hearing.
Last Updated: July 23, 2025, 8:10 PM EDT
Families of the University of Idaho murder victims directly addressed the admitted killer, Bryan Kohberger, at his sentencing on Wednesday.
One of the surviving roommates also gave an emotional statement, speaking out for the first time.
Judge Steven Hippler acknowledged Kohberger's motive may never be known as he sentenced him to four consecutive life sentences on the four first-degree murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count.
The students -- roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin -- were stabbed to death at the girls' off-campus house on Nov. 13, 2022. On July 2, weeks before the trial was set to start, Kohberger pleaded guilty to all counts. As a part of the plea deal, the death penalty was taken off the table.
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Here's how the news is developing.
Jul 23, 2025, 1:25 PM EDT
Prosecutor shows victims' photos as families weep
Prosecutor Bill Thompson said in court that the discussion about the plea deal had to stay secret to avoid tampering potential jurors if the trial went forward. He said he respected the fact that some of the victims’ relatives did not agree with the plea deal.
Kyle Green/Pool/Getty Images
As the families wept, Thompson displayed a photo of each victim in the courtroom. He listed each count and read the names of the victims: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
"From today forward, our memories should be focused on these innocent victims whose lives were taken," he said.
The victims not only had their own families, and not just their friends and sororities and fraternities, "but this family," Thompson said, as he displayed the photo of the four victims and the two surviving roommates that was taken on Nov. 12, 2022, the day before the murders.
“You can see all six of these dynamic, vibrant, loving, special, innocent faces, taken together just across the street from their residence. And barely 12 hours before four of them would be brutally murdered in their sleep,” Thompson said.
As the photos were shown, Kohberger’s sister sank lower in her chair and Kaylee Goncalves’ sister sat up straighter.
Thompson said Kohberger will stand from his seat in belly chains and leg irons and will be taken into custody, where "the door will close behind him forever -- that is the closure that we seek.”
Jul 23, 2025, 1:06 PM EDT
Xana Kernodle’s stepfather: ‘Go to hell’
Randy Davis, Xana Kernodle’s stepfather, addressed the other victims' families, saying this was likely the last time they’d all be in the same room.
“I love you all and I feel your pain,” he said.
To Bryan Kohberger, he said while shaking, “You’re gonna go to hell … you’re evil ... you took our children … you are gonna suffer, man.”
“Go to hell,” he concluded, as everyone clapped.
Jul 23, 2025, 1:02 PM EDT
Xana Kernodle's aunt says to Kohberger, ‘I’ve forgiven you’
Xana Kernodle's aunt, Kim Kernodle, said in court, “This is probably gonna bother everybody, but Bryan, I’m here today to tell you I’ve forgiven you, because I could no longer live with that hate.”
“Any time you want to talk and tell me what happened … I’m here, no judgment,” she said to her niece’s killer.
State of Idaho
Xana Kernodle’s dad, Jeff Kernodle, said in court that the thing he misses most is the weekend calls from his daughter.
He said he was staying just a few miles away from the victims’ house on the night of the murders and wishes he would have gone over to their house that night.
“They would’ve had a chance,” he said.
State of Idaho
