A judge gave him four life sentences to be served consecutively in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, and Madison Mogen.
Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in late 2022 was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday, coming weeks after he reached a deal with prosecutors to spare him the death penalty.
Ada County Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Kohberger to 10 years in prison for the one count of burglary and four life sentences to be served consecutively for each first-degree murder count in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, and Madison Mogen.
The sentence was widely expected after Kohberger reached a plea deal with the state, having admitted guilt in their stabbing deaths in exchange for not going to trial and avoiding his possible execution.
“Even if I could force him to speak … how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth?” Hippler said of Kohberger at one point on Wednesday, according to a video feed of inside the courtroom as the sentencing occurred.
The judge added that the sentencing is now the time to end Kohberger’s “15 minutes of fame,” asking, “Do we really believe after all this, he’s capable of speaking the truth or giving up something of himself to help the very people whose lives he destroyed?”
At one point, Hippler noted that Kohberger’s motive in the four slayings may never be known.
When asked by the judge whether he wanted to speak, Kohberger said, “I respectfully decline,” as he sat forward slightly in his chair.
In an emotional message, the judge told the courtroom that Kohberger “slithered through that sliding glass” of the house to kill the four victims on Nov. 13, 2022, in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
“This unfathomable and senseless act of evil has caused immeasurable pain and loss. No parent should ever have to bury their child,” Hippler said before he sentenced Kohberger.
“This is the greatest tragedy that can be inflicted upon a person.”
Hippler described Kohberger, now aged 30, as a “faceless coward” who had “senselessly slaughtered” four college students.
Noting that Kohberger evaded capture for several weeks after the four students were found murdered, the judge said that “due to the killer’s incompetence and outstanding police work,” he was caught.
