Bryan Kohberger wins four-man sentence for murdering a University of Idaho student

Bryan Kohberger has been sentenced to four prison sentences after pleading guilty to murders in November 2022 to four Idaho students.

The 30-year-old former criminology major was underperforming in his orange jumpsuit because of emotional remarks from relatives of the murdered victims sitting at a Wednesday hearing.

The case shocked the small university town of Moscow and had nearly two months of national headlines before Kohberger’s arrest.

“I can’t find any redemption about Mr. Koberg,” Judge Steven Hippler said during his sentence. “His actions have made him the worst case.”

In the early morning of November 13, Koberg stabbed dead roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen and was at their off-campus home. The other two roommates were not physically injured.

Authorities worked for more than six weeks using the knife sheath he left at the crime scene as well as the DNA samples in the knife sheath in the surveillance lens of the white car.

Eventually, officials said Koberg visited the student’s Moscow residence several times before the murder, and he was arrested on December 30 at his family residence in Pennsylvania. He was also sentenced to 10 years in prison for burglary.

When the judge asked him if he wanted to speak on Wednesday, he replied: “I respect and refuse.” He had Enfess guilty to avoid death penalty.

Relatives of four college students spoke for more than two hours at the hearing, sharing Koberg’s trauma.

Family members provide memories of their lost loved ones, describing the four students as smart and understanding. Their descriptions have caused many people, including the judge, to shed tears.

Madison Mogen is a person who listens carefully to others, her stepfather, Scott Laramie, told the court.

He said of him and his wife: “I and I are ordinary people, but we live extraordinary lives.”

Kaylee’s mother, Kristi Goncalves, told Kohberger that he had stole her peace.

“You changed every moment of my wake up,” she said.

Some took the opportunity to express their anger with Kohberger, including Kaylee Goncalves’ sister Alivea, who told the defendant to “sit down” while talking to him.

“You are a textbook case of insecurity. You are not profound, sad,” she said.

“You’re going to hell,” said Xana Kernodle’s stepfather Randy Davis.

But one woman’s aunt told Coberg that she forgave him and she wanted the answer.

“Any time you want to talk about it, I’ll be here to serve you,” she said.

The court also heard the remarks of two student roommates sleeping in the room on the night of the murder.

One of the roommates, Dylan Mortensen, left, and the attacker saw the attacker on a ski mask in the corridor.

Ms. Mortensen cried while speaking, and she had been unable to fall asleep since the murder and was too scared to close her eyes.

“People call me strong, they call me a survivor, but they can’t see what my new reality looks like.

“He not only took their lives, but also brought them the light they brought to every room,” she said of four friends.

With Koberg refusing to speak, the three-hour long sentencing hearing did not provide some of the answers that relatives and the public have long hoped for.

There are still many questions in the case – including why Kohberger, a criminology doctoral student at Washington State University, drove to another state campus to attack four students with a cruel attack.

After the verdict, investigators told the media that despite the use of “every resource,” they did not find a single connection between Koberg and his victims or surviving roommates. They added that there was no indication that he followed them on social media.

Judge Steven Hippler told the court Wednesday that he himself had the same question, but they may never answer.

“There is no reason for these crimes to be close to anything like rationality,” the judge said.

He said it would no longer make sense to “depending on the defendant” and that gave them reasons to commit the crime.

“By continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr. Kohberger meaning,” he said. “It’s time to end Mr. Kohberg’s 15-minute fame.”