The formal sentencing of Bryan Kohberger is underway Wednesday after he pleaded guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022. Victim impact statements were being read at the sentencing hearing, held in a courtroom in Boise.
Kohberger pleaded guilty earlier this month to the murders of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves as part of a plea deal that spared him from the death penalty. The plea agreement states he will be receive four life sentences without the possibility of parole, one for each murder charge, and a 10-year sentence for a burglary charge that he also pleaded guilty to. During his plea hearing, Judge Steven Hippler said the court is not bound by the plea agreement and could impose a different sentence.
The hearing began shortly after 9 a.m. Kohberger was in the courtroom wearing an orange prison jumpsuit. The hearing is expected to last the day, with some scheduled breaks, although the judge said it could be extended into Thursday to ensure there is enough time for the families to read victim impact statements.
Chapin, Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves were killed at a home in Moscow, Idaho, during the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania six weeks later. Prosecutors said that if the case had gone to trial they would have used DNA evidence that linked Kohberger to the crime scene, his online purchase history, surveillance video of Koherger’s car, and cellphone data that showed him in the vicinity of the killings.
The families of the victims have been divided over the plea deal. Mogen’s father told CBS News he was relieved to learn of the deal, saying it will allow his family to “actually put this behind us.” The Goncalves family has bitterly criticized the agreement, and told CBS News after a gag order was lifted that they believe the plea deal gives Kohberger a chance to live a “better and more rewarding life inside” prison.
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Victim impact statements read aloud
The first victim impact statement on Wednesday was read on behalf of Bethany Funke, who had lived with the murdered students and called 911 after finding their bodies.
“That was the worst day of my life, and I know it always will be,” Funke said in the statement, which was read by friend Emily Alant. Funke added that she checks her room every night to ensure there is no one hiding in the space, and said she has struggled to sleep since the slayings. Alant cried as she read the statement, while Kohberger showed no emotion.
Dylan Mortenson, the other surviving roommate, was the next to speak. She was visibly distraught and took several moments to collect herself before beginning to read her statement through tears. She said she has struggled with panic attacks since the killings.
“I was barely 19 when he did this,” Mortenson said. “We had just celebrated my birthday in September. I was just figuring out who I was … instead, I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable.”
Scott Laramie, Madison Mogen’s stepfather, then read a victim impact statement on the behalf of himself and Mogen’s mother, Karen. He remembered Mogen as someone who “always brought us joy” and who prioritized spending time with her family before she was “taken senselessly and brutally in a sudden act of evil.”
“This world was a better place with her in it,” Laramie said.
