When asked if he’d like to give a statement before he was sentenced to life in prison, convicted murderer Bryan Kohberger leaned forward in his chair and told the judge “I respectfully decline.”
Kohberger’s refusal to speak at the July 23 hearing closed the door on hopes that the 30-year-old would reveal why he fatally stabbed four University of Idaho students in November 2022. Among those who wanted to know what motived Kohberger’s attack were the families of the four victims, the judge overseeing the case and President Donald Trump.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump urged Judge Steven Hippler to require Kohberger to explain his actions.
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“These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered,” Trump wrote. “While Life Imprisonment is tough, it’s certainly better than receiving the Death Penalty but, before Sentencing, I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders. There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING.”
But Kohberger’s plea deal didn’t require him to speak at sentencing, and his attorney, Anne Taylor, previously told USA TODAY his defense team will not comment or provide any information, even after Kohberger begins his prison sentence.
After the sentencing hearing, local police officials speaking at a news conference gave little hope that more information about Kohberger’s motives would be released.
“The evidence suggested that there was a reason that this particular house was chosen,” said Moscow Police Cpl. Brett Payne. “What that reason is, we don’t know.”
As a part of the plea deal from prosecutors, Kohberger admitted to fatally stabbing Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, at a rental home near the university campus on Nov. 13, 2022.
Their deaths sparked a nationwide manhunt, drew international headlines and rocked the northern Idaho community of Moscow, which prior to 2022 hadn’t reported a murder in about five years.
Kohberger, who at the time was studying criminal justice at nearby Washington State University, was arrested in Pennsylvania, where his family lives. Prosecutors said he had long planned the attack and was tied to the brutal rampage through surveillance footage, DNA evidence and cellphone records.
At his sentencing hearing, relatives of the victims gave tearful accounts of how the killings have changed their lives. Some said their days have been haunted by grief and anguish. Others said they forgave Kohberger in order to find some semblance of peace. Some admonished him in fiery statements, calling him “weak” and “pathetic.”
Judge Hippler said that while he shared the families’ desire to hear Kohberger’s motivation for committing the murders, he acknowledged that no answer to such a question would be satisfying.
“Even if we could get truthful insight into his why, I suspect it would not in any way quench one’s thirst for actually understanding why,” Hippler said at the sentencing hearing. “Because there is no reason for these crimes that could approach anything resembling rationality.”
Contributing: N’dea Yancey-Bragg
