It was a quiet Saturday night in Moscow, Idaho, a small college town nestled in the Palouse hills. The fall semester was winding down, and many students were enjoying their weekend before finals crept in.
On November 12, 2022, a group of University of Idaho students headed out to enjoy the nightlife, unaware that it would be their last.
Kaylee Goncalves (21), Madison Mogen (21), Xana Kernodle (20) and Ethan Chapin (20) were four students out of six, who were stabbed to death in Idaho’s 1122 King Road, a three-story rental house on a wooded hillside.
From the evidence collected from the site, on December 30th 2022, Bryan Kohberger (28), a criminology Ph.D. student, was arrested near Washington State University.
what are the charges levied on Bryan Kohberger?
On 23rd July 2025, Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive terms of life imprisonment for the murders of four Idaho students. He was handed an additional 10 years for one count of burglary.
The judge also fined Kohberger $50,000, and a civil penalty of $5,000 for each victim, payable to the families.
Judge Hippler noted before reading the sentencing, that the motive for the murders may never be known.
“There is no reason for these crimes that could approach anything resembling rationality,” he said. “Even if I could force him (Kohberger) to speak, which legally I cannot, how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth?”
The victims’ families and housemates were able to read impact statements before the sentencing.
The two surviving housemates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, provided victim impact statements. Funke had hers read by a friend while Mortensen read hers herself.
While Kohberger will spend the rest of his life behind bars, never to harm again, the wounds left behind are far from healed.
