Bryan Kohberger’s Sentencing Hearing Takeaways
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Idaho murders trial: Bryan Kohberger faces victims’ families in sentencing hearing
Bryan Kohberger is being sentenced for the murders of the four Idaho college students. He broke into the home of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in the middle of the night and stabbed the students to death. The victims’ families will have the chance to tell Kohberger of the agony his crimes have inflicted upon them, speak for the victims and tell what they have endured over the last few years. But because the U.S. Constitution’s 5th Amendment guarantee of the right to remain silent remains in effect during sentencing hearings, they can choose not to speak at all. President Donald Trump weighed in Monday, posting on Truth Social: “I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders. There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING” The trial was just weeks away and scheduled for August 18, but in a bombshell twist, he pleaded guilty on July 2.
The sentencing of Bryan Kohberger is underway as the families of the murdered Idaho college students come face to face with the quadruple killer.
On Nov. 13, 2022, Kohberger broke into the home of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in the small town of Moscow during the middle of the night and stabbed the students to death as most of them slept.
Kohberger is in the courtroom in Boise, Idaho, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs.
The families of Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogen are in court, where they will have the chance to tell Kohberger of the agony his crimes have inflicted upon them, speak for the victims and tell what they have endured over the last few years.
Chapin’s family is not at the hearing, but his mom, Stacy, shared a picture of her son as a child to her Instagram story with a blue love heart.
Kernodle’s father, Jeffrey, and sister Jazzmin were among the first families to arrive at the court Wednesday morning, followed by Steve and Kristi Goncalves, who did not speak to reporters as they entered the building.
True crime fans, members of the public and the media were camped out all night to ensure they get a glimpse of the killer inside the Ada County Courthouse.
open image in gallery Bryan Kohberger appeared in the courtroom in Boise, Idaho, dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs. He is being sentenced for the murders of the four Idaho college students. ( AP )
open image in gallery Bryan Kohberger broke into the home of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in the small town of Moscow during the middle of the night and stabbed the students to death. ( Instagram )
For more than two years, Kohberger maintained his innocence. His long-awaited trial was just weeks away and scheduled for August 18, but in a bombshell twist, he pleaded guilty on July 2.
The sudden plea deal took the death penalty off the table.
The families of Kohberger’s victims have been longing for an answer to one simple question: Why?
His motive remains a mystery— and there is no guarantee he will reveal the answer at Wednesday’s sentencing.
Kohberger will be given the chance to speak in what’s known as an allocution, but he doesn’t have to say anything — and the judge can’t force him to.
Defendants might use their statement to express remorse, ask for mercy or to say whatever else they think the court should hear before sentencing.
But because the U.S. Constitution’s 5th Amendment guarantee of the right to remain silent remains in effect during sentencing hearings, they can choose not to speak at all.
Kohberger’s team of defense attorneys, led by Anne Taylor, announced last week that they won’t be releasing any statements after the sentencing.
President Donald Trump weighed in Monday, posting on Truth Social: “I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders. There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING.”
open image in gallery Kohberger, pictured at the plea-deal hearing on July 2, will be given the chance to speak in what’s known as an allocution, but he doesn’t have to say anything — and the judge can’t force him to. ( AP )
The murders shook the small town of Moscow in November 2022.
For weeks, only scant details about the carnage that night were revealed as the community reeled from the tragedy and grappled with fears of a murderer on the loose. Kohberger, a graduate student at Washington State University at the time of the murders, wasn’t arrested until six weeks later, on December 30, 2022.
At the plea-deal hearing earlier this month, Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson outlined chilling details of the night of the murders.
He told the court how Kohberger broke into the six-bedroom three-storey house and headed to the third floor, where he killed Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves first.
Then, he killed Xana Kernodle after encountering her while she was picking up a DoorDash delivery, before stabbing her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, who was asleep in their bedroom.
Two others, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, were the only roommates to survive the killings, with Mortensen coming face to face with Kohberger at one terrifying moment.
open image in gallery The selfie Kohberger took at his home in Pullman, Washington state, just hours after carrying out the murders, the prosecution said. ( Latah County Prosecutor’s Office )
After fleeing the scene, prosecutors said that Kohberger took a selfie that morning at his Pullman residence in Washington state, approximately 9.5 miles from Moscow, with his thumbs up.
The leather sheath from the knife Kohberger used to murder Goncalves and Mogen was discovered on the bed, but the weapon itself has never been found.
Six weeks later, Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania.
Kohberger was linked to the crime through cellphone location records, police said, and security video of a white Hyundai Elantra, a similar model of the car seen near the murder home around the time of the murders. Kohberger changed the license plates on his Hyundai Elantra just days after the murders.
After changing his plea to guilty, both sides in the case agreed to a proposed sentence of four consecutive life sentences without parole, in addition to 10 years for the burglary charge.
Kohberger waived his right to appeal any issues in the case, without the possibility of parole.
This is a breaking story, check back for live updates
UN’s top court says all countries have to act against climate change. Here are the key takeaways.
The International Court of Justice has issued an opinion on how to deal with climate change. The court ruled that all countries are obliged to act to protect the environment. The opinion was delivered in a two-hour hearing in The Hague, the Netherlands. It was the first time the court had issued such a ruling. The decision is expected to be appealed to the European Court of Human Rights, which has a similar ruling on climate change, the Court of Appeal for the European Union has said. The European Court has said it will appeal the decision to the UN General Assembly, but not to the Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court has also said it would appeal the ruling to the U.N. Court of International Human Rights. The EU has said that the decision is not binding, but rather a matter of international law, and that it will make a decision on the matter when it is heard in October. The United States has said the decision will be made on a case-by-case basis.
Journalists scramble to get a copy of the readings as Presiding judge Yuji Iwasawa can be seen speaking onscreen at the International Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on what legal obligations nations have to address climate change and what consequences they may face if they don’t, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Presiding judge Yuji Iwasawa, fourth from right, enters the International Court of Justice ahead of an advisory opinion on what legal obligations nations have to address climate change and what consequences they may face if they don’t, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Judges are seated as the International Court of Justice opens a hearing to deliver an advisory opinion on what legal obligations nations have to address climate change and what consequences they may face if they don’t, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Ralph Regenvanu, center, Vanuatu’s minister for climate change, speaks after the International Court of Justice’s advisory opinion about nations’ obligations to tackle climate change and consequences they may face if they don’t, Wednesday, July 23, 2025, in The Hague, Netherlands. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The United Nations’ top court has issued a landmark advisory opinion on climate change, its 15-black-robed judges weighing in for the first time on what the court’s president called “an existential problem of planetary proportions that imperils all forms of life and the very health of our planet.”
The International Court of Justice’s unanimous non-binding opinion, which runs to over 500 pages, was immediately hailed by activists as a turning point in international climate law.
After years of lobbying by island nations who fear they could disappear under rising sea waters, the U.N. General Assembly asked the court in 2023 to answer two questions: What are countries obliged to do under international law to protect the climate and environment from human-caused greenhouse gas emissions? And what are the legal consequences for governments when their acts, or lack of action, have significantly harmed the climate and environment?
Here are some of the key points from the opinion delivered Wednesday.
A healthy planet is a basic human right
In a simple statement that could have profound legal ramifications, the court said everyone is entitled to a habitable planet.
“The human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is therefore inherent in the enjoyment of other human rights,” court President Yuji Iwasawa said during a two-hour hearing.
A livable planet is a human right and is part of international customary law, meaning every country is obliged to protect it, not just countries that have signed climate treaties and other agreements.
Violating international law
A failure to address climate change, the court said, could be a violation of international law.
That matters because it applies to all countries and paves the way for legal actions, including states returning to the ICJ to hold each other to account; domestic lawsuits; and investment agreements that have to conform to international law.
“With today’s authoritative historic ruling, the International Court of Justice has broken with business-as-usual and delivered a historic affirmation: Those suffering the impacts of climate devastation have a right to remedy and full reparation,” said Joie Chowdhury, a senior attorney at the Center for International Environmental Law.
Payback time?
The court ruled that some countries or individuals suffering from the effects of climate change could be eligible for compensation.
For climate damage linked to greenhouse gas emissions, “restitution may take the form of reconstructing damaged or destroyed infrastructure, and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity,” the court said.
If that’s not possible, financial compensation could be assessed, though the judges conceded it “may be difficult to calculate, as there is usually a degree of uncertainty with respect to the exact extent of the damage caused.”
Activists hailed that part of the decision as a historic turning point in their search for justice.
“The ICJ’s decision brings us closer to a world where governments can no longer turn a blind eye to their legal responsibilities. It affirms a simple truth of climate justice: Those who did the least to fuel this crisis deserve protection, reparations, and a future,” said Vishal Prasad, director of Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change.
Climate refugees
While the court’s opinion is far-reaching, no one expects it to immediately solve the problems created by climate change.
The judges noted that people may be forced to flee their homes to escape the dangers posed by climate change and countries are obliged to not turn away climate refugees when their lives are endangered. If a country disappears under rising ocean levels, that country doesn’t cease to exist, they said.
For the Pacific Island nations that pushed for the opinion, the threat is real. Since 1993, sea levels around Vanuatu’s shores have risen by about 6 millimeters (.24 inches) per year — significantly faster than the global average — and in some areas, tectonic activity has doubled that rate.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Bryan Kohberger has another chance to explain why he killed 4 Idaho college students
Bryan Kohberger admitted to killing four University of Idaho students in November. He was spared the death penalty at a change-of-plea hearing on July 2. Kohberger will have one last chance to speak to the victims’ families before sentencing. But it’s unlikely he’ll say a thing, legal analyst and trial attorney Mercedes Colwin says. It’s unclear whether the public will ever get an answer, as it’s not required by the plea deal. the plea agreement does not require him to divulge any details about the murders at his sentencing,” Colwin said. “I had hoped the agreement would include conditions that required the defendant to explain his actions and provide answers to the many questions that still remain,” the victim’s father said in a statement following the guilty plea. The judge asked Kohberger only basic confirmation questions, including whether he felt any remorse for the killings. He will be sentenced on Wednesday at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, after a change of plea hearing.
Why did he do it?
Kohberger will have an opportunity to reveal those details before his sentencing Wednesday, following a remarkable change-of-plea hearing on July 2 that spared him the death penalty and his highly anticipated murder trial by admitting guilt to burglary and first-degree murder in the November 2022 killings of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen.
Kohberger will be granted an allocution — the formal opportunity defendants are given to speak directly to the court before they are sentenced by the judge. Traditionally, defendants use allocution to humanize themselves and express remorse, or offer an apology, or even an explanation for their actions — anything that could be taken into account during sentencing, according to the American Bar Association.
But it’s unlikely he’ll say a thing, legal analyst and trial attorney Mercedes Colwin told CNN.
“What we can expect in sentencing would first be the victim impact statements by the families. We already know that there are several that are going to speak, which should be horrendous,” Colwin told CNN.
“I’m sure it’s going to be gut-wrenching, and then he will be given the opportunity to address the court before the judge sentences him. That’s where he can say, ‘I’m sorry for what I’ve done,’ which I don’t expect any of that to take place,” Colwin said.
The question of whether Kohberger will speak about his crimes even invited a comment from President Donald Trump, who said in a post on Truth Social on Monday the judge should make the 30-year-old “explain why he did these horrible murders” before the sentencing.
In every previous court appearance, Kohberger has remained expressionless, silent and unmoved as prosecutors recounted the chilling details of the late-night killings — how he entered a home through a sliding door and savagely stabbed four young students to death while two survivors, terrified, texted each other about a masked figure moving through the hallway.
Bryan Kohberger, charged in the murders of four University of Idaho students, appears at the Ada County Courthouse, July 2, in Boise, Idaho. He will be sentenced on Wednesday. (Photo: Kyle Green, pool, Associated Press)
Despite Kohberger admitting to the crimes, the July 2 change-of-plea hearing left one giant hole in the story: why he targeted the residents of the King Road house. It’s unclear whether the public will ever get an answer, as it’s not required by the plea deal.
Allocution may offer one final chance for him to address it in court.
Allocution does not require him to divulge any details
During the change-of-plea hearing, Judge Steven Hippler formally questioned Kohberger to ensure he fully understood the charges, the consequences of pleading guilty, and his rights before accepting the plea.
But that was all.
The judge asked Kohberger only basic confirmation questions. There was no inquiry into why he committed the crimes or whether he felt any remorse. The plea agreement and the written factual basis offer little insight into Kohberger’s motive.
Several key concerns were left unaddressed, including what drove Kohberger to carry out the killings, why he targeted the students specifically and why two roommates were spared.
The plea agreement doesn’t necessitate that Kohberger disclose any details about the murders at his sentencing.
“I had hoped the agreement would include conditions that required the defendant to explain his actions and provide answers to the many questions that still remain, especially where evidence is missing or unclear,” Xana Kernodle’s father, Jeff Kernodle, said in a statement following the guilty plea.
Related:
Inside Idaho’s only maximum security prison where Kohberger may spend the rest of his life Idaho’s only maximum security prison could soon be home to Bryan Kohberger, the man who admitted to the 2022 gruesome killings of four University of Idaho students in a remarkable change-of-plea hearing earlier this month.
At Wednesday’s sentencing, allocution will offer Kohberger a confronting choice: stay silent or face the families of his four victims and attempt to explain the horror he inflicted.
Several convicted murderers have given allocution statements, including serial killer Ted Bundy; Timothy McVeigh, convicted for the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing; and John Wayne Gacy, known as the “Killer Clown.”
Allocution rights appear at the state level, though they vary across jurisdictions. But according to Idaho law, the defendant has the “right of allocution,” or the right to personally address the judge, if they choose to.
Allocutions are not made under oath and and Kohberger will not be subjected to cross-examination, according to the state law.
“Their families may never hear why he targeted this house and their children, what made him do it. He’s not required to answer the ‘why,’ although we know he killed them because he’s already taken this plea,” Colwin said. “They may never get true closure.”
He may one day speak to the media
A pile of questions over the killer’s method and motive have haunted the case since the four students were discovered stabbed to death in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, with no signs of forced entry.
But even if Kohberger remains silent now and does not exercise his right to allocution, there’s still a possibility he will speak out later. There is no stipulation in Kohberger’s plea agreement to prevent him from doing interviews with media or writing a book.
A trove of documents and discovery that could also shine more light on the case remains sealed by the court and is expected to stay that way until after his sentencing on July 23. But it’s unclear how the court will handle the large volume of material.
“The families who want an explanation believe the ultimate closure is understanding why,” Colwin said. “Even if he someday explains his motivations, I shudder to think of what he might say.”
For some, the plea deal was injustice. For others, closure
After the victims’ families were informed of the plea deal, fathers Jeff Kernodle and Steve Goncalves harshly criticized prosecutors for not consulting the victims’ families before agreeing to conditions of the deal.
The Goncalves family members said in a statement earlier this month they had expected more answers from the change-of-plea hearing when Judge Hippler questioned Kohberger before accepting his guilty plea.
“We’ll never see this as justice,” Steve Goncalves told CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
Others voiced acceptance, saying that despite a lack of answers, they were relieved to avoid a drawn-out trial and the possibility of a yearslong appeals process. Mogen’s father, Ben Mogen, told the Idaho Statesman he viewed the deal as an opportunity to avoid the pain and spectacle of a trial and focus on healing.
The Chapin family’s “initial response was, ‘an eye for an eye,'” Stacy Chapin, Ethan Chapin’s mother, told NBC’s “Today.”
“But we’ve spent a ton of time talking about it with prosecutors, and for us, we always felt like this was a better deal,” she said.
Kohberger will be sentenced this week to life in prison without parole, and he’ll forfeit his right to appeal. He will no longer be allowed to appear in the civilian shirt and tie he usually wears for hearings, according to Hippler. The next time he sets foot in the courtroom, he will be dressed in prison garb.
“To the families of Kaylee, Madison, Xana and Ethan – we will never forget the beautiful light your precious children shone brightly in the world,” Colwin said. “No evil will ever take that away.”
Idaho Murders Shock: Bryan Kohberger’s Sentencing Sparks National Outrage and Debate
Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen were murdered in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022. The sentencing hearing for Bryan Kohberger highlights the tragic loss of four Idaho students, prompting national conversations on campus safety and community healing. The stories of the victims remind US of their vibrant lives and the love they shared with family and friends. Let us honor the memories of these students by advocating for change.
www.bbc.com
The tragic story of the victims in the Moscow, Idaho murders continues to resonate across the nation. On November 2022, four students—Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen—lost their lives in a shocking crime that has left families and friends devastated. As the sentencing hearing for Bryan Kohberger unfolds, the focus shifts to the memories and legacies of these young individuals.
6 Key Takeaways Victims: Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen
Incident occurred in Moscow, Idaho, November 2022
Two survivors: Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen
Families expressed profound grief and loss
Kohberger’s guilty plea allows families to heal
Victims remembered for their vibrant personalities
Madison Mogen’s father described the loss as “the most horrific thing” imaginable, emphasizing the profound impact on their families. As the nation reflects on this tragedy, many are left wondering how such senseless violence can occur. The surviving roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, played a crucial role in piecing together the events of that fateful night.
Fast Answer: The sentencing hearing for Bryan Kohberger highlights the tragic loss of four Idaho students, prompting national conversations on campus safety and community healing.
This case raises important questions about safety in college towns. How can communities better protect their students? The stories of the victims remind US of their vibrant lives and the love they shared with family and friends. Key takeaways include:
The profound grief experienced by the victims’ families.
The role of surviving roommates in the investigation.
The need for improved safety measures in off-campus housing.
This case underscores the urgent need for enhanced campus safety protocols across the united states
As the nation continues to process this tragedy, it’s essential to foster conversations around safety and support for those affected. Let us honor the memories of these students by advocating for change.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/us/bryan-kohberger-sentencing-takeaways.html