Bryan Kohberger, in a bright orange jail jumpsuit with chains across his waist and shackles on his legs, walked out of the packed courtroom escorted by law enforcement Wednesday morning. He had just been sentenced to life in prison. But the attention had pulled away from him.

As families and friends of the four University of Idaho students he murdered left the sentencing hearing, the crowd of reporters and onlookers watched them instead. Kohberger was led out of the courtroom most unobserved, with the door shuttering quietly behind him.

That was the closure that all of the victims’ loved ones deserved, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said. It was time to focus on the families and friends of the students who were fatally stabbed in a Moscow home on 1122 King Road, and the “special family” they created there, Thompson said during Kohberger’s sentencing.

For more than two hours, loved ones shared their grief, memories and insights into the lives of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were stabbed to death by Kohberger at a home off the U of I campus. The three women lived with two other female roommates, while Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and spent the night.

“They’ve been described consistently as being bright, caring, vivacious — with futures we can only imagine now,” Thompson said in court as his voice cracked. “But they were, and they remain, a special family that I think we should all recognize and appreciate. So it’s time to move forward.”

Idaho’s 4th Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler sentenced Kohberger to four consecutive life sentences on four counts of first-degree murder. He sentenced Kohberger to another 10 years for felony burglary. He will have no chance of parole or ability to appeal.

Kohberger pleaded guilty to the crimes earlier this month after the prosecution offered him a plea deal — convictions for all counts, and life in prison with no chance of parole, in exchange for not facing the death penalty as an option at trial. Hippler wasn’t bound by the agreement, and he could have offered Kohberger a lighter sentence. The Ada County judge chose the maximum possible punishment.

“This unfathomable and senseless act of evil has caused immeasurable pain and loss,” Hippler read in prepared remarks through emotions. “No parent should ever have to bury their child. This is the greatest tragedy that can be inflicted on a person.”

Hippler called Kohberger “a faceless coward” who managed to reach “the tranquility of six beautiful young people” and senselessly slaughtered four of them. He went on to credit the killer’s incompetence at hiding his tracks and “outstanding police work” for unmasking Kohberger, “the person that slithered through” a sliding glass door of the Moscow home.

Hippler noted that Kohberger didn’t hint at remorse or regret. Kohberger was “the worst of the worst,” the judge said, and irredeemable.

Wednesday’s hearing marks the closure of a more than two and a half years of a criminal case that shocked the college town of fewer than 30,000 people, which hadn’t seen a homicide since 2015. But loved ones were left without some answers.

Kohberger declined to offer a statement, shedding no light on the reasons for his actions. And at a news conference after the sentencing, police and prosecutors reiterated that they still don’t know his motivations behind the attack. Despite countless hours searching, law enforcement officials said, they couldn’t find any connection between Kohberger and the women he targeted that night.

“The reality also is that oftentimes those very things that you’re asking about, they’re only known to one person. It’s the person that commits those crimes,” Idaho State Police Lt. Darren Gilbertson said at a news conference after the sentencing. “I think that’s probably what we have here.”

Kohberger, seated with his public defense team, sat nearly motionless throughout the hearing.

Roommates of murdered students speak publicly

Friends and family Wednesday provided a sliver of the lives that were lost, painting a picture of each of the victims and their connections to each other.

Madison Mogen loved to binge-watch “Jersey Shore” and attend concerts with her dad. She was childhood best friends with Kaylee Goncalves, who had a radiant smile and loved to play pranks. Xana Kernodle was the life of the party and had a storybook love with her college boyfriend, Ethan Chapin. He was the kind of person you always wanted to be around and will be greatly missed by his sister and brother. The three siblings were triplets and best friends.

For the first time, the two roommates who went unharmed in the home invasion spoke publicly about the attack. They described the trauma they’ve endured of losing their close friends, incurring survivor’s guilt, and feeling terrified of being Kohberger’s next victims. Bethany Funke delivered a victim impact statement, which was read out loud by a friend, that focused on her memories of the students who were killed. The families of the students killed also spoke, absent Ethan Chapin’s family, who chose not to attend the hearing.

“I am beyond blessed that I had the chance to know each and every one of them,” Funke wrote. “They changed my life in ways I would have never put into words. I hope that they are remembered for who they are, not what happened to them, because who they are were so beautiful — and they deserve to be remembered in the highest way.”

Dylan Mortensen, the second roommate, glimpsed Kohberger during his time in the house and cried as she read her victim impact statement. With her voice shaking, she said she spoke to seek justice for her friends. Mortensen was 19 when Kohberger broke into their home and killed her friends. She said she should have been discovering who she was, and instead was forced to learn how to survive “the unimaginable.”

“What he did shattered me in places I did not know could break,” Mortensen said.

Hippler expressed his awe and gratitude to the surviving roommates and the victims’ families for sharing their stories. He said their pain, particularly in front of the media spotlight on the case, is unknowable. The judge said that, like many others, he wished to know why Kohberger killed the four students.

“But upon reflection, it seems to me — and this is just my own opinion — that by continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr. Kohberger relevance,” Hippler said. “We give him agency and we give him power.

“Even if I could force him to speak, which legally I cannot, how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth?” Hippler added.

On top of Kohberger’s prison sentence, Hippler also ordered Kohberger to pay $270,000 total in fines and penalties — $50,000 for each of the five charges and $5,000 to be paid to each of the families of the murdered students.

Kohberger by Wednesday evening arrived at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution south of Boise, where he’s expected to remain in custody the rest of his days.

Victims’ families express anger, forgiveness, grief

Kohberger’s decision to remain silent prompted comments of “coward” and “surprise, surprise” from people sitting in the courtroom.

The Goncalves family said they wanted vengeance. Kaylee Goncalves’ parents and siblings spoke with anger, arriving with victim impact statements that contained personal jabs at Kohberger about his graduate school education, his eyebrows and mannerisms, and his ability to pull off the crimes.

“I no longer recognize parts of myself. Joy is harder to find. Laughter feels foreign,” said Kristi Goncalves, Kaylee’s mother. “The grief sits with me every day, some days quietly, and other days it drowns out everything else.”

Speaking directly to Kohberger, Kristi Goncalves said she “never imagined having to speak to someone so devoid of humanity” and noted her disappointment that Kohberger would not face the firing squad after agreeing to the plea deal.

Kristi Goncalves told Kohberger she expected he would be treated poorly by other prisoners while he’s incarcerated and alluded multiple times to possible sexual assault.

“May you continue to live your life in misery,” she said. “You are officially the property of the state of Idaho, where your fellow inmates are anxiously awaiting your arrival.”

Other family members struck a different tone. Kim Kernodle, Xana’s aunt, spoke about losing her niece, echoing that she was the “fun, loving, high-spirited” woman portrayed by her friends. She said she wants to let go of her hate and addressed Kohberger, and encouraged him to reach out to her if he wants to talk about his actions.

“I no longer could live with that hate in my heart, and for me to become a better person, I have forgiven you,” she told him as her voice shook. “Any time you want to talk and tell me what happened, I’m here. I’ll be that one that’ll listen to you, OK?”

Xana’s uncle, Stratton Kernodle, expressed sadness for Kohberger’s family and the impact his actions had on them.

Ben Mogen, Maddie’s father, spoke quietly through tears about the love he and his daughter shared for music and concerts. Ben Mogen said he envisioned much more time together with his daughter, who had completed the credits to earn her degree from the U of I.

He also shared the last thing she’d ever written him, a Father’s Day card from a few months before the murders. She mentioned coming up to Coeur d’Alene for a visit, and taking a trip to The Gorge to see another concert. She wrote words of encouragement for how far her father had come in his battle with substance abuse and how proud she was of him. “Love you lots and lots. Love, Maddie May,” she signed the letter.

As Ben Mogen spoke, state attorneys wiped away tears.

“I love you, Maddie, and I wish you were still here,” he concluded.

Xana’s mother, Cara Northington, closed out the victim impact statements as she read tearfully from her phone.

“This letter is to you, really, but it’s for my daughter, who was murdered by you,” she told Kohberger. “Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter without you even being sorry or asking for this.”

Idaho Gov. Brad Little in a statement acknowledged the end of the case and the deaths that “broke the heart of Idaho.”

“We are united in healing, united in loving one another and, most of all, united in supporting the families and friends of Maddie, Kaylee, Xana, and Ethan, today and forever,” Little said. “We will continue to move forward from this unspeakable tragedy together.”

Prosecutor explains plea deal

Thompson on Wednesday took time to explain how the prosecution arrived at its plea deal before proposing the state’s sentences. His team was prepared to go to trial before Kohberger’s defense asked to negotiate, he said.

Thompson had told victims’ families that an agreement with the defense could be an option, he said, and prosecutors concluded that if they were to settle on a plea deal, it must include a guilty plea to all charges. He noted that not all of the victims’ families agreed with the outcome.

“I recognize and acknowledge, personally, and I respect the fact that of these fine suffering people here, not everybody agreed with the decision we make,” Thompson said. “I accept that it’s my responsibility.”

Thompson on Wednesday asked for a fixed life sentence for each of the four victims and displayed a photo of each. As he spoke, Mortensen was heard sobbing from the gallery.

“We can never undo the horror of what occurred on the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, at 1122 King Street in Moscow, Idaho,” Thompson said.

But Kohberger will die in prison with his sentence. And after today, his notoriety will soon fade, the prosecutor said.

“He’s going to stand up in the belly chains and leg irons that he’s wearing today, and he’s going to be escorted into the custody of the Idaho Department of Correction,” Thompson said. “And the door will close behind him forever.”

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