Will Bryan Kohberger speak at his sentencing? Here's what to expect

BOISE, Idaho — Families of the four University of Idaho students who were stabbed to death in November 2022 will have their first chance to address the courtroom — and the man who killed their loved ones — at Wednesday’s hearing where Bryan Kohberger will be sentenced for his crimes

Plans for Kohberger’s trial came to an end after the defense requested a plea offer from the prosecution, marking the closure of 2 1/2 years of the case. The 30-year-old was expected to stand trial on four counts of first-degree murder and a felony burglary charge. Instead, he pleaded guilty to all counts and is expected to spend the rest of his life in prison.

In exchange for the guilty pleas, prosecutors agreed to remove the death penalty as an option and asked that he be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, plus the maximum punishment for burglary of 10 years.

Seniors Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21; junior Xana Kernodle, 20; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20, were killed in an off-campus Moscow house. The three women lived in the home with two female roommates who went unharmed in the attack early on a Sunday morning. Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and stayed over for the night. Kohberger at the time was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, less than a 10-mile drive across the Washington-Idaho state line.

Kohberger’s sentencing: What to expect

Wednesday’s hearing is expected to last all day, with time reserved for Thursday, if needed. Families of the victims and anyone harmed by the burglary, like the two surviving roommates, will be allowed to make remarks or provide what’s known as a victim impact statement.

It’s not known how many people are expected to speak, 4th Judicial District Trial Court Administrator Sandra Barrios told the Ada County commission last week at a quarterly meeting. Chapin’s parents, who said they remembered their son as a lighthearted, sometimes goofy presence, don’t plan to attend Wednesday’s sentencing, NBC News reported.

Both the prosecution and defense will be allowed to present evidence, which could include arguments and calling members of law enforcement to the witness stand. But as part of the plea deal, the defense agreed that they wouldn’t argue for anything less than what was agreed on — the maximum punishment for each crime.

It isn’t a binding plea deal, which means 4th District Judge Steven Hippler isn’t bound by the agreed-upon sentence, he said at the plea hearing. His only other option would be a lesser sentence.

There’s also a chance Kohberger himself could make a statement — but it’s unlikely, Barrios told the commissioners.

“Nine out of 10 times they don’t say anything,” Barrios said. “Everyone’s kind of waiting for him to make a statement, and he doesn’t have to.”

After hearing from the families, victims, attorneys, and maybe even the defendant, Hippler will make his own statement and review the criteria he has to follow when imprisoning someone. Some of those factors, like whether there is an “undue risk” that the defendant will commit another crime, or whether a lesser sentence will “depreciate the seriousness” of the crimes, weigh toward imprisonment, according to state law.

Kohberger’s sentencing is scheduled for 9 a.m. at Ada County Courthouse in Boise.

Kohberger case was ‘huge lift’ for Ada County courts

For the employees of the Ada County Courthouse who were gearing up for a three-month trial, the plea deal has been a sigh of relief.

Ada County commissioners last week asked Barrios how everything turned out with the “trial that never was.” She said she was relieved and that the case has already been a “huge, huge lift” for the court’s jury office who sent out 10,000 summons for potential jurors.

“It would have been a substantial lift, despite the other two that we did before,” she said, referring to the murder trials of Lori and Chad Daybell, which occurred in 2023 and 2024. “This one had its own issues that would have been much harder for everyone involved.”

The victims’ families were split on the plea deal, with two of the families opposed to canceling the trial. Most outspoken were Goncalves’ parents, who urged supporters to call the judge, the U.S. Department of Justice and Gov. Brad Little’s office to force Kohberger’s capital murder trial to proceed in pursuit of a possible death sentence.

“This ain’t justice. No judge presided, no jury weighed the truth,” the family posted on its family-run Facebook page.

President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social, a social media platform he owns, asking Hippler to “at a minimum” make Kohberger explain why he committed the murders. State and federal law protects a defendant’s right to remain silent.

“These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered,” Trump posted. “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.”

Hippler also can’t void the plea deal so that Kohberger could face the death penalty.

“A lot of people keep asking Judge Hippler to impose the death penalty, and that’s not within his purview to do, right?” Barrios said last week. “The prosecutor is the only one who could do that.”

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