Bryan Kohbergerwill spend life in prison without parole for murdering four university students.
Kohberger, 30, was sentenced to four lifetimes in prison on Wednesday, July 23, after he broke into a house in Moscow, Idaho in November, 22, killing four of the six people in the 1122 King Road home they shared.
Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were stabbed to death, while surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke made it out alive.
“This unfathomable and senseless act of evil has caused immeasurable pain and loss. No parent should ever have to bury their child,” Judge Steven Hippler said on Wednesday in court. “This is the greatest tragedy that can be inflicted upon a person.”
As Kohberger gets set to spend his life behind bars, Us Weekly looks back at who the four victims were.
Madison Mogen, 21, was a senior at the University of Idaho, majoring in marketing. She was a longtime friend of her roommate Kaylee before they were both stabbed to death by Kohberger and died in the same bed.
Maddie’s mom, Karen Laramie, received a call from her daughter’s boyfriend, Jake Schriger, who told her about “a homicide” at the King Road house. She and husband Scott Laramie drove to the university in Moscow to pick up Maddie when police weren’t immediately forthcoming with more information.
“My whole time, my mindset was that we were going to pick up Maddie and Kaylee, and bring them home and console them and hug them and figure out just what happened,” Karen said in Prime Video’s One Night in Idaho: The College Murders, released July 11.
She explained that at that point she believed only one of Maddie’s roommates had been killed.
“Finally, they put us in a little room, and they came into the back door and opened this file. The officer explained, ‘There has been a homicide in your daughter’s house and there are four victims,’” Karen recalled. “It just made no sense. He said, ‘Maddie was a victim.’
Kaylee Goncalves
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, was majoring in general studies and was a member of the Alpha Phi sorority at the time of her tragic death.
At Kohberger’s sentencing Kohberger in court on Wednesday, July 23, Kaylee’s mother Kristi Goncalves issued a chilling statement to the killer per a video shared via X.
“A dead killer doesn’t kill again. So while I’m disappointed that the firing squad won’t take their shots at you, I’m confident the men in prison will have their way with you in more ways than one,” Kristi told Kohberger. “You will finally get what you wanted, physical touch, just probably not how you were expecting it.”
Kristi continued: “See you haven’t beat the system, you’ve simply entered a new one where the rules are cruel and the consequences will never end. You are entering a place where no one will care about who you are and no one will ever respect you. You will be forgotten, discarded, used and erased. You will always be remembered as a loser and an absolute failure.”
Courtesy of Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram
Xana Kernodle
Kernodle was a 20-year-old student majoring in marketing and was dating fellow victim, Ethan Chapin, at the time of the murders.
According to court documents, Kernodle received a DoorDash delivery around 4a.m. and “either coming down the stairs or leaving, [Kohberger] encountered Xana and he ended up killing her.” She received 50 stab wounds, mostly defensive.
At Kohberg’s sentencing hearing, Xana’s older sister Jazzmin described her sibling as a role model, and said, “I am strong. I am brave. I am a fighter, just like Xana.”
Jazzmin also said Xana’s story doesn’t end with her death. Instead, she said, “It lives through the love she gave, the people she touched, and the legacy that her family will protect.”
Chapin, 20, was the boyfriend of Kernodle. Earlier that evening he had attended a formal with his sister before staying the night at his girlfriend’s place.
Following his death, the Ethan’s Smile Foundation, which provides scholarships to “enable others to follow their dreams” was set up in his honor.
His parents, Jim and Stacy, described their memory of Ethan on the foundation’s official website.
“Ethan’s love for life was boundless. With a booming laugh and infectious smile, he spread joy to all who were fortunate enough to know him. Ethan was our storyteller, hard worker, and friend-maker,” they wrote.
