Nearly three years after four University of Idaho students were brutally stabbed to death in their off-campus home, their grieving families will have a chance to confront the man who admitted to killing them.
Bryan Kohberger, 30, a former PhD criminology student, is set to be sentenced in Boise, Idaho, Wednesday for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
The November 2022 slayings shocked the college town of Moscow and captured national attention due to the horrifying violence with no clear motive.
For over two years, Kohberger maintained his innocence, until July 2, 2025, when in a bombshell twist, he pleaded guilty to all four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
The plea deal took the death penalty off the table. Instead, Kohberger will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, and the families of his victims will finally have a chance to address him face-to-face.
The sentencing will begin at 9 a.m. MT (11 a.m. ET) Wednesday inside the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, which is expected to fill up with victims’ families, friends, along with members of the media and true crime fans eager for a glimpse at the confessed killer.
Kohberger’s defense attorneys got the trial moved from Latah County to the state’s capitol after expressing concerns that the court wouldn’t be able to find enough unbiased jurors in the rural farming community of Moscow.
The families and surviving roommates of the victims will have the opportunity to describe the damage the killings have done to them. Because there are so many of them, the hearing could stretch into Thursday.
The victims’ families will get a chance to come face-to-face with Kohberger – and a chance to speak directly to their loved one’s killer.
The family of Ethan Chapin has said they do not plan to attend, but the families of the three women killed are expected to appear in court.
Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, the two surviving roommates who have largely avoided the public eye, may also choose to address the court.
Moscow Police Chief Anthony Dahlinger told ABC News that he hopes the sentencing will allow not only the families, but the town of Moscow, “to heal and bring some sort of closure to this horrendous act.”
After the victims’ family and friends deliver their statements, Kohberger will be given the chance to speak, in what’s known as an allocution – a defendant’s right to address the court before sentencing.
Defendants might use their statement to express remorse, ask for mercy or to say whatever else they think the court should hear before sentencing.
