Latest news with #BillThompson
The Independent
6 days ago
- The Independent
'Nobody cares about you': Family of Idaho victim delivers powerful statements to Bryan Kohberger
Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of four Idaho college students, nearly three years after the killings. The Goncalves family, whose daughter Kaylee was one of the victims, expressed profound fury and disappointment over the plea deal, stating it was 'not justice' and they were 'blindsided'' The family had hoped for a full trial to uncover Kohberger's motive and sought the death penalty for the 'senseless slaughter' of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin. Kaylee's brother, Steven Goncalves, publicly criticized Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, alleging a pattern of plea bargains that avoid capital punishment and leave families unheard. During the emotional sentencing hearing, family members, including Kaylee's sister Alivea, delivered powerful impact statements directly to Kohberger, demanding he 'sit up straight' and labelling him a 'sociopath, psychopath, murderer'.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger sentenced to life in prison without parole: Live updates after victims' families tell Idaho killer ‘you're gonna go to hell'
Bryan Kohberger, the man who pleaded guilty earlier this month to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, was sentenced on Wednesday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The murder victims — Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin — were found stabbed to death in their off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Prosecutors laid out key DNA evidence, surveillance footage and cellphone records that linked Kohberger to the killings. Kohberger, 30, was expected to go through a lengthy and highly publicized trial in August. But in a surprise turn of events, Kohberger pleaded guilty on July 2 to murdering the four students as part of a plea deal to avoid the death penalty. Follow the live blog below for the latest updates on what's happening in court from our own reporting, as well as various reporters and news organizations, including CNN, NewsNation, NBC News and the Associated Press. Judge Steven Hippler asked Kohberger if he wanted to make a statement to the courtroom following emotional victim impact statements. He replied: "I respectfully decline." After the impact statements concluded, prosecutor Bill Thompson addressed the court, explaining why the state struck a plea deal with Kohberger instead of going to trial. Thompson said that by pleading guilty and waiving his right to appeal, the state would likely avoid "decades" of court proceedings in the case. "Not everybody agreed with the decision we made," he said, acknowledging some disagreements among the families. "I accept that." "It is time for the judicial system to impose final judgment and close the chapter on these tragedies," Thompson said, becoming emotional the longer he spoke. "We can't undo and we can never undo the horror that occurred," he added. "From today forward, our memories should be focused on these innocent victims whose lives were taken, on their families, on their friends, on the community." Victim impact statements have concluded for the sentencing hearing. The court heard from the families of three of the four victims: Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle. The family of Ethan Chapin did not attend the hearing. Cara Northington, Xana Kernodle's mom, said in her statement to Kohberger that she forgives him. "Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter without you even being sorry or asking for this," she said. "This forgiveness has released me from any and all evil you have inflicted on my family ... I am washing my hands of you and turning you over to my lord and savior Jesus Christ whom vengeance belongs to." Unlike some of the other relatives of the victims, Xana Kernodle's stepfather, Randy Davis, did not speak directly to Kohberger, at least not at first. "This is probably the last time we're all gonna be in the same room together," he said, turning to the people in the courtroom. "I love you all, and I feel your pain. And just, God bless us all." Davis said he had prepared remarks but decided against using them because he'd probably "get kicked out" of court. After sharing a brief anecdote with the gallery, Davis turned to address Kohberger. "I don't know what my limits are here, but I'm really struggling, dude," Davis said. He told Kohberger he would like to have "five minutes out in the woods" with him. "You're gonna go to hell," Davis said. "I know people believe in other stuff, but you're evil." Xana Kernodle's dad, Jeff, shared a moment on the flight to Idaho to attend the sentencing hearing when a little girl was calling out for her dad. He said he heard Xana calling out for him, just like she did when she was 5 years old. "I miss Xana a lot. My life has been changed." Xana's dad later said he was just miles away on Nov. 13, 2022, and that he was going to go over to the house in Moscow because Xana wasn't feeling well. He didn't go because he didn't want to get behind the wheel after drinking alcohol. He regrets not going. "They would have had a chance, all four of them." Jazzmin Kernodle, Xana Kernodle's older sister, said she wasn't sure she was going to speak at Kohberger's sentencing hearing. "But in the end, I realized this moment isn't about you," she said. "It's about justice for Xana, Ethan, Kaylee and Maddie. It's about honoring the beautiful people they were." Jazzmin said that on the night of the killings, "a piece of my heart was ripped away." "Although I'm her older sister, I often found myself looking up to her," she said. "She had a radiant energy that everyone loved." "There's no way to ever fully describe the weight of losing my sister and my best friend," Jazzmin told the court. "No sentence or punishment will ever come close to the justice Xana, Ethan, Kaylee and Maddie deserve." The families of Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle have been angry with prosecutors over Kohberger's plea deal — and they made it clear during their victim impact statements in court on Wednesday. Following Kohberger's guilty plea, a statement from the Goncalves family read: 'This plea did not represent the victims families it represented an easy way out and no answers. Everyone loves the justice system until you get involved in it. Then you really see that most of the time the cases and resolutions have nothing to do with the victims. At least that was our experience. We will move on to sentencing and will be hopeful that the Court will allow for some much needed grace moving forward and finally the family won't have to deal with the bumbling Latah County prosecution team." Jeff Kernodle, Xana's father, said in a statement on July 2, '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." The courtroom is breaking for 10 minutes. Kaylee Goncalves's mom, Kristi, spoke directly to Kohberger in her victim impact statement. "This isn't about you. It's about what you've done to me, and I need you to hear it," she said. "When you murdered my daughter, Kaylee J. Goncalves, you didn't just take her life, you shattered others. "I live with a constant ache, with birthdays that are now memorials, with holidays that feel hollow, with empty chairs that scream louder than words ever could. I am forever changed." Goncalves referenced Idaho's death by firing squad method, which is set to become the state's primary form of execution next year. "While I'm disappointed the firing squad won't get to take their shots at you, I'm confident that the men in prison will have their way with you in more ways than one." Kaylee Goncalves's sister, Alivea Goncalves, continued to address Kohberger directly. "Sit up straight while I talk to you," she said, before running through a list of questions she had for him. 'How was your life right before you murdered my sisters? Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your apartment? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at the time,' she said. 'Why did you choose my sisters? Before making your move, did you approach my sisters? Do you tell what you were thinking and feeling before leaving the home? Is there anything else you did?" Alivea Goncalves then berated her sister's killer. 'If you were really smart, do you think you'd be here right now?' she said. 'You didn't win, you just exposed yourself as the coward you are. You're a delusional, pathetic, hypochondriac loser,' "If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep in the middle of the night like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your f***ing ass," she said to applause as she concluded her remarks. NewsNation reporter Brian Entin wrote on X that Alivea Goncalves said "Kohberger was clenching his jaw while she spoke to him," and said it "seemed like he was forgetting to blink." Kaylee Goncalves's older sister, Alivea, spoke directly to Bryan Kohberger in her statement, which she began by saying: "I'm not here to speak in grief. I'm here to speak in truth. Because the truth is my sister Kaylee and her best friend Maddie were not yours to take," Goncalves said while she looked at Kohberger. "They were not yours to study, to stalk or to silence." "Disappointments like you thrive on pain. I won't feed your beast. Instead, I will call you what you are. Sociopath. Psychopath. Murderer." Steve Goncalves, the father of Kaylee Goncalves, addressed Kohberger directly. "Today, we are here to finish what you started," he said. "Today, you've lost control. Today, we are here to prove to the world that you picked the wrong families. "You tried to break our community apart. You tried to plant fear. You tried to divide us. You failed," Goncalves continued. "Instead your actions have united everyone in their disgust for you. "Today you have no name," Goncalves said. Kohberger remained expressionless as Goncalves spoke. He mocked Kohberger for leaving evidence, including DNA, behind, which helped lead to his arrest. "Master's degree? You're a joke," Goncalves said. "A complete joke." Ben Mogen, Madison Mogen's father, started off his statement by acknowledging that not all of the victims' families agree with Kohberger's plea deal. "I know it's not the resolution that everyone wanted, but I think that everyone worked so hard and we appreciate all their efforts. It was such a hard thing to go through for everybody," Mogen said. "Maddie was my only child that I ever had. She was the only great thing I ever really did and the only thing I was really ever proud of," he said. Mogen said his daughter encouraged him to do his best and live on, saying he went through a lot of issues with addiction. "When I didn't want to live anymore, she is what kept me here." Kim Cheeley, Madison Mogen's paternal grandmother, offered bittersweet memories of her first grandchild. Cheeley said that she was first known as Nana to Maddie. But when Maddie was a year and a half old, she decided to call her grandmother Deedle Beetle, which just happened to be the phrase the child used for bananas. When Maddie was 6, the nickname was shortened to Deedle, Cheeley said. "I was Deedle all of her life. I don't think her stepdad, Scottie, ever knew my given name was Kim," Cheeley said, drawing laughter in a rare moment of levity during the hearing. Cheeley later described the anxiety she initially experienced in the aftermath of Maddie's murder. "The fear was truly debilitating," she told the court. The Mogen family's attorney read a statement on behalf of Karen Laramie, Madison Mogen's mother, to be entered into the record. "For me and our extended family, Maddie was our hope and our light. Her beauty both outside and in shone its light upon everyone with whom she came in contact. She carried that hope and light into the future for our entire family," Laramie's statement said. "For Maddie's sake, we will move on. We will do our best to carry Maddie's light into this world and make it a better place." Madison Mogen's stepdad, Scott Laramie, was the third to read a victim impact statement on behalf of him and his wife, Karen. "Karen and I are ordinary people but we lived extraordinary lives because we had Maddie. She was taken by evil," Laramie read. "First we felt disbelief, then disorientation, and then grief overcame us." In the last few thoughts of his statement, Laramie read: "Evil does not deserve time or attention. We are done being victims. We are taking back our lives." Dylan Mortensen, one of two surviving roommates, delivered her impact statement next. Mortensen cried as she read her prepared remarks, as Kohberger looked on. Her friends, she said, are gone "because of him." 'What happened that night changed everything,' Mortensen said. 'Four beautiful, genuine, compassionate people were taken from this world for no reason.' She described the debilitating panic attacks she has suffered in the years since the murders. 'I can't breathe, I can't think, I can't stop shaking," Mortensen said. "All I can do is scream, because the emotional pain and the grief is too much to handle on my chest." "While I will still live with this pain, at least I get to live my life," Mortensen said, concluding her remarks. "He will stay here empty, forgotten and powerless." Bethany Funke is one of two surviving roommates. Her friend Emily Alandt read a victim statement on her behalf. "Never in a million years would I have thought that something like this would have happened to our closest friends,' Alandt read. Funke said the murders on Nov. 13, 2022, have left her terrified, and she slept in her parents' room for nearly a year. Since that night, she said the social media impact has made all of this a lot worse, even receiving death threats for not calling 911 right away. She hasn't been able to sleep through the night and wakes up in panic, worrying that someone is trying to break in or trying to hurt someone she loves. "That was the worst day of my life and I know it always will be," Alandt read through tears. Bryan Kohberger entered the courtroom for his sentencing wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and took a seat at the defense table. He looked straight ahead and did not react as the first impact statement was read. According to NBC News, Kohberger's mother was seen quietly weeping in the courtroom.
Fox News
10-07-2025
- Fox News
Idaho judge urged to remove gag order on Kohberger case following quadruple murder plea
A group of media outlets large and small has asked an Idaho judge to lift the gag order surrounding the Bryan Kohberger case, now that he has pleaded guilty and there is no investigation to protect. At a change of plea hearing last week, prosecutors asked to have the gag, officially called a "non-dissemination order," remain in place until Kohberger's official sentencing on July 23. Kohberger's defense did not object, and Judge Steven Hippler granted the request. Then-Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall put the gag order in place days after Kohberger's arrest at his parents' house on Dec. 30, 2022. The stated aim was to protect Kohberger's right to a fair trial by limiting extrajudicial information available to the potential jury pool. Much of the case proceeded behind closed doors until Hippler became the third judge to preside over the case following a change of venue that moved it from Latah County to Ada County. Still, there are many questions that remain unanswered, and under the order, lawyers, investigators and other witnesses have been blocked from discussing details that haven't already surfaced in the courtroom. And the terms of the plea deal did not require Kohberger to explain his actions. Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson hasn't held a news briefing since before Kohberger's extradition to Idaho in January 2023. The defense never has. But now that Kohberger has admitted to the murders, there is no risk to his right to a fair trial, according to the motion. There won't be a trial at all. "The Nondissemination Order, and its infringement on the First Amendment rights of the media, is no longer justifiable and should be vacated immediately," the motion continues. The media coalition includes FOX News, The Associated Press, other major outlets and a number of smaller Idaho publications – including The Argonaut, the student paper at the University of Idaho, where the victims were killed. Kohberger last week admitted to four first-degree murders – killing University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. He told the court, with his parents looking on, that he entered their house, which has since been demolished, around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, with the intent to kill. The guilty plea will spare him from the potential death penalty. He is expected to receive four consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus another 10 years. And he forfeited his right to appeal and to seek a sentence reduction.
Daily Mail
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Shocking secret of tearful Bryan Kohberger prosecutor, Bill Thompson, whose death penalty-sparing plea deal sparked widespread fury
The prosecutor who handed Bryan Kohberger a controversial plea deal last week has never secured a death sentence for any of the killers he's convicted during his 33 years in office. Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson cried during the July 2 hearing that saved Kohberger's life, and put him in prison for life without appeals for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students. The Democrat prosecutor faced massive backlash over the deal, including from some of the victims' relatives, who said they felt cheated out of their day in court and the opportunity to see the killer face the details of his crime. He had initially indicated to the terrified Moscow community that he would seek the death penalty against Kohberger, a former Washington State University graduate student of criminology. But the plea deal is not a shock to those familiar with the 68-year-old's career - Thompson has a history of striking a deal rather than seek capital punishment for the killers he's prosecuted, as highlighted in a new report by the Idaho Statesman. The last mass murder caser Thompson prosecuted, eight years before the Kohberger case, had a similar conclusion. Thompson brokered a deal that saw John Lee, 29, admit to killing three people in 2015, including his adoptive mother, in exchange for removing the possibility of the death penalty. Similarly, in 2014, Thompson struck a deal with Silas Parks, 25, who agreed to plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter after he strangled his pregnant wife to death. In that case, Thomas did not seek the death penalty because there was not enough evidence that the killings were premeditated. Instead, Parks was sentenced to a maximum of 40 years in prison. The only death sentence obtained by Thompson was in 2000, after Dale Shackelford, 37, killed his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend and burned their bodies. However, the death sentence was later revoked by the Supreme Court and Thompson did not push to have Shackelford returned to death row. Kohberger's plea deal will be the last Thompson brokers - the veteran prosecutor, who plays guitar in a local band in his free time, is expected to retire following the case's conclusion. He was first elected as Latah County's prosecutor in 1992, which makes him the longest-serving prosecutor in Idaho, after eight re-elections. Moscow Mayor Art Bettge told the Idaho Statesman he believes Thompson only ran for office the last time so he could see the Kohberger case through, rather than inflict it on a rookie replacement. Last week, Thompson choked up as he laid out the timeline of the shocking murders of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21. 'On November 13, 2022, excuse me...,' Thompson said, growing emotional as he reached for a sip of water and a colleague patted him on the back. Kohberger stared coldly ahead as Thompson laid out the timeline, saying that he stalked the students' home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho before the slayings. Thompson said the state would have argued in court that Kohberger slipped in through a side door before killing Mogen and Goncalves on the third floor. He said Kohberger then encountered Kernodle as she came down the stairs to pick up a Doordash order, and killed her with the same Ka-Bar knife he used on her roommates. He then entered Kernodle's bedroom and stabbed her sleeping boyfriend Chapin to death, Thompson said. As Kohberger's victims' loved ones sobbed in the courtroom, the killer showed no emotion and stared ahead. He repeatedly said the word 'yes' when asked if he'd committed the horrific killings, understood the terms of the plea deal and that it meant he could never apply for parole. Madison Mogen's father Ben Mogen hung his head and his legs shook as the judge asked Kohberger if he admitted to stabbing his daughter to death. Kaylee Goncalves' mother Kristi Goncalves, who was flanked by several family members, cried as the judge asked Kohberger if he had murdered her daughter and Kohberger replied in the affirmative. The Goncalves family previously vented their fury at Thompson after he offered Kohberger the plea deal that spared him the death penalty. They declared on Facebook that the State of Idaho 'failed us' as they hit out at prosecutors for failing to notify them that a plea deal was going through. 'We weren't even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached,' family members said in a statement. 'That's how Latah County's Prosecutor's Office treats murder victims' families. 'Adding insult to injury, they're rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2.' The family of Chapin — one of three triplets who attended the university together — supports the deal. Mogen's father, Ben Mogen, told CBS News he was relieved by the agreement. 'We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates and future things that we don't want to have to be at, that we shouldn't have to be at, that have to do with this terrible person,' he said. 'We get to just think about the rest of lives and have to try and figure out how to do it without Maddie and the rest of the kids.'
Yahoo
04-07-2025
- Yahoo
Bryan Kohberger Did Not Plan to Murder All 4 Victims, Suggests Prosecutor as He Fights Back Tears in Court
Prosecutor Bill Thompson said during a plea hearing on July 2 that the state could not offer evidence that Bryan Kohberger planned to kill all four of his victims Thompson said Kohberger first killed Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, but Goncalves had moved out of the home by the time of the murders and was just visiting for the weekend Xana Kernodle was killed after crossing paths with Kohberger as he was likely trying to leave the home, said Thompson, at which point she and Ethan Chapin were murderedBryan Kohberger did not plan to murder all four of his victims on the night of Nov. 13, 2022, according to the lead prosecutor in the case. The former criminology student, 30, entered the off-campus home of a group of University of Idaho students with the intention of killing one or two of his young victims, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson suggested in court on July 2. Thompson detailed how events transpired on the night of the murders after Kohberger confessed to killing the four victims: Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Towards the end of his 10-minute presentation, Thompson suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion and, after a brief pause, began to cry. He then finished his remarks trying to fight back those tears while telling Judge Steven Hippler: "As the defendant has just admitted and pleaded guilty, on November 13, 2022, Mr. Kohberger entered the residence at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho. He did that with the intent to kill." Thompson then added: "We will not represent that he intended to commit all of the murders that he did that night, but we know that that is what resulted." The lawyer then finished his remarks by saying that even if Kohberger's actions were not planned, he did kill his four victims "intentionally, willfully, deliberately, with premeditation and with malice aforethought." Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. Thompson explained to the court that on the night of the murders, Kohberger entered the victims' house through a sliding door on the second floor and immediately went to the third floor, where Mogen and Goncalves were laying in bed together. While not mentioned in Thompson's remarks, the family of Goncalves has previously said she had moved out of the home because she had lined up a job in Austin, but then decided to return to see her friends. This, and the fact that Kohberger went right to the third floor when there were two bedrooms on the second floor where he entered, suggests that Mogen, and possibly Goncalves, were Kohberger's initial targets. The other murders may have just been a result of an individual being in the wrong place at the wrong time. "The state's evidence would show that Xana Kernodle was still awake [when Mogen and Goncalves were stabbed]. In fact, Xana had taken a Door Dash order not long before this started." Thompson said that while Kohberger was either "coming down the stairs or leaving" he ran into Kernodle and stabbed her to death. Then he went into Kernodle's bedroom, said Thompson, where her boyfriend Ethan Chapin was asleep and killed him. "Each victim suffered multiple wounds," Thompson said, while also stressing there was no evidence or proof of sexual assault. Then, on his way out, Kohberger spared a life. Thompson said one of the two surviving roommates watched Kohberger exit through the second-floor sliding door with a container in his hand. That young woman then ran downstairs to the bedroom of the other surviving roommate, where they spent the night together, unaware that four people were dead upstairs. The man who ended the lives of those four victims will now spend the rest of his life in prison after making a deal with prosecutors, sparing him the death penalty. Kohberger's sentencing is scheduled for July 23. Read the original article on People
