Bryan Kohberger updates: Judge sentences Idaho killer to life, 1st police reports released

Bryan Kohberger declined to speak at the sentencing hearing.

Last Updated: July 23, 2025, 8:10 PM EDT

Families of the University of Idaho murder victims directly addressed the admitted killer, Bryan Kohberger, at his sentencing on Wednesday.

One of the surviving roommates also gave an emotional statement, speaking out for the first time.

Judge Steven Hippler acknowledged Kohberger's motive may never be known as he sentenced him to four consecutive life sentences on the four first-degree murder counts and the maximum penalty of 10 years on the burglary count.

The students -- roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle, and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin -- were stabbed to death at the girls' off-campus house on Nov. 13, 2022. On July 2, weeks before the trial was set to start, Kohberger pleaded guilty to all counts. As a part of the plea deal, the death penalty was taken off the table.

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Here's how the news is developing.
Jul 23, 2025, 11:59 AM EDT

Maddie Mogen’s dad reads her last Father’s Day card

Maddie Mogen’s dad, Ben Mogen, was choked up in court as he said, “Maddie was my only child. … I thought we would have the rest of our lives together to be together and know each other, and I really took her for granted.”

“Karen and Scottie did such a great job raising her after Karen and I split up, and I’m so thankful for Scottie and the role he played in her life when I wasn’t able to,” he said, recalling his battle with addiction. “But we got to spend a lot of great times together, Maddie and I. She was my favorite person to go to a concert with.”

Benjamin Mogen, father of Madison Mogen, speaks at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho.
Kyle Green/Pool/Getty Images

Mogen read in court the last thing Maddie wrote to him -- a Father’s Day card: “I hope you have the best day, I can’t wait ‘til we can hang out again soon. … I love the birthday card you sent me, by the way. … I hope you’re doing well. I’m proud of how far you’ve come. Thank you for always encouraging me to do my best. Love you lots and lots.”

“I’m so glad I still have it,” he said of the card.

Jul 23, 2025, 11:52 AM EDT

Maddie Mogen's grandma: 'Foundation fell out of our world'

Maddie Mogen’s grandmother Kim Cheeley said in court that, after her murder, the “foundation fell out of our world.”

Kim Cheeley, grandmother of victim Madison Mogen, speaks at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho.
Kyle Green/Pool/Getty Images

“Initially the fear was truly debilitating,” she said, and after Bryan Kohberger's arrest, her family has lived “with the effects of traumatic grief.”

Cheeley said she’s experienced depression and anxiety and has tried to cope with grief classes and EMDR therapy.

Bryan Kohberger appears in court for sentencing, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho.
State of Idaho

She said she's grateful her own mother died several months before Mogen was killed so she did not live through "the horror."

Jul 23, 2025, 11:36 AM EDT

Maddie Mogen's stepdad: 'Evil does not deserve our time and attention'

Scott Laramie, victim Maddie Mogen's stepdad, read a statement on behalf of himself and Karen Laramie, Mogen's mom, as Bryan Kohberger, wearing orange jail clothing, looked on.

Bryan Kohberger appears in court for sentencing, July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho.
State of Idaho

“Karen and I are ordinary people, but we lived extraordinary lives because we had Maddie. Maddie was taken senselessly and brutally in a sudden act of evil,” Laramie said.

“Since Maddie’s loss, there’s emptiness in our hearts, home and family -- an endless void,” he said.

Scott Laramie, stepfather of victim Madison Mogen, speaks at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger at the Ada County Courthouse on July 23, 2025 in Boise, Idaho.
Kyle Green/Pool/Getty Images

Laramie said Mogen’s mom suffered from anxiety and depression after her daughter’s death, unsure how to go on.

"We support the plea agreement. Society needs to be protected against this evil. As for the defendant, we will not waste the words, nor will we fall into hatred and bitterness. ... Evil does not deserve our time and attention," Laramie said. "We are done being victims. We will take back our lives."

Jul 23, 2025, 11:32 AM EDT

Surviving roommate calls Kohberger 'less than human'

Surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen addressed Bryan Kohberger in court, calling him a "hollow vessel, something less than human -- a body without empathy, without remorse."

Dylan Mortensen gets a hug after speaking at the sentencing hearing of Bryan Kohberger after he was convicted in the 2022 stabbing deaths of four Idaho college students, at the Ada County Courthouse, in Boise, Idaho, July 23, 2025.
Kyle Green/via Reuters

"He tried to take everything from me: my friends, my safety, my identity, my future," she said. "He took their lives, but I will continue trying to be like them, to make them proud. Living is how I honor them."

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