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

Prosecutor Bill Thompson said in court that the discussion about the plea deal had to stay secret to avoid tampering potential jurors if the trial went forward. He said he respected the fact that some of the victims’ relatives did not agree with the plea deal.

As the families wept, Thompson displayed a photo of each victim in the courtroom. He listed each count and read the names of the victims: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

"From today forward, our memories should be focused on these innocent victims whose lives were taken," he said.

The victims not only had their own families, and not just their friends and sororities and fraternities, "but this family," Thompson said, as he displayed the photo of the four victims and the two surviving roommates that was taken on Nov. 12, 2022, the day before the murders.

“You can see all six of these dynamic, vibrant, loving, special, innocent faces, taken together just across the street from their residence. And barely 12 hours before four of them would be brutally murdered in their sleep,” Thompson said.

As the photos were shown, Kohberger’s sister sank lower in her chair and Kaylee Goncalves’ sister sat up straighter.

Thompson said Kohberger will stand from his seat in belly chains and leg irons and will be taken into custody, where "the door will close behind him forever -- that is the closure that we seek.”

Randy Davis, Xana Kernodle’s stepfather, addressed the other victims' families, saying this was likely the last time they’d all be in the same room.

“I love you all and I feel your pain,” he said.

To Bryan Kohberger, he said while shaking, “You’re gonna go to hell … you’re evil ... you took our children … you are gonna suffer, man.”

“Go to hell,” he concluded, as everyone clapped.

Xana Kernodle's aunt, Kim Kernodle, said in court, “This is probably gonna bother everybody, but Bryan, I’m here today to tell you I’ve forgiven you, because I could no longer live with that hate.”

“Any time you want to talk and tell me what happened … I’m here, no judgment,” she said to her niece’s killer.

Xana Kernodle’s dad, Jeff Kernodle, said in court that the thing he misses most is the weekend calls from his daughter.

He said he was staying just a few miles away from the victims’ house on the night of the murders and wishes he would have gone over to their house that night.

“They would’ve had a chance,” he said.

Xana Kernodle’s sister, Jazzmin Kernodle, said in court she was unsure if she'd speak today. "In the end, I realized this moment isn't about you -- it's about justice for Xana, Ethan, Kaylee and Maddie," she said.

She called her sister "a gift to each person she was able to make an impact on."

Xana Kernodle was the younger sister, but Jazzmin Kernodle said she often found herself looking up to her.

"Xana was someone I turned to when I needed direction or advice," she said.

"She truly did live every day to the fullest. Yet her story was cut short by an act of evil," she said. "She won't be the maid of honor at my wedding, the cool aunt to my future children. ... But I will carry her with me for the rest of my life. I will live in her honor, fight to be the best kind of woman, someone she's proud of."

"Xana's story doesn't end with what was taken from her. It lives through the love she gave the people she touched and the legacy her family will protect," she said.