It has been nearly three long years for the family members and friends of the four University of Idaho students who were stabbed in their off-campus home. Their brutal murders sparked a nationwide manhunt and sent shockwaves through the small town of Moscow.
Judge Steven Hippler sentenced 30-year-old Bryan Kohberger to life in prison without the possibility of parole just weeks after the defendant took a controversial plea deal to avoid the death penalty.
The judge delivered the sentence following hours of emotional statements from the loved ones of Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Madison Mogen, 21. Each of them spoke about the anger and devastation the gruesome killings had caused their families and communities, Faithwire reports.
Amid unimaginable grief, Kernodle’s mother, Cara Northington, told Kohberger that her faith had given her the strength to endure — and to offer him forgiveness.
"Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter without you even being sorry or asking for this," she told him in court. "I do not fear you or even let you rent space in my head any more. This forgiveness has released me from any and all evil you have inflicted on me and my family."
Prosecutors said Kohberger, who was a criminal justice doctoral student at the time of the murders, had long planned the attack. DNA evidence, mobile phone records, and surveillance footage tied Kohberger to the stabbings.
In addition to the four consecutive life sentences, Judge Hippler sentenced Kohberger to 10 years for burglary and ordered him to pay $270,000 in fines.
Northington described her daughter as beautiful both inside and out — someone who “brought joy and laughter to her friends, her family, and anyone in her presence.”
She went on to tell Kohberger that he would one day have to stand before the Lord, telling him that heaven and hell are real places.
“I do pray for you,” she said. “I pray that, before this life is over, you ask our Lord and Saviour into your heart and seek His forgiveness.”