BOISE, Idaho — It’s an outcome years in the making: Bryan Kohberger has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The case that gripped the nation, the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in their off-campus home, is closed. Now, for the first time since the attack nearly three years ago, the surviving roommates broke their silence.
WATCH: Hear the emotional courtroom testimony from the surviving roommates as Bryan Kohberger is sentenced to life in prison
Before the sentence was delivered, the courtroom fell silent as surviving roommate, Dylan Mortensen, approached the microphone. She struggled to begin– crying and trembling as she prepared to speak.
“I had to sleep in my mom's bed because I was too terrified to close my eyes,” Mortensen said. “Terrified that if I blinked, someone might be there.”
Both Mortensen and Bethany Funke used their time in court to share emotional details about that morning, including why it took hours to call 911–questions that had long circulated in the public eye.
Funke’s statement was read aloud by her friend Emily Alandt.
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“I woke up around 7 with a terrible toothache, so I called my dad, who is a dentist. I was still out of it and still didn't know what happened. That was the worst day of my life. And I know it always will be,” Funke wrote.
Funke also described enduring guilt, fear, and waves of online harassment in the months following the attack.
Mortensen, who also lived with the victims at 1122 King Road, spoke next. She detailed the ongoing trauma she carries with her nearly three years later.
“What happened that night changed everything. Because of him, four beautiful, genuine, compassionate people were taken from this world for no reason,” Mortensen said. “He took away who they were becoming and the futures they were going to have.”
“He may have shattered parts of me, but I'm still putting myself back together. I'm still trying, and I'm not trying just for me. I'm trying for them, my friends,” she continued.
“He will stay here, empty, forgotten, and powerless,” she ended.
As the survivors spoke, Kohberger remained silent– stone-faced throughout the hearing.
He declined to speak when offered the opportunity. His mother and sister were seated behind him. Neither addressed the court, and the defense team did not take questions following the sentencing.
The silence from Kohberger’s side stood in stark contrast to the overwhelming emotion from the families and survivors who shared the impact of his actions.
Later that day, during a long-awaited press conference, investigators addressed questions that had lingered since Nov. 13, 2022– the day of the killings.
When asked if they had identified a motive, an investigator responded, “We do not.”
Another investigator said, “We have never to this day found a single connection between him and any of the four victims or the two surviving roommates.”
Investigators also revealed that despite extensive efforts, the murder weapon was never recovered. Kohberger’s jail calls were monitored but yielded nothing of investigative value. His demeanor during arrest was described as “calm and relaxed.” Authorities said even without the knife sheath left behind at the scene, they believed they could have identified him through surveillance and by tracing the white Hyundai Elantra.
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Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said the decision not to seek a confession from Kohberger was intentional.
“I don't believe that there's anything that would come out of his mouth that would be the truth,” Thompson said.
Judge Steven Hippler echoed that view before delivering Kohberger’s sentence.
“His grotesque acts of evil have buried and hidden anything that might have been good or intrinsically human about him,” Hippler said.
“I hereby sentence Mr. Kohberger to a fixed term of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, where he will remain until he dies,” he added.
Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life terms– one for each murder– along with a fixed 10-year sentence for burglary. As part of the plea deal, he waived his right to appeal.
