Bryan Kohberger will keep his secrets.
The sicko killer refused to speak during his sentencing, uttering only three words — despite demands from his victims’ families and even President Trump to explain why he butchered the four roommates in Moscow, Idaho in 2022.
This means the world may never know his motives.
“I respectfully decline,” was all Kohberger said when a Boise judge asked if he had any comments during the hearing Wednesday.
Those were the most words the world has heard the convicted killer speak since his 2022 arrest – at his plea hearing earlier in July, he said nothing more than “Yes,” “No,” and “Guilty.”
And during his sentencing, he said nothing beyond declining to speak.
That cold comment came after nearly three hours of heart-wrenching victim impact statements from the friends and family of his four victims — Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Those statements moved numerous people in the courtroom to tears – the judge himself was seen wiping his nose at one point. Prosecutor Bill Thompson became emotional while speaking – but Kohberger remained cold as ice as he stared down the people whose lives he destroyed.
Whether Kohberger would speak and explain his actions before he was sentenced was at the front of everyone’s mind Wednesday.
While a plea deal he accepted earlier in July landed him with four consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole, he was not required to offer a motive for the killings – and so far, no explanation has been revealed.
The family of Goncalves was particularly outspoken about wants Kohberger to be made to explain himself, while Trump even weighed in with similar sentiments.
“These were vicious murders, with so many questions left unanswered,” Trump wrote on Truth Social Monday. “I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders.”
But Judge Steven Hippler said people begging for answers from Kohberger should think twice. He said trying to get the truth out of Kohberger played into his hands, allowing him to cling to the power that he clearly wants.
And there’s also no guarantee he’d tell the truth, either, the judge added.
“Even if I could force him to speak, which legally I cannot, how could anyone ever be assured that what he speaks is the truth?” Hippler said.
“Do we really believe after all this that he is capable of giving up the truth, or some piece of himself to help the people whose lives he destroyed in the first place?”
He added that the killer’s “15 minutes of fame” were now over.
Hippler then handed down the sentences, and hit Kohberger with about $200,000 in restitution fines for the families of his victims.
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