The lead prosecutor in the Idaho college killings case has said it is not always possible to have “the luxury” of understanding the motives of a murderer, after Bryan Kohberger declined to reveal his.
“It would always be nice to have an answer to everything, but the reality is that we don’t always have that luxury,” prosecutor Bill Thompson told NBC’s USA Today.
Kohberger, 30, declined to speak during his sentencing hearing Wednesday, inside the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, leaving four devastated families without an answer as to why their children were killed.
With no known link between the four victims, Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, and their killer, Kohberger’s motive is likely to remain a mystery.
Even Judge Steven Hippler, who handed Kohberger his four consecutive life sentences, acknowledged frustration in his remarks. “As we sit here today, this case is ending, and we are now certain who committed these unspeakable acts of evil,” he said.
“But we don’t know, and what we may never know, is why.”
At the sentencing, the court heard harrowing victim impact statements from family and friends of the victims, as well as Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, the two roommates who were home at the time of the attack and survived.
When asked why the pair had been overlooked by Kohberger, Thompson told NBC: “I’m sure there are theories. Dylan had an angel watching over her.”
Kohberger will now spend the rest of his life behind bars, after switching his plea to guilty on July 2, and avoiding the death penalty. This too has sparked outrage from some, with some claiming prosecutors should have demanded a full confession – including a motive – as a condition of the deal.
“Rarely does somebody in his situation give an accurate, true statement of what occurred,” Thompson said Thursday. “We would all like to know the details of what happened, but Mr. Kohberger is not going to be the source of getting the truth.”
Asked about the deal struck with Kohberger, he told NBC, “We made a proposal on our terms, not his,” Thompson said. “I don’t know what was going through his head [about] what he wanted, but one way or another, he’s going to be in prison till he dies.”
