48 Hours - The Sentencing Of Bryan Kohberger

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

As a judge told Bryan Kohberger he would die in prison, the families of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle courageously spoke out in court, honoring the lives of their loved ones and speaking openly about the trauma they have endured. The court also heard tearful words from surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, whose lives were forever changed that night on King Road in Moscow, Idaho. 48 Hours correspondent Peter Van Sant reflects on the emotional day and how people are coming to terms with not knowing the “why” in this case with CBS News legal analyst Mary Fulginiti and Washington State University journalism professor Matt Loveless. This episode was recorded on July 23, 2025. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This episode contains graphic audio and references to violence. Please listen with care. He is a hollow vessel, something less than human, a body without empathy, without remorse. He chose destruction. He chose evil. He feels nothing. For the first time, Dylan Mortensen, one of the two surviving roommates in the house on King Road, courageously spoke in court about her grief and trauma

as the murderer of her friends sat facing forward with no emotion. He tried to take everything for me, my friends, my safety, my identity, my future. He took their lives, but I will continue trying to be like them to make them proud. On Wednesday, a shackled Brian Coburger, who admitted earlier this month to the mass murder of University of Idaho students, Kaylee Gonzalez, Madison Mogan, Zana Kronodal, and Ethan Chapin was forced to hear the cries,

the anguish, the frustrations, and the righteous anger of the loved ones left behind at his sentencing hearing in Boise. Today we are here to prove to the world that you pick the wrong families. I will call you what you are. Sociopath. Psychopath. murderer. We are done being victims. We are taking back our lives. I'm 48 hours correspondent Peter Van Sant, and this is the Idaho student murders inside the Brian Coburger case. Today,

you're going to hear what happened inside the courtroom. And joining me to discuss it all is CBS News Legal Analyst Attorney Mary Fulginidi and Washington State University Murrow School of journalism professor Matt Lovelace. And Matt, you live in Pullman, just a stones throw down the road from Moscow. You're the one that went over to that house on King Road after you learned of these murders. You saw that tragic side of some blood seeping down the outside of the building, which gave us all the sense of what was going on on the inside. Give me a sense of what this day was like for you. It was an emotional day, Peter. And as this case has gone on for close to a thousand days now, I hesitate to call it closure, but it was nice as a community member just to hear the families be able to speak and release a little bit today.

And I think we'll get to the fact that they released quite a bit today. So it did feel like a little bit of closure. And also, it felt incomplete. I know we'll talk about that as well. For the victim's families and surviving roommates, they have. had been expected to give impact statements after a trial when their words would influence the sentencing. But that trial never came to be. Yeah, no, it didn't. I mean, Brian Coburger ended up signing a plea agreement. And on July 2nd in court, admitted his guilt to each charge in the indictment.

And part of that agreement and part of those admissions included him agreeing to fixed terms, fixed life sentences for each of the four murder counts, as well as a 10-year count for the felony burglary. to run consecutively. And in addition, he waived all rights to appeal. And for all of us who have watched this from the beginning, to see all those loved ones in that room and be able to look at the man across the way who was so stoic, emotionless, lacking remorse sitting there, the man who had wielded that knife and created all this pain was just extraordinary, wasn't it? Yeah, watching him was eerie, to be perfectly honest. I think the one thing that to me that stood out, out of all the tears and emotion, was that Brian Koberger did not shed a tear.

He did not show any emotion. Even the judge was wiping away tears throughout. And for me, in the dozens and dozens of court cases I've been involved with, I'd never seen that before. Mary, what about you? Yeah, you know, I've never seen a judge shed a tear in a case. The prosecutor was tearing up. The judge was tearing up. We had the victims.

We had the family members. I was even tearing up throughout much of it because you sit there. and you hear how heinous and horrific the crimes were. And as a mother to a daughter who's in college at a sorority, it just hits home. In addition to Dylan Mortensen, we heard from her fellow surviving roommate, Bethany Funk. Good friend Emily Alant read Bethany's words inside a packed courtroom. For some reason, I am still here and I got to live. I still think about this every day.

Why me? Why did I get to live? And not them. People always ask that, the survivors. Matt, what do you think? It's still hard to explain. You know, we know Bethany had a basement room in that place. I think people are learning the layout of that three-story, a building there on 1122, King Road. We know Dylan came down to be with Bethany. She had a second floor bedroom. She went downstairs after she says she opened the door and saw a man with bushy eyebrows. And I know there was a lot of confusion over the 911 call, the fact that it took more than seven hours for them to make that call.

When I first woke up that morning, I had no idea what happened. I woke up around seven with a terrible toothache. So I called my dad, who was a dentist. And he asked what I should do. He told me to take Advil, so I did, and I went back to sleep. I was still out of it and still didn't know what happened. If I had known, I, of course, would have called 911 right away. I still carry so much regret and guilt for not knowing what had happened and not calling right away.

Even though I understand it wouldn't have changed anything, not even if the paramedics had been right outside the door. I was so frantic that morning and scared death not knowing what had happened. And when I made Ben-I-1-1 call, I couldn't even get out the words. And from then on, I don't remember a thing. It was like my brain wiped that whole memory. That was the worst day of my life. life. And I know it always will be.

You know, much of the information in this case, it's sort of been that leaky faucet. We'll get a drip here and a drip there and a drip there. And one of those drips came recently, as we found out a little bit more, about why there was so much chaos on that call. And I know there's still a lot of confusion, but we hear some context now from the Amazon series about a friend Emily Alant, friend Hunter Johnson, and another friend had come and how Hunter had found Ethan and Zana. reported that they should call the police for an unconscious person, essentially sparing his friends the trauma of knowing what happened. And we also know now that at the time, they weren't even

aware that Maddie and Kaylee had been killed as well. And so we are just beginning to learn this little trickle of information about what had happened that morning. And it is starting to make a lot more sense. And while Bethany did not attend, we learned more from Dylan, who lived on the second floor of the house, and she sat down at the prosecutor's table and took moments to compose herself. Dylan, just take your time, all right? Thank you, Your Honor. And the presentation that Dylan Mortensen had in that courtroom, this was a young teenage girl at the time of these murders, overwhelmed by what had happened there, and she had been savaged in social media.

Well, the Dylan Mortensen that showed up today was mature and eloquent and profound. and so impressive. I was barely 19 when he did this. We had just celebrated my birthday at the end of September. I should have been figuring out who I was. I should have been having the college experience in starting to establish my future. Instead, I was forced to learn how to survive the unimaginable.

I couldn't be alone. I had to sleep in my mom's bed because I was too terrified to close. my eyes. Terrify that if I blinked, someone might be there. I made escape plans everywhere I went. If something happens, how do I get out? What can I use to defend myself? Who can help? Then there are the panic attacks. The guy that slam into me like a tsunami out of nowhere. I can't breathe. I can't think. I can't stop shaking. All I can do is scream because the emotional pain and the grief is too much to handle. On my chest, it feels like it's keeping in.

The enormous consequence of murder was just expressed there. And I hope those who tortured this young woman take a moment, perhaps, to send off something kind now that you know the context of what had happened, because she doesn't deserve anyone's sworn. She didn't speak at the sentencing hearing about what she saw that day, mostly just talking about the pain she continues to endure. We got to hear her talk about a lot of the coverage that was about her early on in the coverage of this case. And it was just devastating to hear. Maddie Mogan's stepfather, Scott Laramie, spoke on behalf of himself and Maddie's mother, Karen, who stood beside him in tears. He said he refused to waste words on the defendant, saying evil doesn't deserve time and attention.

It helps us to know that he is in heaven now, freed from the trials of this earth. We, however, continue to live on without the grace and support of our presence. We will grow old without our only child, our bright, beautiful friend and daughter. In the end, there are no words that can accurately capture the devastation of losing Maddie. You know, one person who was so moving to me was Maddie's father, Ben Mogan. This is a man who's been through a lot in life. And he said that Maddie was the only child he ever had. She was the only great thing he ever really did.

And the only thing he was ever proud of. Boy, that was hit me. That was so sad. And he was honest about his struggles with addiction. and how Maddie helped him. I went through a lot of issues with addiction and with substance abuse. And when I wasn't wanting to live anymore, she was what would keep me from just not caring anymore.

And knowing that she was out there and that she was doing just such a beautiful. person. Kept me alive a lot of rough moments. And for her father, Maddie's, Maddie helped put him back on their rails. And even though she's lost her life in some ways she has saved his. And that was very poignant. Ben Mogan, Scott Laramie,

and Maddie's paternal grandmother expressed their support of the plea agreement. Now, in contrast, Kaylee Gonzalez's family has been outspoken about their disappointment about that plea deal agreement. Her father, Steve, called it a deal with the devil and has called out the prosecution and judge in the case. When Steve Gonzalez got up to speak, he dramatically turned the podium in the direction of Kohlberger. Today, we are here to finish what you started.

Today, you've lost control. Having interviewed Steve Gonzalez a couple of times for many hours and other members of the family, What he had to say about when the family learned of this tragedy and the shock and the whore and they're holding each other and what they decided to do as he tells that story, for me, that was one of the most memorable moments in that courtroom today. My kids turned around, looked at me and said, what do we do, dad? I told them, you get to work. You get your ass to work. and we started calling, we started texting, we started emailing.

And you know what? Within hours, within hours, we had your white car on the camera. We knew. We knew from the very beginning we had you. The police officers tell us, within minutes, they had your DNA, like a calling card. You were that careless, that foolish, that stupid. Master degree, you're a joke. Complete joke.

This family, they came out fighting right out of the box. You know, from the day they heard what happened to their sister, their daughter. They were on it. And they wanted to find out who did it, how did it happen, what happened. And they haven't really stopped, you know. And I think that that's very telling of sort of the dynamic in the family and how, you know, and how they express, you know, their own feelings and handle situations. Kaylee's older sister, Olivia, who I've met along the way, who had done such research and found breakthroughs in this investigation and listened to what she had to say.

I will ask the questions that reverberate violently in my own head so loudly that I can't think straight most any day. Some of these might be familiar. So sit up straight when I talk to you. How was your life right before you murdered my sisters? Did you prepare for the crime before leaving your apartment? Please detail what you were thinking and feeling at this time. Why did you choose my sisters? Before making your move, did you approach my sisters?

Detail what you were thinking and feeling. Before leaving their home, is there anything else you did? How does it feel to know the only thing you failed more miserably at than being a murderer is trying to be a rapper? Did you recently start shaving or manually pulling out your eyebrows? Why November 13th? Did you truly think your Amazon purchase was untraceable because you used a gift card? How do you find it enjoyable to stargaze with such a severe case of visual snow? Where is the murder weapon?

The clothes you wore that night? What did you bring into the house with you? What was the second weapon you used on Kaylee? What were Kaylee's last words? Please describe in detail the level of anxiety you must have felt when you heard the bear cat pull up to your family home on December 30th, 2022. Which do you regret more?

Returning to the crime scene five hours later, or never, ever going back to Moscow, not even once, after stalking them there for months. If you were really smart, do you think you'd be here right now? What's it like needing this much attention just to feel real? You're terrified of being ordinary, aren't you?

Do you feel anything at all? or are you exactly what you always figured? Nothing. She came mad, but mad and prepared. I sat there at various points and said, can we get some answers to those questions? She asked a number of questions we've all wanted to ask since the beginning of this case. Not only that, she talked about reports of his heroin use. She talked about his efforts to be a rapper. She made fun of him taking an online IQ test.

The truth is, you're as dumb as they come. Stupid, clumsy, slow, sloppy, weak, dirty. Let me be very clear. Don't ever try to convince yourself, you mattered, just because someone finally said your name out loud. I see through you. You want the truth? Here's the one you'll hate the most.

If you hadn't attacked them in their sleep, In the middle of the night, like a pedophile, Kaylee would have kicked your fucking ass. She was brilliantly angry. Mary, what did you think? Yeah, no, I thought she was incredibly articulate and frankly poised, given how angry she was. But, you know, she also, you know, brought up things like, do you feel anything at all? Do you have any remorse? What's wrong with you? Are you a sociopath?

Are you a psychopath? I mean, she was really grappling with, you know, what the heck are you? and don't think that this is going to make you powerful or important. And I'm a little shocked that the judge sort of allowed that vilification, but she clearly got across how she was feeling and what she in the family, I think, wanted to know. And following Olivia's blistering comments, Kaylee's mother, Christy, also called him a loser and referenced the death penalty, which had been taken off the table when Kohlberger took that plea agreement. While I'm disappointed, the firing shot won't get to take their shots at you.

I'm confident that the men in prison will have their way with you in more ways than one. You will finally get what you wanted, physical touch. Just probably not how you were expecting it. See, you haven't beat the system. You've simply entered a new one, where the rules are cruel and the consequences will never end. You are entering a place where no one will care who you are and no one will ever respect you. You will be forgotten, discarded, used, and erased. You will always be remembered as a loser, an absolute failure.

And when those prison doors slam shut behind you, I hope that sound echoes in your heart for the rest of your meaningless days. I hope it reminds you of what we all already know. You're nothing. May you continue to live your life in misery. You are officially the property of the state of Idaho, where your fellow inmates are anxiously awaiting your arrival. But it's okay because they're there to help you.

Hell will be waiting. I don't have a word to add to what she just said. The things Christy told me in the interview we did was that she wanted this firing squad because she wanted Kohlberger to have just that moment of fear, of deep fear that she knew her daughter had experienced as he was attacking her. And then she had one last thought. She shared a message from Kaylee's younger sister. Listen to this.

You may have received A's in high school and college, but you're going to be getting big D's in prison. A spattering of applause there, something that I've never heard in a courtroom, too. Yeah, I mean, again, you typically don't hear such strong language ever, really at a sentencing hearing. And outside the courthouse, after that hearing, Steve and Christy referenced 34 stab wounds that they believe their daughter suffered.

And Christy said the details are far more horrific than anybody ever imagined. We do not know at this point if the families learned of information that came out after the hearing in documents released by the Moscow Police Department. But here's some of what we have learned. From one of the first officers at the scene, he said, I looked inside the bedroom. Zana was lane and it was obvious. An intense struggle had occurred. Zana was obviously deceased. Quick side note, when I interviewed Zana's family, they said they were so proud. They had been told that she had fought for her life and that they were very proud of that.

They mentioned that in the interview they did with 48 hours. Ethan was found on the bed. Quote, the midsection of Ethan's body was covered by a blanket. Kaylee and Madison were covered by a pink blanket which was covered in blood. And Kaylee, the report shows, was unrecognizable as her facial structure was extremely damaged. I would caution anybody who feels like they're curious to take a second thought before reading through these documents because the details are just awful. Do you have a dark curiosity? Heart starts pounding, horrors, hauntings, and mysteries is a week podcast hosted by me, Kailan Moore.

Each week, I'll take you on a dark journey through terrifying true urban legends, bizarre true crime cases, chilling tales of backwoods horror and more. So if you're looking to join a passionate community of the Darkly Curious, check out Heart Starts pounding on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. And remember, stay curious. And as far as Xana Kurnodal's family, the court heard from her father Jeff and her sister, Jasmine. I walk with the comfort of knowing I will see my sister again. Zana didn't get the future she deserved. She won't be the maid of honor at my wedding, the cool aunt to my future children.

I'll never hear her laugh or see her light up a room ever again, 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 and someone she's proud of to make sure the world never forgets who she was. Zana's story doesn't end with what was taken from her. Aunt Kim spoke of forgiveness at this hearing. One of the few people who did. Brian, I'm here today to tell you, I have forgiven you because I no longer could live with that hate in my heart.

And for me to become a better person, I have forgiven you. and anytime you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number. I'm here. No judgment because I do have answers or questions that I want you to answer. And I'm here. I'll be that one that'll listen to you. Okay? And then in contrast, Zana's stepfather, Randy Davis, he turned to Coburger with disgust.

He did not have forgiveness on his mind. I want to just be out in the woods with you just so I can teach you about loss and pain. I love God. I wouldn't take your life. That's up to him. But I guarantee you, you are weak. God, I would just give a moment, man, five minutes out the woods. You're going to go to hell.

Xana Kurnodle's mom, Karen Norton, also spoke. She has been open about her strength. with addiction. She previously said she hit rock bottom and relapsed when Zana was killed and went to jail. She is now sober and has spoken recently about how her faith has helped her cope with this tragedy. However, Ethan Chapin's parents and siblings were not in court. Ethan's father, Jim Chapin, said last week that he preferred to spend this time on their boat with his children. Ethan was a triplet, and his brother Hunter and sister Maisie also attended the University of Idaho. With the impact statements complete, prosecutor Bill Thompson held back tears while reading the sentence for each count as photos of the victims were displayed.

Cries could be heard in the courtroom. He then showed that photo, we all know so well, of the roommates on that game day weekend, taken just hours before the murders. He called them a family. The prosecutor said, Koeberger would die in prison. Kohlberger was given the opportunity to speak. This was a moment all of us were waiting for, and here's what it turned out to be. All right, Mr. Kohlberger, you have an opportunity to make a statement. If you wish to, I take it, you are declining. I respectfully decline. He said, I respectfully decline.

Our producers inside the courtroom heard murmurs of surprise, surprise, and coward. Judge Stephen Hippler said he couldn't force Coburger to speak, but even if he could, how could we know it's the truth? Mary, he has a point there, doesn't he? Yeah, I mean, first of all, you can't force a defendant to speak. They have their Fifth Amendment right and under ID a whole law, criminal defendant. can't be forced to speak at sentencing. And it can't be used against him or her in any way, shape, or form. Procedurally, the court must ask for allocution, but again, it's optional.

Mary, I think one of the questions we have, though, is why can't we ask him anything? Why can't we get any information? And I'll ask it by offering a little context. I think a lot of us look at what had happened. And if anything, hoped that there was a warning sign there, that future young men and women who go to these universities, could we possibly, find that out. Would there not be a benefit to trying to get at some of those answers? Look, absolutely. I mean, there's a benefit to understanding the why, you know, and a benefit to understanding everything, the plotting. How did he figure out who they were? Did he know who they were? Did this just become a happenstance? I mean, but at the end of the day, you guys have to

realize that there is a process in place here, and there are protections that are afforded not only to the victims, but obviously to the defendant. And this is a capital case. And just like any other criminal case. You can't compel them to talk. You couldn't compel them to take the stand. You can't even compel them to take a plea agreement. After all of these passionate words, eloquence, spoken through pain, broken hearts, the judge sentences Coburger to what was agreed to in this plea agreement. He received four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, along with 10 years for burglary. I remand the defendant to the custody of the Addo State Board of Corrections for to be imprisoned in an appropriate facility and execution of the sentence where he will remain until he dies.

Also, Coburger has waived his right to appeal, but he can file a notice of appeal. What does that mean, Mary? It seems to be contradictory. Yes, under the law, and this is the Supreme Court of the United States, if a defendant asks to file a notice of appeal, his attorney, must do so and failure to do so is a huge procedural problem they have found. But it's really done to protect those defendants that might not have entered into a waiver of appeal voluntarily, who might not have pled guilty knowingly and voluntarily. So here, although he has the right to file that notice of appeal, and they must do so if he asks, I predict that an appellate court, if he did, look at the basis for the waiver and make sure that it's adequate and determine that

it was in this case and that the waiver was knowing and voluntary and therefore reject any appeal. We've touched on this a bit, but at this point, after hearing all that people had to say and all the questions they still have, everyone wonders why did Brian Coburger murder Maddie, Kaylee, Zana and Ethan? Even President Trump weighed in days before the hearing posting on truth social. I hope the judge makes Coburger at a minimum explain why he did these horrible murder. There are no explanations. There is no nothing. At oppressor, Lieutenant Darren Gilbertson of the Idaho State Police said, we have never, to this date, found a single connection between him and any of the four victims or the two surviving roommates. Detectives also said they found no social media connection between Koeberger and the victims.

There was also evidence he wiped his devices regularly using software. to clean, and he also used VPN. And we also heard that they never found the weapon. They never found the clothes he was wearing that night. But I think what we do know is that he's going to that area over 20 times. So there had to have been some connection. He's going to that area. He's doing something. And it's not like he's going to random areas. He's going to that particular area. So you don't always know the answer to all the questions. But I would suspect there's some connection at some point along the way, and we might just never know what it was. Judge Hipler acknowledged the public's need to understand the why.

I share the desire expressed by others to understand the why. But upon reflection, it seems to me, and this is just my own opinion, that by continuing to focus on why, we continue to give Mr. Koeberger relevance. We give him agency and we give him power. The need to know what is inherently not understandable makes us dependent upon the defendant to provide us with a reason. And that gives him the spotlight, the attention, and the power he appears to crave. Finally, after all of this time, the judge lifted the gag order on this case. When can we expect to learn new details?

What does it mean now that the gag order is gone? Well, it means that people can talk, right? You're going to hear a lot of people talking. You could hear some of the victims and the roommates talking and the police and investigators can all know speak about the case and their investigation, the facts, evidence, whatever they found. When it comes to the documents that are sealed, though, the judge made it very clear that he was going to wait until obviously this notice of appeal time lapsed before he would actually review those and decide what to understand. unseal and not to unseal, but that time period is about 42 days. And so I think once that time period lapses, we're going to see the judge looking at these documents closely and then hopefully releasing some that will hopefully answer some questions that everybody's been asking. And a number of these documents are already revealing initial reports from arriving at the scene, conversations with family members. You know, as much as we talk about closure in this case, I think what people need to understand is we're going to start seeing body cancer.

footage of at least conversations with witnesses and people standing outside, a lot of information is going to come out. And as of this recording, the Moscow Police Department just posted its police reports and other documents on its website. As more information comes to light, we will continue to keep you up to date on this perplexing, disturbing case. And we'll leave it at that for today. Mary and Matt, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with you. me and thanks to all of you for listening. I'm Peter Van Sant.