Bryan Kohberger’s lawyers refuse to pay latest victim compensation claim and say families already got enough from GoFundMe
Lawyers for Bryan Kohberger have asked a judge to excuse the convicted murderer from paying $27,000 to two victims’ families, arguing that they have already received enough money from GoFundMe donations.
Kohberger was ordered to pay $290,000 in restitution after he pleaded guilty to the 2022 killings of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Prosecutors have now additionally requested $20,000 for Goncalves’ parents and nearly $7,000 for Mogen’s mother, Karen Laramie, to cover travel expenses, causing the defense to balk.
“The additional funds sought do not qualify as an economic loss under Idaho Code 19-5304 because Steve and Kristi Goncalves and Karen Larmie [sic] received extensive funds through multiple GoFundMe campaigns that specifically asked for and covered the expenses sought,” Kohberger’s legal team wrote in a court filing earlier this month, obtained by The Independent.
The filing noted that Kohberger “has no ability now or in the future to pay restitution because he is serving four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years.”
Three GoFundMe fundraisers were highlighted in the court documents, including one where donors gave $73,493 to the families of Goncalves and Mogen.
Another fundraiser provided $48,815 to Mogen’s mother so she could attend Kohberger’s Idaho trial in person. A third effort raised $85,583 in donations for Goncalves’ parents and their surviving children for the same purpose.
“Given the specific funds sought and obtained for expenses to travel to Boise, the request should be denied because neither family suffered an economic loss for that which the State seeks reimbursement,” Kohberger’s lawyers wrote.
The lawyers noted that the families said they hoped to refund all the donations but “whether they were able to accomplish this or donor’s requested funds returned is not included in the State’s motion.”
After denying the killings for years, Kohberger, a 30-year-old criminology PhD student, accepted a plea deal this summer for the students’ murders which spared him the death penalty.
He was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences for the murders of Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle and Chapin, and an additional 10 years for burglary. He was also ordered to pay $290,000 in restitution.
With the plea deal, he lost the possibility of parole and waived his right to appeal any issues in the case.
When it was Kohberger’s turn to speak at his July sentencing, he said: “I respectfully decline.” He has never provided any motive as to why he broke into the rental home of the college students in the middle of the night and stabbed them to death.
Two other roommates, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, survived the killing .
Kohberger is being housed at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution in Kuna, outside of Boise, which has a grim reputation for its harsh conditions with allegations of abusive guards, violent brawls, feces-covered recreation “cages” and a dirty ventilation system described as a “biohazard.”
While Kohberger has provided a motive, there is no stipulation in his plea deal that would prevent him from doing interviews with the media or writing a tell-all memoir from behind bars.
Even though Kohberger could potentially make money telling his story – the families of his victims could also sue him for emotional distress or wrongful death damages.
The victims’ families were split on the decision of Kohberger’s plea deal. Loved ones of Goncalves and Kernodle were disappointed over the lack of a trial.
“This ain’t justice, no judge presided, no jury weighed the truth,” Goncalves’ family wrote in a statement. “Thompson robbed us of our day in court. No negotiations, no jury of our peers, not even the pretense of cooperation and fairness.”
Kernodle’s father told The New York Times that he does “not agree” with the plea deal, and said he is “disappointed in the prosecutors’ decision.”
However, the families of Chapin and Mogen supported the move. “While we know there are some who do not support it, we ask that they respect our belief that this is the best outcome,” Mogen’s family said in a statement. “We now embark on a path of hope and healing.”
