Bryan Kohberger ordered to pay additional restitution to victims’ families
Seth Ratliff
BOISE, Idaho (KIFI) — Confessed killer Bryan Kohberger has been ordered to pay more than $3,000 in additional restitution to the families of two University of Idaho victims. Kohberger is currently serving consecutive life sentences for the murders.
Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole this past summer after pleading guilty to the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students in Moscow, Idaho: Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.
On Thursday, the third anniversary of the killings, District Judge Steven Hippler issued a ruling requiring Kohberger to pay approximately $1,420 to Kaylee Goncalves’s family and over $1,500 to Madison Mogen’s mother, covering the cost of urns for their daughters.
Kohberger’s public defender, Elisa Massoth, argued that he could not afford the additional restitution. However, Judge Hippler disagreed, pointing out that Kohberger has received more than $28,000 in donations while in custody and can also earn prison wages.
“Given his limited needs in prison and his youth, it is foreseeable that through employment and donations, Defendant may receive sufficient amounts over his life to at least come close to meeting his financial restitution obligations,” Hippler wrote.
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The court concluded that his age, low living costs while incarcerated, and the possibility of future donations make it reasonable for him to pay the amount over time.
With this new ruling, Kohberger now owes more than $300,000 in fines, civil judgments, and restitution to his victims’ families.