Bryan Kohberger ordered to fork over $30K from slush fund to pay murder victims’ families
Bryan Kohberger is serving four life sentences for murdering four University of Idaho students in 2022. Getty Image
Bryan Kohberger, the confessed killer of four University of Idaho students, has been ordered to use some of the nearly $30,000 in donations he received from supporters to pay restitution to the victims’ families, marking a court defeat on the third anniversary of the gruesome murders.
Kohberger had claimed last week that he could not afford the $27,000 in additional restitution sought by the families of two of his victims, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.
But on Thursday, Judge Steven Hippler rejected Kohberger’s poverty argument, noting that the convicted murderer had received $28,360 in contributions from supporters and family members, according to the Idaho Statesman. Ultimately, Kohberger was ordered to pay an additional $3,000 to cover the cost of the women’s urns. The amount was reduced after the defense successfully argued that Idaho law does not allow restitution to cover travel and hotel expenses.
Kohberger had previously been ordered to pay $29,000 to the families of victims Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. “He has received nearly enough through donations to cover the amount of restitution already ordered,” Judge Hippler wrote, adding that Kohberger could continue receiving contributions in the future and could also earn money through prison employment.
In addition to restitution, Kohberger, who is serving four consecutive life sentences, was ordered to pay more than $300,000 in fines as part of his guilty plea.
Kohberger, a former Washington University graduate student, murdered the four students in their off-campus Moscow, Idaho, home on November 13, 2022. He confessed in July 2023, just before his trial was set to begin, avoiding the death penalty. He will spend the remainder of his life in prison.
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