By Becky Tallent | FāVS News Columnist
It has been nearly three years. Finally, on July 23, Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to four consecutive life sentences without the possibility of appeal or parole for the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.
The killings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapman and Xana Kernodle were legally resolved with Kohberger admitting he is guilty of the crimes in a plea deal. Kohberger was also sentenced to 10 years for burglary and a $270,000 fine.
The question as to motive remains. As Judge Steven Hippler said before sentencing, “… but what we don’t know and may never know is why.”
Kohberger’s sentencing
Much to the great relief of many people, but the frustration of some, Kohberger’s plea deal means he avoided the death penalty while relieving the state of an emotional court case, which would have revived the trauma for the families and the Moscow community.
But the nagging “why” remains unanswered.
Maybe Kohberger will write a book from prison explaining his motives. Possibly crime writers will continue to dig into the evidence when it is released. The records/reports will be available online later for anyone to crawl through.
However, now it is up to the community to find ways of healing and moving forward. It is something that needs to happen and can be done.
I was living outside Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. At 9:02 a.m. that morning, I heard the blast and felt the concussion 14 miles away. I know firsthand how long it can take for a community to heal from such a massive trauma.
In the Oklahoma City case, the why was clear: Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were angry at the federal government for the way the sieges at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho, were handled. They wanted to make a statement; blowing up a federal building was their answer.
The answer is murky in Moscow and closely held by Kohberger. Still, area residents can find ways to deal with the lasting trauma. Part of that healing comes in the form of remembering.
A place to remember
UI has already created a memory garden for Kernodle, Chapman, Mogen and Goncalves, a quiet place for people to think. Like the Oklahoma City Memorial, the memory garden reminds visitors of the event in a non-threatening way. Seeing and saying people’s names are a way of remembering, working to make the community more cohesive is another.
Talking and remembering helps to ease the pain for those who were close to the victims as well as the community at large. It is all part of what Moscow Mayor Art Bettge referred to in his July 18 interview with the Moscow-Pullman Daily News when he shared a hope that Moscow can return to being “a safe and happy college town.”
Moscow has seen it in the past with the 2016 the case of John Lee who killed his adopted mother Terry Grzebielski, his landlord David Trail and Arby’s manager Belinda Niebuhr plus wounded Michael Chin; and in 2011 when psychology professor Ernesto Bustamante murdered his grad student Kaity Benoit before shooting himself.
Earlier, in 2007 there was the case when Police Officer Lee Newbill, church caretaker Paul Bauer and Crystal Hamilton were shot and killed by Jason Hamilton. Hamilton also wounded two others.
In all cases, much like the way a rubber band never quite retains the same shape when snapped, the community eventually bounced back, albeit altered.
Some people still want the trial; they want everything out in the open, explained while justice is handed down. But for many, the plea deal is justice.
In the agreement, there is no opportunity to appeal the decision, nor can Kohberger ever be granted parole. He confessed to the killings; he is accepting a sentence, which is short of being given the death penalty. He is being punished for his actions, although not to the extent some people want.
Now it is up to Moscow, UI and the friends and families to remember and renew. Recalling the past while doing all possible to build back that brighter future of again being what Bettge called a “safe and happy college town” while remembering those lost to evil acts.
