Idaho Killer Ordered to Pay for Victims' Urns

Bryan Kohberger, the man convicted of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, has been ordered to pay for the urns of two of his victims as part of his restitution. A judge issued the ruling on Thursday, the third anniversary of killings, saying Kohberger is financially responsible for the urns of Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, NBC News reports. The total cost for the two urns is $3,075.58. Reimbursement for the families of the other two victims, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, was included in Kohberger's plea deal, reports the Idaho Statesman.

Kohberger, who accepted the plea deal over the summer, is serving four consecutive life sentences for the murders as well as a 10-year sentence for burglary. In addition to the cost of the urns, he has been ordered to pay $251,227.50 in criminal fines and fees, $20,000 in civil judgments to each family, and nearly $32,000 in restitution to the families of Kernodle and Chapin. District Judge Steven Hippler, who handed down the sentence in July, ruled that the cost of the urns is a funeral expense, which was agreed to in the plea deal. At a hearing last month, Kohberger's lawyers argued that the expenses had already been paid for with GoFundMe campaigns.

At Thursday's hearing, his defense team argued that, since Kohberger will spend the rest of his life in prison, he has no realistic means to pay extra expenses. Hippler, however, revealed that Kohberger had "received several hundred donations totaling $28,360.96 while incarcerated at the Latah County and Ada County jails," Fox News reports. "According to defense counsel, many of these donations came from Defendant's family members." The judge also noted that Kohberger might be able to obtain funds from work in prison or future media deals.