The families and loved ones of the four students stabbed to death in a home near the University of Idaho campus faced Bryan Kohberger during his sentencing in a Boise court Wednesday in an outpouring of grief, anger and even forgiveness.
Many spoke through tears in giving their emotional statements. Some addressed Kohberger directly, while others said they did not want to “waste the words” on him.
The judge also choked up at times.
Here's a look at the hearing in their words:
Bethany Funke, surviving roommate
“I have not slept through a single night since this happened. I constantly wake up in panics, terrified someone is breaking in or someone is here to hurt me, or I'm about to lose someone else that I love," Funke said in a statement read by a friend. “For a long time I could barely get out of bed. But one day, I realized I have to live for them."
“Sometimes I drop to the floor with my heart racing, convinced something is very wrong. It’s far beyond anxiety. It’s my body reliving everything over and over again,” she said. “He may have taken so much from me, but he will never get to take my voice. He will never take the memories I have of them.”
“Karen and I are ordinary people, but we lived extraordinary lives because we had Maddie,” he said, referring to his wife, Maddie's mother. “As for the defendant, we will not waste the words. Nor will we fall into hatred and bitterness."
"Bryan, I’m here today to tell you I have forgiven you because I no longer could live with that hate in my heart,” she said. “Any time you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number. I’m here, no judgment, because I do have questions that I want you to answer.”
"You were that careless, that foolish, that stupid,” he said, taunting Kohberger for getting caught. “Master’s degree? You’re a joke.”
“No parent should ever have to bury their child,” Hippler said. “Parents who took their children to college in a truck filled with moving boxes had to bring them home in hearses lined with coffins.”
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