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Justice was served in an Idaho courtroom today, as Bryan Kohberger was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders of four college students.
But while the tragic saga that began back in 2022 finally came to an end this afternoon, the sentencing was not without controversy.
Several of the victims’ families were upset that Kohberger was offered a plea deal that enabled him to avoid the death penalty.
And it seems that the White House agrees that the cold-blooded killer got off easy.
Karoline Leavitt says Trump would have made Kohberger talk
On his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump expressed hope that the judge would force Kohberger to reveal his motives during today’s sentencing hearing.
“While Life Imprisonment is tough, it’s certainly better than receiving the Death Penalty but, before Sentencing, I hope the Judge makes Kohberger, at a minimum, explain why he did these horrible murders,” the president wrote, adding:
“There are no explanations, there is no NOTHING.”
Of course, a judge can’t force a defendant to talk, especially in a case like Kohberger’s where a plea deal eliminated the need for a trial.
Still, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt doubled down on the administration’s outrage during her daily press briefing.
“If it were up to the President, he would have forced this monster to publicly explain why he chose to steal these innocent souls,” Levitt told reporters today (per TMZ).
It’s been a rough few weeks for Trump, so not surprisingly, critics are accusing the president of using the Kohberger story to distract from recent negative press coverage.
Specifically, they believe Trump is attempting to draw attention away from the growing outrage surrounding the unreleased Jeffrey Epstein Files and the FBI’s conclusion that the sex trafficker took his own life in prison.
Clearly, there’s widespread disagreement on the handling of the Kohberger case.
But we hope that this increasingly politicized outcome will not overshadow the fact that on their night of November 13, 2022, Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen were brutally stabbed to death.
All four victims were in their early twenties.
While nothing can bring them back, we hope that their loved ones can find some modicum of solace in the fact that the perpetrator of that heinous crime will spend the rest of his life behind bars.
