The mother of one of Bryan Kohberger’s murder victims forgave her daughter’s killer in court Wednesday, expressing hope that he would find Jesus Christ and said she’d be praying for him.
Kohberger, who admitted to killing four University of Idaho students at their home in November 2022, learned his fate at his sentencing hearing. He was sentenced to four consecutive sentences of life in prison without the possibility of parole and ordered to pay a combined $200,000 in fines and $5,000 in civil penalties to the families of each victim. He was also sentenced to an additional 10 years in prison and ordered to pay a $50,000 fine in connection with a count of burglary associated with the crime.
As Kohberger appeared at the Ada County Courthouse, he came face-to-face with the families of the students he murdered. Cara Northington, the mother of murder victim Xana Kernodle, expressed confidence that “Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, now has her in His loving arms in Heaven, where she can never be harmed ever again for eternity.”
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Northington attributed her embrace of Christianity to her daughter. “Because of her, I came to know my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” she explained. “Because of her, many will come to Christ. That has filled me with joy, hope and peace that surpasses all understanding.”
Northington told Kohberger that “Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter without you even being sorry or asking for this. This is only possible because He who lives in me is greater than any evil in this world.”
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind,” she added. “I do not fear you or even let you rent space in my head anymore. This forgiveness has released me from any and all evil you have inflicted on me and my family. It has allowed me to let our Lord deal with you.”
Noting how Kohberger had accepted a deal that would spare him from receiving the death penalty, Northington maintained that “Nothing man can do to you can ever compare to the wrath of God.” She warned Kohberger that “inevitably, you will stand before our Lord and will have to answer to Him over the sins you have committed in murdering our children.”
“I pray you come to the end of yourself before that day,” she said. “Whether you like it or not, Heaven is for real and so is Hell.”
She added, “I am washing my hands of you and turning you over to my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whom vengeance belongs to.”
Northington then read aloud Ephesians 6: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye might be able to withstand the wiles of the devil.”
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,” the scripture passage continues. “Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day.”
Northington concluded by telling Kohberger, “I do pray for you, I pray that you come to the end of yourself, I pray that before this life is over, that you ask our Lord and Savior in your heart … to forgive you.”
Kernodle’s sister Jasmine offered similar remarks in court, detailing how “I believe in a God whose justice is not bound by this courtroom.” Kernodle asserted that “I find peace knowing that judgment ultimately belongs to Him.”
“For your sake, I hope one day you feel the full weight of what you did. I hope you take accountability. I hope you … truly experience the guilt and you surrender yourself to Jesus Christ because no punishment on this Earth can ever compare to the isolation and pain of eternal separation from God.”
Randy Davis, Kernodle’s stepfather and Northington’s husband, also brought up his Christian faith as he spoke in court Wednesday. After telling Kohberger “I want to just be out in the woods with you just so I can teach you about loss and pain,” Davis proclaimed, “I love God” and insisted that “I wouldn’t take your life” because “that’s up to Him.”
“You’re going to go to Hell,” Davis predicted. “There’s no place for you in Heaven. You took our children. You are going to suffer, man.”
Kohberger’s sentencing and the emotional testimony of Kernodle’s surviving relatives come more than two-and-a-half years after his December 2022 arrest for the murder of the college student, as well as her University of Idaho roommates Kaylee Goncalves, Maddie Mogen and Ethan Chapin.
The arrest of Kohberger, a Ph.D. student in criminal justice at the nearby Washington State University, took place more than a month-and-a-half after the brutal murders of the four college students as they were sleeping in the home they shared.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
