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In a recent disclosure by an Idaho court, it was unveiled that Bryan Kohberger, a convicted murderer, has been the recipient of substantial financial support while his legal proceedings have been underway. This revelation comes precisely three years after Kohberger, a former criminology Ph.D. student, committed a heinous act, taking the lives of four undergraduates in a violent early morning home invasion.
Judge Steven Hippler highlighted this financial aspect in a statement, noting, “State’s Exhibit 3, filed with its reply brief, demonstrates that Defendant received several hundred donations totaling $28,360.96 while incarcerated at the Latah County and Ada County jails.” He further elaborated that, according to Kohberger’s defense team, a significant portion of these donations originated from his family members.
Despite this information, the court did not release a detailed report identifying individual contributors to Kohberger’s commissary fund. Notably, records show that Kohberger’s parents have faced financial difficulties in the past, having declared bankruptcy twice, once in the mid-1990s and again in 2010.
As Kohberger appeared at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing on July 23, 2025, the gruesome nature of his crime continued to cast a long shadow. His brutal attack, which claimed the lives of four University of Idaho students, remains etched in the public memory.
The Latah County Jail outlines that inmates are permitted to use their commissary funds for purchasing additional food and toiletries, as well as for accessing telephones and tablets. This provision allows individuals like Kohberger to maintain certain comforts and communication while serving their sentences.
At the larger jail in Ada County, the commissary offers “candy, snacks, beverages, writing materials, and shoes and clothing.” A public-facing website allows people to buy bundles including junk food, “elite protein,” hair care products and new socks for inmates.
Proceeds from the commissary store in Ada County are used to buy things like chairs, books and even TVs for the jail itself, according to its website.
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
Inmates with a lot of money in their commissary account gain influence behind bars because they can trade and barter, New York-based defense attorney Louis Gelormino told Fox News Digital previously.
Kohberger, who turns 31 next week, is serving four consecutive prison terms of life without parole, plus another 10 years for the murders of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on Nov. 13, 2022. All but Kernodle were in bed and asleep.
After exhausting his attempts to have the potential death penalty taken off the table before trial, he took a plea deal in July, admitting to the murders but offering no explanation.
The court released his financial information after his lawyers fought back against prosecutors, who sought additional restitution for the victims’ families.
Bryan Kohberger was stopped by Indiana police Dec. 15, 2022 before he was identified as a suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students. (Hancock County Police Department)
Hippler said some of the additional funds were outside the terms of the plea deal, but he ordered Kohberger to pay Goncalves’ parents and Mogen’s mother roughly $3,000 to split — $1,420 to the Goncalves family and $1,587.79 to Karen Laramie. The sums also carry a 9.125% annual interest rate.
He also found that Kohberger’s defense team was wrong about their claim that he would not be able to profit from future media deals under Idaho’s version of the “Son of Sam” law, which requires him to put any earnings in an escrow account so that the victims’ families have a chance to collect restitution or damages before he can profit.
“Pursuant to subsection three (3) of that statute, any leftover funds in the escrow account must be paid over to a defendant upon a showing that five years have elapsed from the establishment of the escrow account and that no actions are pending against him,” Hippler wrote. “Thus, the statute leaves open the potential for Defendant to receive money from media contracts in the future.”