Attorneys representing Bryan Kohberger, the convicted murderer of Idaho students, have petitioned the court to exempt him from paying approximately $27,000 to two families of the four victims. They argue that these families have already received ample financial support through nationwide donations on GoFundMe.

As part of a plea agreement, Kohberger consented to pay over $250,000 in criminal fines and fees, along with an additional $20,000 in civil settlements for each family affected by the loss of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

His defense team contends that Kohberger should not be responsible for an extra $20,000 to Goncalves’ parents or nearly $7,000 to Mogen’s mother, Karen Laramie, intended to cover travel and lodging costs demanded by the prosecution.

Bryan Kohberger was present at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, Idaho, for his sentencing on July 23, 2025. He entered a guilty plea in return for life imprisonment without the possibility of the death penalty, following the fatal stabbing of four University of Idaho students nearly three years prior. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)

“The additional funds requested do not meet the criteria of an economic loss as defined by Idaho Code 19-5304,” stated attorneys Anne Taylor, Elisa Massoth, and Bicka Barlow in their court document. They noted that Steve and Kristi Goncalves, along with Karen Laramie, have received substantial amounts from numerous GoFundMe campaigns that specifically addressed and covered the expenses in question.

Read the court filing:

They later wrote that “Mr. Kohberger has no ability now or in the future to pay restitution because he is serving four consecutive life sentences plus 10 years.”

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)

Across three fundraisers outlined in the court filing, donors gave $73,493 in one campaign for both Goncalves and Mogen, $48,815 so Laramie could attend Kohberger’s case in person, and $85,583 to Steve and Kristi Goncalves and their surviving children for the same purpose.

This still image taken from surveillance video of an Albertson’s supermarket in Lewiston, Washington, shows Bryan Kohberger shopping hours after the Idaho student murders. (Moscow Police Department)

Kohberger pleaded guilty to the November 2022 murders in July, weeks before he would have gone to trial after denying the charges for more than two years.

The deal spared him the death penalty in exchange for forfeiting his right to appeal or seek a sentence reduction.