Idaho student murders: Report suggests death penalty could cost $1 million more than life sentence

Accused University of Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger could cost taxpayers $1 million more if he receives the death penalty, as opposed to life in prison.

Kohberger, 28, a criminology student at Washington State University, is accused of murdering four University of Idaho students; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, last November. Prosecutors recently announced they would be seeking the death penalty against him. However, that move could be pricey, according to multiple studies cited by the Idaho Statesman.

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The high cost of the death penalty is incurred from the high number of appeals from death row inmates, and the exorbitant price needed for drugs that carry out lethal injections. Court fees, attorney and staff time, trials and state and federal appeals, incarceration, and execution training all incur significant costs, according to death penalty cost analyses from the state of Washington in 2015 and Oregon in 2016.

“Results indicate that the costs for aggravated murder cases that resulted in death sentences range, on average, from about $800,000 to over $1,000,000 more per case when compared to similar non-death aggravated murder cases,” the Oregon study read.

However, some conservative lawmakers argue that the cost is worth the outcome, which could deter further heinous crimes. They also argue for a simplified process to cut these costs, part of which led to the return of the firing squad in the state of Idaho.

“We should not second-guess Idaho taxpayers, who have already decided through their elected representatives that the most heinous and brutal crimes deserve the ultimate punishment,” Idaho Attorney General Raul Labrador told the Idaho Statesman. “Moreover, any fiscal discussion should ask why capital litigation costs what it does. Part of the reason, of course, is that the death row inmates will routinely engage in abusive litigation, dragging out the process over decades.”

Many pharmacies refuse to supply the drugs needed for lethal injection due to activist pressure, resulting in decades-long delays and exorbitant costs. In November 2011, Idaho spent $10,000 on lethal injection drugs to execute convicted murderer Paul Rhoades.

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Conservative lawmakers hope that with the new option of the firing squad, executions will be much easier.

“I wonder if the lethal injection drugs will miraculously become available now that H186 is law,” State Rep. Bruce Skaug said, referring to the law that reinstituted the firing squad as a method of execution. “It is the state’s duty to carry out the sentences. The victims and their surviving families deserve to see the retribution that Idaho has deemed appropriate.”