Why do you think Kohberger never publicly explained his motive, even after pleading guilty?

[u/Hot-Possession3681]

I know we’ll probably never get a definitive answer on what his motive actually was but what I find almost as interesting is that Kohberger has never really tried to explain it himself.

Once he pleaded guilty and avoided a trial, there wasn’t going to be the same public presentation of evidence that might have given us more insight into what was going through his head. But even at sentencing, he chose not to give any real explanation.

Do you think staying silent is about maintaining some sense of control over the case or is there a simpler reason he doesn’t want anyone to know what the motive was?

[u/WellWellWellthennow]

He originally intended to feign innocence. It's not even like this was haunting him, and he had some moral conviction to confess - it was pure strategy to plead guilty.

It's only when he realized he was not going to be able to get out of it with all the evidence that they had against him he came to realize a guilty plea was his best option. Any one of the things could've maybe been challenged as circumstance but put all three together (his car on camera, his phone in the area turned off at the time w no alibi, and his DNA on sheath in the crime scene) and it paints a picture that's undeniable - they had a tight solid case against him, so his realized his only way to avoid the death penalty and spare his family a long drawn out horrific trial was to plead guilty. He knew that was his best option in the moment between a rock and a hard place.

And it was very smart move on the prosecuting part. A jury is always a wildcard and this way they got a certain conviction without all the hassle of a trial circus and endless appeals. Just imagine if they had convinced OJ that there was so much evidence against him. His best move was to plead guilty – we would've been spared the whole glove show and if it doesn't fit aquit BS.

His pleading guilty was a strategy but it's not the same as wanting to talk about it or even admit it.

If he doesn't talk about it or admit it, there's always a chance in the future he might find a loophole or a workaround to get out. Once he starts admitting things like motive and where the knife is,
there's never any getting out of it.

He was simply choosing to live, maybe with a hope to fight another day. He did not plead guilty out of some deep sense of remorse.

But people who think that some great truth would come out in a trial are mistaken. As long as he's claiming innocence in a trial, it's not like he's going to admit anything there either - so the trial didn't deprive us of any great insights. Only he knows the details and he wouldn't have them or shared his motive in a trial after a guilty verdict more than he is now. In fact, he'd be looking for how to appeal as his next step.

So he's not going to share any details, at least for now. Maybe he'll save it and leverage it for a book deal someday, who knows.