Episode Details

Ethan Chapin’s family made it clear well before Bryan Kohberger’s case reached its conclusion that they had no intention of attending his trial. Ethan’s mother, Stacy Chapin, said in June 2023 that sitting through the proceedings would not be a productive use of the family’s emotional energy because nothing that happened in a courtroom could change the fact that Ethan was gone. Rather than organize their lives around Kohberger and the criminal case, the Chapins chose to concentrate on Ethan’s surviving triplet siblings, Hunter and Maizie, rebuilding their family after the murders and preserving Ethan’s memory. Stacy said the family trusted prosecutors to handle the criminal case while they focused on their own responsibility of healing and moving forward.

That approach distinguished the Chapins from some of the other victims’ families, who followed Kohberger’s court proceedings closely and attended important hearings. The Chapins deliberately refused to allow Kohberger to become the center of Ethan’s story, instead directing their attention toward projects honoring their son, including the Ethan’s Smile foundation, scholarships and Stacy’s children’s book, The Boy Who Wore Blue. Their position remained consistent even after Kohberger ultimately pleaded guilty in July 2025, eliminating the trial altogether: the family also stayed away from his sentencing hearing. For the Chapins, participation in the courtroom process was never presented as indifference to accountability; it was a conscious decision that their limited emotional resources were better spent remembering Ethan and supporting the family he left behind than sitting in a courtroom focusing on the man who murdered him.



to contact me:

bobbycapucci@protonmail.com