Bryan Kohberger is set to admit to the brutal murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022 as part of a shocking plea deal reached just weeks ahead of his much-anticipated trial. Kohberger, a PhD student in criminology, had earlier claimed he was totally innocent in the quadruple homicide.
Kohberger will now avoid the death penalty by agreeing to plead guilty to the killings, according to the Idaho Statesman, which referenced a letter sent to the victims' families. He will also give up his right to challenge the verdict through an appeal. Kohberger's decision comes weeks after he claimed that there was a second person who committed the murders.
Taking a Complete U-Turn
"This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals," read the letter obtained by the Statesman.
The plea agreement marks a dramatic turn in the closely watched case, where prosecutors alleged that Kohberger broke into a rented home in Moscow, Idaho, and brutally stabbed to death Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves to death.
For the Goncalves family, the deal feels like a deep betrayal.
In a post on their Facebook page, the family expressed their anger, saying they were "beyond furious" that Kohberger would be allowed to live.
"The introduction of this plea deal, just weeks before the scheduled trial, is both shocking and cruel," Kaylee's younger sister Aubrie posted in her own scathing message.
"Bryan Kohberger facing a life in prison means he would still get to speak, form relationships, and engage with the world. Meanwhile, our loved ones have been silenced forever," she wrote.
Escaping Death Penalty
The deal would spare Kohberger from the possibility of execution by firing squad — a method recently reinstated under a new law signed by Idaho Governor Brad Little. Kohberger's attorneys, who previously portrayed him as a clean-cut PhD student at the nearby University of Washington, had earlier claimed he was not present at the scene of the murders in November 2022.
However, prosecutors recently revealed that Kohberger had bought a knife and a knife sheath online in the months leading up to the murders, according to CBS News.
A police affidavit also said that Kohberger's DNA was found on the knife sheath recovered at the crime scene.
Kohberger agreed to the plea deal after two major legal blows to his defense team. His attorneys had requested to postpone the trial and tried to block key pieces of evidence — including surveillance footage and DNA from the scene — from being presented in court.
Kohberger's legal team also suggested the possibility of "alternate perpetrators," but Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler denied their motion to introduce those claims and confirmed that the trial would proceed in August.
Just before the plea deal was revealed, Hippler also ruled that three defense witnesses must travel from out of state to Idaho in order to testify.
The witnesses — which included a former boxing coach and someone who knew Kohberger during childhood — reportedly had only distant connections to him.
Out of all the people in the house, only two roommates survived the brutal attack. One of them told authorities she saw a man wearing a black mask with "bushy eyebrows" exiting through the back door.
