Bryan Kohberger, the 30-year-old accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in their apartment in 2022, has agreed to a plea deal to avoid the death penalty in his quadruple murder case.
The plea deal consisted of pleading guilty to four counts of murder in exchange for the government not pursuing the death penalty, a person familiar with the deal confirmed to CNN.
Shannon Gray, attorney for family of victim Kaylee Goncalves, also confirmed the deal to CNN.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Kohberger was slated to go on trial in August, and prosecutors indicated they would pursue the death penalty.
“The issue is they are trying to cram the plea for July 2, only giving the families a day to get to Boise,” Gray said
Goncalvez’ family described the announcement as “very unexpected” in a post on Facebook. They said they were “furious at the State of Idaho.”
“They have failed us. Please give us some time,” reads the post.
Kohberger, previously a PhD student of criminology at the University of Washington, was charged with killing the four students in January 2023. Authorities say Ethan Chapin, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Madison Mogen, 21 were fatally stabbed in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022 in Moscow, Idaho.
An assistant at the Kootenai County Public Defender’s office told CNN “no comment” about the news of the plea deal.
Last week, a judge rejected a bid from Kohberger’s defense to delay the trial and dismissed the defense’s request to propose an “alternate perpetrator” theory. The trial had already been delayed numerous times due to disputes about evidence and witnesses, as well as a change of venue from Latah County to the state capital of Boise. The judge had also barred Kohberger’s defense from entering an official alibi – since no one could vouch for where he was during the time of the killings.
A not guilty plea was previously entered on Kohberger’s behalf.
The killings shook the small college town of Moscow, Idaho, inspiring fear as law enforcement spent weeks searching for a suspect. The harrowing details of the crimes and years-long legal proceedings against Kohberger have also been the subject of public scrutiny. Kohberger appeared to have little connection to the victims.
Prosecutors had submitted a variety of evidence that they say ties Kohberger to the crimes, including DNA found on a knife sheath on a bed close to Mogen. The single source profile was determined to be male and matched to Kohberger through investigative genetic genealogy, the process of taking unknown DNA to public databases and finding relatives that share the profile.
The four university students were all found dead on November 13, 2022. Investigators believe the four roommates were killed sometime between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m.
Accounts of what unfolded that night in Moscow have emerged from two of the surviving roommates. One survivor, Dylan Mortensen, said she was woken overnight by strange noises in their off-campus house.
She told investigators she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” in the home, according to an affidavit.
This is a developing story and will be updated with more information.
