Kaylee Goncalves (bottom left) and Madison Mogen (top left), Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle (Law&Crime Network file photos), (right) Bryan Kohberger (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool, File)
Bryan Kohberger, the suspect charged with stabbing four University of Idaho students to death, has agreed to plead guilty to four counts of murder.
Prosecutors have offered a deal where the death penalty will be removed as a potential punishment for Bryan Kohberger, 30, in exchange for his guilty pleas. Instead, he will be sentenced to four consecutive life terms, as outlined in a letter addressed to the families of the victims.
A hearing is scheduled for July 2. Kohberger has reportedly waived all rights to appeals.
Bryan Kohberger, aged 30, was slated to face trial later this month for the murders that occurred on November 13, 2022. The victims, Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, were all fatally stabbed in a residence near the University of Idaho campus in Moscow. Disturbingly, some of the victims were attacked while they were asleep.
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The defendant was arrested a month later, in December 2022.
The family of Kaylee Goncalves expressed disappointment at the plea agreement in a post on their Facebook page.
“It’s true! We are beyond furious at the State of Idaho. They have failed us. Please give us some time. This was very unexpected. We appreciate all your love and support,” the post stated.
Kohberger’s defense team had sought to remove the death penalty as a possible punishment for some time leading up to the agreement. His attorneys argued that forcing inmates to wait for years on death row and the methods available for prisoners to be executed in Idaho both constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Attorneys also argued Idaho’s death penalty laws violate an international treaty banning the torture of prisoners.
