Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty Wednesday to killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, agreeing to spend the rest of his life in prison in order to avoid a trial that could have landed him on death row.
Kohberger, 30, was set to go on trial beginning Aug. 18. But he accepted a plea deal offered by prosecutors, agreeing to four consecutive life terms for the murders and 10 years for a burglary charge, and waiving his right to appeal.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Madison Mogen, 21, were at an off-campus home when, sometime after 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, Kohberger broke in and stabbed them to death. The four were mourned by the university and surrounding community, their lives remembered with a healing garden and memorial on campus, and through vigils and scholarship funds.
Ada County Judge Steven Hippler set the sentencing hearing for July 23, a time in which family members of the victims will be allowed to speak.
Kaylee Goncalves’ father, Steve, told ABC News on Monday that the family “had no idea” the plea deal was going to happen, and said it is not what the family wanted.
"It's sad, it's disgusting, and I can't pretend like I feel like this is justice," he said.
But other family members of the students, including Madison’s father Ben Mogen and Ethan Chapin’s family, said Tuesday they support the plea deal.
The deal came just a month before jury selection was scheduled to start, and just days after Hippler had granted Kohberger’s request to seal his defense team’s additions or objections to the jury questionnaire.
Kohberger, a criminology graduate student at Washington State University, was arrested about six weeks after the murders. On Dec. 30, 2022, law enforcement took him into custody at his parents’ home in eastern Pennsylvania.
He was extradited to Idaho to face the criminal charges. At his arraignment on May 22, 2023, Kohberger told the court he would “stand silent,” meaning he did not enter a plea. On his behalf, the court entered a plea of not guilty.
His defense team succeeded in getting the trial moved from Latah County to Ada County to pull from Boise’s bigger population for a jury pool. His lawyers argued that a small town closely connected to the case, along with the constant media coverage, would make a fair trial impossible.
Prosecutors collected evidence against him that included his Amazon order history showing he purchased a Ka-Bar knife and then deleted the purchase history. No murder weapon had been found at the scene, but a sheath for a Ka-Bar knife was left lying on Mogen’s bed.
Investigators raided Kohberger’s car and his room at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, and seized books, black clothing, gloves, and multiple computers and hard drives.
During Wednesday's plea hearing, Hippler noted the intense interest in the case and attempts to influence his decisions. He said that has been highly inappropriate and disruptive to his staff.
“A court is not supposed to, and this court will never, take into account public sentiment in making an opinion regarding its judicial decisions in cases. Courts should, and I always will, make decisions based on where the facts and the law lead me, period," Hippler said.
He extended a gag order to prohibit information related to the case from being released publicly. He says that will end on the date of sentencing.
This story was published in collaboration with Northwest Public Broadcasting. Doug Nadvornick from Spokane Public Radio contributed to this story.