Bryan Kohberger set to take plea deal over Idaho student murders: report
The 30-year-old is expected to plead guilty on all counts at a hearing on Wednesday
Bryan Kohberger is expected to plead guilty to the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students just weeks before his highly-anticipated trial was expected to begin.
Sources told NewsNation’s Brian Entin on Monday the prosecution had proposed dropping the death penalty in exchange for Kohberger pleading guilty to the four murders and burglary. The deal would allow Kohberger to instead spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The 30-year-old will be sentenced to four consecutive life sentences and is expected to waive all right to appeal, ABC News reported.
A family member for one of the victims told the Idaho Statesman they received a letter confirming the plea deal. A hearing for Kohberger’s change of plea is expected to be held this Wednesday, July 2.
Kohberger is accused of killing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves on November 13, 2022. They were found stabbed to death at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
A little over a month later, Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania after police linked him to the crime scene using DNA recovered from a knife sheath, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Investigators said Kohberger’s location was traced using his cell phone and surveillance video that was obtained showing a car appearing to be the same make and model as his driving away from the scene of the murders.
The long-awaited trial was scheduled to begin on August 18 after Judge Steven Hippler issued a written ruling denying the defense’s motion asking to delay the trial.
On Monday evening, the family of one of the victims, Kaylee Goncalves, slammed the reported plea deal in a statement on Facebook.
“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.”
In Pennsylvania, a judge earlier Monday ordered that three people whose testimony has been requested by defense attorneys would have to travel to Idaho to testify at the trial.
The defense subpoenas were granted regarding a boxing trainer who knew Kohberger as a teenager, a childhood acquaintance of Kohberger’s and a third man whose significance was not explained.
The slayings shocked the rural Idaho community of Moscow and neighboring Pullman, Washington, where Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University.