Bryan Kohberger plea deal splits victims’ families after former PhD student admits brutal murders of Idaho students: Live

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 first told NewsNation on Monday that 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.

Ariana Baio has the details:

Bryan Kohberger is due to appear before Idaho Fourth Judicial District Judge Steven Hippler at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise at 11 a.m. MT.

Hippler must approve the plea agreement before Kohberger can formally enter his expected guilty plea.

But on Friday, the Latah County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office first mentioned the possibility of a plea deal, according to the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves.

The letter, reportedly signed by Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson, outlines a proposed deal that would convict Kohberger on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary, sentencing him to spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the Idaho Statesman.

“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,” the letter reads, according to the newspaper.

The Independent has not seen the letter and the prosecutor’s office has not confirmed its authenticity.

In November 2022, four University of Idaho students were found stabbed to death at a rental house in Moscow, mere hours after posting smiling photographs together on Instagram.

The case shocked the small college town and drew media attention from across the world. Yet it took nearly seven weeks for police to catch a suspect — and almost three years to bring him to trial.

Now, mere weeks before former PhD criminology student Bryan Kohberger was set to go before a jury, prosecutors have told the victims’ families they have agreed a plea deal.

Kohberger, 30, is expected to receive four consecutive life sentences and waive all his rights to appeal when he appears in court on Wednesday to answer for the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

So, how did we get here? Io Dodds has detailed a timeline of one of the most bewildering cases in recent American history.

The families of Bryan Kohberger’s alleged victims might never find out what really happened the night of the murders or be given an explanation.

Just weeks before Kohberger was set to go on trial in the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students after lengthy delays, it emerged Monday that he is expected to plead guilty after the prosecution proposed dropping the death penalty.

A hearing for Kohberger’s change of plea is expected to be held Wednesday, which has angered the families of the victims.

Trial attorney Mercedes Colwin told NewsNation that this means the families will likely be robbed of an explanation in the gruesome case.

Rhian Lubin looks into why:

The families of Bryan Kohberger’s alleged victims – Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves – are deeply divided over the plea agreement that could spare him the death penalty.

The Goncalve family pointed to a “systemic failure” in a statement on Facebook Tuesday, claiming the “death penalty is merely an illusion in the criminal justice system.”

“After more than two years, this is how it concludes with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims’ families on the plea’s details,” it continued.

Jeff Kernodle, Xana’s father, argued in a statement Tuesday that the deal was a “missed opportunity to set a stronger precedent in how accountability should be handled in cases like this.”

In contrast, the families Mogen and Chapin said they support the plea deal.

Ben Mogen, Madison’s father, told the Idaho Statesman that the agreement would let his family avoid a trial and the reopening of wounds.

Stacy Chapin, Ethan’s mother, told KHQ that her family would be in court Wednesday “in support of the plea bargain.”

The Independent’s Andrea Cavallier is standing in line outside the Ada County Courthouse, where most of those currently gathered are members of the media.

Family members of the murder victims are expected to arrive at about 10 a.m., two hours after the courthouse opens its doors.

The murder of four college students rocked the quiet town of Moscow, Idaho, and led to the arrest of prime suspect Bryan Kohberger.

Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – all students at the University of Idaho – were ambushed in their rooms and stabbed to death with a military-style knife that has yet to be found. Police were called to the gruesome scene at the off-campus residence almost eight hours after the vicious attack.

For weeks, only scant details about the carnage were revealed as the community reeled from the tragedy and grappled with fears of a murderer on the loose. That changed with the December 2022 arrest of Washington State University student Bryan Kohberger, whose apartment, office and family home were raided and searched for evidence.

Here’s everything we know about the Idaho college killings: